Fluoridation of Halton's Water Confirmed After 10 Hour Debate

Yesterday Halton Regional Council debated the merits of continuing to fluoridate our public water supply. After nearly 10  hours and 29 delegations, the final decision was unclear until the moment the vote was called. In an 11 to 9 vote the decades long practice of adding fluoride to Halton's drinking water was confirmed.

Regional Council previously debated this issue in November of 2008. The decision at that time was to defer further consideration until Health Canada had finished its review of the research literature . It has taken a further 3 years of waiting but at last we do have the benefit of this thorough analysis. Health Canada concluded that fluoridation at the recommended level of .7ppm is safe, and effective in reducing the number of cavities in the general population.

During the last 6 months a steady stream of emails came to my 'in box'  imploring me to vote against fluoridation. On the other hand vast amounts of research data also arrived at my home courtesy of our Medical Officer of Health, Dr. Bob Nosal.  I also followed the fluoride debates as they popped up around the world from Florida, to Maine and Windsor to Auckland.
The 10 hour marathon meeting was quite extraordinary in that all  20 Regional Councillors were fully engaged throughout the day as delegation after delegation presented their particular point of view. Expert delegates included Dr. Peter Cooney, Chief Dental Officer, Health Canada, Dr. Arlene King, Ontario Chief medical Officer of Health, Dr. Robert Wood, Royal College of Dentists of Canada, Professor U of T.
The list went on and on of expert advisers who repeatedly reminded us of several pertinent points;

• Dental caries (cavities) is one of the most prevalent infectious diseases and as such it is also associated with many other diseases and poor health
• Scientific evidence must be weighted by its quality and applicability. In brief a study using humans is attributed a higher weight than a study using animals. In the case of fluoride we have ample opportunity to test it with humans. 
• Thorough reviews of the literature such as was done by Health Canada conclude that fluoride is effective at reducing cavities and that fluoride at the recommended concentration does not cause the myriad of diseases that are sometimes attributed to it 
• 90 national and international health and dental health organizations support fluoridation ( including Health Canada and the World Health Organization)
• Any substance in the wrong dosage can be poisonous. One can literally die from drinking too much water. As Dr. Wood illustrated, a bottle of tylenol pills will kill you but 2 pills will have a beneficial effect by reducing pain. It is all about the appropriate dosage. 
• The fluoride in toothpaste should be treated with respect as it is much much more concentrated than what is in the water. So much so that great care should be taken to not swallow it. 
• Water fluoridation is the great equalizer in that the poor who do not have dental plans or available funds for dental work benefit the most due to the reduced rate of dental decay. 

There were of course many delegations who called for Halton to stop fluoridation. Their presentations were of interest and raised many questions. One recurring theme was the desire to have choice. It was also apparent that many are inadvertently making the choice by switching to bottled water. Dentists have noticed that the trend to bottled water has caused an increase in cavities and weakened tooth enamel in those making this choice.

In the end I chose to support fluoridation of our water supply because I believe it is wise to rely on the advice of experts who were unanimous in their support of the practice. At the same time I asked our MOH Dr. Nosal to revisit the information that we provide in our Pre Natal Classes. I think it is incumbent on us to inform new parents of the hazards of fluoride for infants. They need to know that young children should either use unfluoridated toothpaste or they should use only a very small amount of fluoridated toothpaste where they are taught to never swallow it.

If anyone is interested, the full 10 hours of the meeting can be viewed on the Region's website, http://www.halton.ca/cms/One.aspx?portalId=8310&pageId=72892
Should you actually take a look at it, I think you will be impressed by desire of Regional Councillors to fully understand the issue and come to an informed decision. Although many think that a health issue of such importance should be the purview of the provincial level of government, I believe that Halton Region handled it exceptionally well.

Georgetown Bach Chorale Offers Gorgeous Performance

Antique Harpishord

Last night I had the pleasure of attending the Georgetown Bach Chorale's 2011 Christmas Concert at the lavishly decorated residence of their conductor, Ron Greidanus.
It is hard to say who stole the show as there were several worthy candidates. Was it the eye popping decorations that reportedly take a week to install? Or perhaps the readings of the always entertaining  Vera Macdonald and Yvonne Oldaker? Or could it be the haunting rendition of Silent Night?
All three were the subject of much discussion at a social event following the presentation.
The residential venue itself is unique with beamed cathedral ceilings, mellow paneling and stone hearths all aglow with thousands of baubles and flickering candles.
The musical offerings had their origins in English, Irish and Basque traditions accompanied by Ron Greidanus on harpsichord and Avery Maclean on recoder.
The evening offered a unique and enjoyable Christmas experience rarely found in communities this size.

GDHS Music Students Overcome Loss of Teacher With Impressive Performance

On Friday December 9th Georgetown District High School lost a great teacher and mentor when Ms Eleanor Wallace was transferred without notice to another school. Ms Wallace provided 28 years of dedicated excellent leadership to the music students at GDHS. Through those years the GDHS bands garnered many awards of merit in provincial and national competitions.
My daughter was a band member for 5 years and so I was well aware of the wonderful program available to our local students. It was definitely one of the most rewarding aspects of high school for my daughter.
Plans for the GDHS Christmas concert had to be completely reworked when it turned out that no teachers would be available to lead the bands and choir. Although the students were distraught over the loss of their beloved teacher, they rallied by deciding to put on the show by themselves.
I was invited by the students to attend their concert and took them up on the invitation. It was one of my best decisions of the year.
I have attended many GDHS concerts but this was an outstanding one. It had been billed as "A Classy Christmas" and it certainly was.
The very poised master of ceremonies welcomed us and introduced the first performance.
The Wind Ensemble, all 60 members filed onto the stage quietly, sat and awaited their student conductor, Geoff Chen. The tuxedo clad Chen strode onto the stage, bowed to the audience and then took control of the Ensemble.
And then it began - a  performance to make a teacher proud. The students obviously intended to pay tribute to their teacher and illustrate the passion and musical precision that had been instilled in them . They certainly succeeded.
Each band and choir was lead by a different student conductor and each time the musicians paid close attention and performed marvellously.
And just to take it over the top, we were treated to a string quartet performing chamber music, a gifted opera singer belting out an aria in Russian no less, and finally a showstopping performance of Rachmaninoff  by Grade 12 concert pianist Thomas Dobrovich. Wow!

It is sad that these kids have lost their leader but on the bright side, they have had the benefit of wonderful mentorship and inspiration. They have proven that great leadership produces great results. Wherever inspiration shows up the kids respond. And now these kids have proven to themselves what they are capable of and that will serve them well throughout their lives.
Thank you Ms Wallace for making such a huge difference in the lives of hundreds of grateful students.

Innovation and Care in Condo Construction Pays Dividends in Milton



Today a group of Halton Regional representatives had an opportunity to tour a new residential condo development in downtown Milton that is just 3 weeks away from occupancy. The development is by Del Ridge Homes and the tour was lead by  Dave De Sylva and George Le Donne, the driving forces behind this new style of condo development.

Pictured above is the tour group on the roof of the Green Life Condo where the racking structure that will support the photo voltaic panels is being installed. This is the most obvious difference between this and the average condo. However it is but one of many features that make this building completely different from anything else on the market.

It is ironic that CBC radio has been airing a series on the glass towers of downtown Toronto. These towers are being referred to as "throw away buildings". The contrast is quite remarkable. The Toronto towers feature window walls that offer next to zero insulation and require elaborate engineering to overcome their deficiencies. The window walls are predicted to fail within 20 years.

Contrast that to the Green Life Condo. It has super insulated walls right down to the second basement level. The basement/parking levels (pictured above) require no heating as the area stays above freezing all winter relying only on mother nature for its warmth. The thick walls, having been bulked up with insulation, create attractive wide window ledges framing the triple glazed windows. Geothermal heating and cooling is complemented by a heat recovery system.

The walls achieve R 44 and the roof is at R 70.

The net result is a building that will not need to be supported by nuclear plants or coal fired plants or even gas pipelines. The residents will have next to zero condo fees and their energy bills will be unbelievably low - forever.

This is the kind of building that people will deed to their children and the kids will fight about who gets to move in. 

Contrast the impact on society between the 2 building philosophies. In one case, the glass is beginning to fall off the side of the buildings and will cause untold financial hardship on the buyers. The energy requirements to heat and cool the buildings will continue for the life of the building. All of this has an impact on green house gases and the cost of infrastructure to support its energy needs.

In the other case, the building is solid and care has been taken to reduce its net carbon footprint to zero. 

The thing is that apart from the solar panels, none of it is rocket science. Insulation is old technology. And everyone knows that glass is a conductor of energy not an insulator. Heat exchangers are simple things. 

What I cannot understand is why the Green Life style of building is not mandatory. Why do we have a building code that allows anything less? 

As a municipal politician it is my job to push developers in our town to build at a higher standard. I am proud to say that in Halton Hills we do have a Green Checklist that developers must satisfy before we allow them to build. But there is more to be done to make housing more efficient and more durable. 

Congratulations to Dave De Sylva and George Le Donne for proving that attention to energy efficiency does not mean the building is unaffordable, unattractive or lacking a market. Green Life sold out in a flash and new projects are taking shape in Oakville and Markham. Someday I hope to see them in Halton Hills.  

7 Billion and Growing

Today our planet reached a human population of 7 billion people. That number is beyond comprehension, but the more remarkable part is the rate at which we got to 7 billion. However, my subject is not our numbers but rather, the pressing need to adapt.

Can we adapt fast enough to sustain this growth in human population?
Adaptation is essential and the concept is likely well accepted. However, on most fronts adaptation  is sluggish and lacking in  focus and urgency.

If I was to form an action plan based on my  view  from my window, I wouldn't change a thing. From my personal perspective  it is hard to imagine a more benign environment on the entire planet than the one I see here in Georgetown, Ontario, Canada. It is only when I look at the scientific data and the long term trends that the urgency becomes apparent.

For me it is a real joy to meet people who believe in adaptation and are willing to invest in it and  talk about it with enthusiasm and optimism. Yesterday I had the opportunity to hear such a person who isn't just talking about it, he is doing it. That person is Dave de Sylva, partner in Del Ridge Homes along with George Le Donne.

They have made business choices based on principles of sustainability. They are shunning old building practices and adopting new ones that make more sense on every level including economic.

They are set to build the Green Life Business Centre, Canada's first Net Positive Condo Office Building in Milton, Ontario. Net positive means that this office building will create more energy than it uses. It won't be a drain; it will be a faucet, pouring energy into the grid instead of sucking it out, burning it up and spewing waste into the atmosphere.

This is not their first project to be at or near "Net Positive". They have built residential condos that have condo fees so low people wonder what the catch is. There is no catch. These buildings are built in a different way to firstly, reduce energy waste and secondly, use the renewable energy that is in the ground  below and in the sky above.

Dave de Sylva and George Le Donne understand that we have a very big problem to solve and so they have set out to do what they can to solve it. They get absolutely no help from any level of government to do this and yet they are steadfast in their personal pursuit of responsible action.

The things that Del Ridge Homes is doing should be incorporated into our building code so that all of our new buildings, whether they are residential, commercial, industrial or institutional are built to reduce energy wastage and make optimal use of sustainable energy sources.

In my opinion this is a wonderfully optimistic story of determination and positive action to adapt to important threats that are all to easy to ignore if one is looking out the window in Georgetown Ontario Canada.

http://www.sbmagazine.ca/archives/42

Solar Power Leaps Forward In Georgetown, Ontario

This photo taken at a roof top celebration at BRC Sustainable Elements on Armstrong Avenue in Georgetown, Ontario held on Aug. 31st, 2011.

This massive installation sits about 10 feet above the roof, supported by a steel grid.

Owner and President of Solarform, http://www.cdnsolarform.com/ Bill Melnik gave a rousing endorsement to the future of solar. In a reference to the concept of "Peak Oil" he reminded the audience of how the search for new oil has now reached to areas beneath the polar caps. The difficulty in securing new sources is creating larger and larger risks to the environment which in turn is driving up the cost of oil. On the other hand the cost of solar is trending downward, as innovation leads to greater efficiency. At this rate it is possible that solar and oil costs could reach a par within 5 years. If that were in fact to happen it would literally change everything in the energy world.

Just think of the possibility of solar panels on all of our industrial buildings that would be completely unobtrusive and completely free of risk to the environment. Compare this to the environmental degradation we are experiencing from our own tar sands projects in northern Alberta.

As I write this, Australia is proposing a carbon tax, undoubtedly because of the climate change related droughts of recent years. Japan is proposing its own version of the FIT program, in response to the tsunami.

If solar can go up in efficiency and down in price then it will most certainly become a major source of sustainable energy for all of us. As Bill Melnik said in his remarks, Solar is limitless and renewable without any nasty environmental side effects.

Canada has the opportunity to be a world leader in solar technology and Ontario is in the vanguard. And apart from the environmental benefits, the high tech jobs are the icing on the cake.

Did Anyone Ask the Farmers?

This is a typical piece of southern Halton Hills where the province proposes to construct a new 400 series highway. This is exactly where option 4.3 will  go if it is approved.
At yesterday's Planning at Public Works Meeting at Halton Region where we discussed option 4.3, there was also a presentation by the Greater Toronto Area Agricultural Action Committee. I took the opportunity to ask their representative, Janet Horner, if the GTA West team had consulted with the GTA AAC. To my absolute astonishment, she said no. And then she emphasized the word NO!
Think about it. The GTA West corridor from Vaughn to Tremaine Road in Milton runs almost exclusively through farmland, most of it the very best farmland in Canada. The GTA West consulting team was charged with the responsibility of consulting with all affected parties. And they didn't ask the farmers! Of course the 300 residents who came out to the meeting on June 23rd at Glencairn Golf Course all felt that they had not been consulted either and they live in the path of the highway.
But really, not consulting with the farming community is so unacceptable it is beyond belief. It was only a couple of months ago that I attended a GTA AAC Farming Summit that was very well run and very well attended. It was sponsored by the Government and yet they same Government didn't consult with them.
If you read the EA report you will find a glib statement that in the design of the highway, impacts to agriculture will be mitigated. How do traffic engineers have any idea of what to mitigate if they didn't even talk to the farmers who will be affected?

Regional Councillors support Halton Hills Position on GTA West Highway 4.3

Halton Regional Staff Report responding to the GTA West Corridor recommendations was supportive of option 4.2 that brings the proposed 400 series highway north /south beside Heritage Road and then swings into Halton Hills to join the 407 - 401 Interchange. However, the report was ambivalent concerning the proposed additional leg of this highway known as alternative 4.3 that would run east/west somewhere between Georgetown and Steeles Avenue.
In my mind, this was not a time for ambivalence. In consultation with Mayor Bonnette and Regional Councillor Clark Somerville we wrote an amendment to the report that in my opinion was more in keeping with the Region's Official Plan and the newly endorsed Strategic Plan.
The Strategic Plan was crafted with the input of many Halton Residents particularly the Citizen's Refernce Panel. Input from a wide variety of sources confirmed more or less the the vision that was already articulated in the Official Plan.
To quote from the Amendment " the Strategic Plan says "the Region's vision is to preserve for the current and future generations a landscape that is rich, diverse, balanced, productive and sustainable and a society that is economically strong, equitable and caring. The Region must plan for communities where urban sprawl is minimized, where infrastructure is maximized, where natural heritage is protected and natural spaces and farmland are preserved. the overall goal is to enhance the quality of life for all people of Halton today and into the future".

"This vision will be very difficult if not impossible to maintain if alternative 4.3 is approved since the proposed route essentially bisects the agricultural area of halton Hills, thus fragmenting farms and making the industry much more difficult to sustain."

"There is a serious concern that alternative 4.3 will encourage urban sprawl. Measures to protect against urban sprawl were not articulated in the Draft Transportation Development strategy report."

"Alternative 4.3 which bisects the agricultural area south of Georgetown would pose an extremely serious blow to agricultural sustainability in Halton, would threaten the open-space character and landscape heritage of Halton and is therefore contrary to the goals in the official plan and Halton's vision for a sutainable future. For those reasons Halton cannot support alternative route 4.3."

All of the above was incorporated into the recommendation and was endorsed unanimously by the members of the Planning and Public Works Committee. The next hurdle is to have the recommendation endorsed at Regional Council next Wednesday morning.

Gaining unequivical support for the Halton Hills position from Regional Council is absolutely critical to our strategy to stop this highway and get it taken off the map. It is a great relief to have achieved unanimous support at the committee level as it means that we have support from all Halton local municipalities. It gives me confidence that we will also get a ringing endorsement at Council.

It is but one step in our fight against this highway, but it is an important one. I am very grateful to my Regional colleagues for their support today.