File Photo

The Town of Carman will not be stopping the practice of adding fluoride to the local water supply, despite a recent citizen request. Jessica Breukelman made the request via letter to Council and says she was inspired to do so because of the health of her four young kids. "I want them to be as happy and healthy as possible so I'm always reading and learning more about what I can do for them, what's good them and what isn't." One common issue that came up in her research was the need for healthy water, which got her thinking that she doesn't have a lot of control over what comes out of her tap. "I read that people add fluoride to tap water and that it's actually a toxic waste product from making fertilizer." This got the mother of four wondering if Carman added the product to its water, so she embarked on some research and learned that the town in fact did. "So then I just felt I should write them and see if they would think about removing it, I just did it to get the discussion started basically."

{audio}15_02_19water1.mp3{/audio}

Mayor Bob Mitchell says Council is presented with this type of request about every two to three years and thanks residents for being interested. That being said, he adds Carman will not stop adding fluoride to the water. "We've got people from the province that tell us this is a good thing, the science is definitely there to support that fluoride is helpful to the health of our people and so we're going to continue that until we're told by the powers that be that we shouldn't."

Breukelman adds that while she is disappointed with this decision she isn't surprised. "I was hoping that maybe they would be willing to talk about it a little more but they did mention that they have discussed it in the past so I was happy to hear that. Right now I'm happy that there is some discussion going on about it and maybe more people will learn about fluoride."