oakvillegreen

UPDATE: Regional Council votes 11 to 9 to Continue Water Fluoridation
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As you have probably already heard, Regional Council voted to continue fluoridating Halton’s water in an 11 to 9 vote after a marathon Council meeting all day on Tuesday, January 31.

Voting to continue fluoridation were Oakville Mayor Rob Burton, Councillor Tom Adams,Ward 6 and Councillor Ketih Bird, Ward 1. Ward 2 Councillor Cathy Duddeck was not present. They were joined by Regional Chair Gary Carr, mayors Rick Bonnette and Rick Goldring and Councillors Rick Craven, Jack Dennison, Jane Fogal, Clarke Sommerville and John Taylor. (Rick Goldring and Clarke Sommerville were originally proponents of removing fluoride from the water.)

Voting against keeping it was Oakville Ward 4 Councillor Allan Elgar, Ward 1 Councillor Alan Johnston and Ward 5 Councillor Jeff Knoll. They were joined by Councillors Colin Best, Tony Lambert, Blair Lancaster, Marianne Meed-Ward, Paul Sharman and Mayor Gord Krantz. We thank these Councillors for their understanding of all the issues surrounding municipal water fluoridation and for carefully considering whether water fluoridation was safe, effective and ethical.

We were deeply disappointed with the vote. There will be no chance to revisit this issue during this term of Council.

We appreciate the support of our members who came out and sat in those torturing Regional Council seats for some or all of the 10 hour debate.

In three years time there will be a new Council and a new day.

To prevent fluorosis on your children's teeth

In the meantime, we suggest that parents think carefully about making baby formula with fluoridated water as not doing so, we believe, will lessen the chance of their children getting fluorosis. Furthermore consider very carefully whether you want to use a fluoride toothpaste on children under age six. Non-fluoridated toothpastes are readily available from health food stores and some drugstores. If you do choose to use a fluoridated toothpaste with young children, read the toothpaste boxes carefully. Use a pea-sized amount only, ensure they rinse out their mouths thoroughly and that they don’t swallow any toothpaste.

Fluoridation Free Halton
Diane Sprules Critique of the Health Canada Report
Letter to Councillors 1
Letter to Councillors 2
Water Manager Delegation to Public Works
Videos to Watch on Fluoridation

The Provincial Policy Statement on Natural Heritage Systems says that nothing can be done that will negatively impact their natural features or functions. The 2008 Ontario Municipal Board approved North Oakville East Secondary Plan says: "The primary purpose of the Natural Heritage component of the System is to protect, preserve and, where appropriate, enhance the natural environment. The focus of the Natural Heritage component is on the protection of the key ecological features and functions of North Oakville. It will also contribute to the enhancement of air and water resources, and provide for limited, passive recreational needs."

Clearly ploughing large paved "roads" through the Natural Heritage System that Oakville's citizen's spent eight years fighting for should not be allowed.

For more information see the material below. If you want to write your Council to voice your objection to this plan, you can reach them at the following email addresses: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it , This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it , This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it , This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it , This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it , This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it , This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

UPDATE

We are pleased to report that the many issues we brought forward in our delegation on the North Oakville Urban Forest Strategic Management Plan seem to have been addressed. Specifically, it looks like the minimum amount of soil to be recommended for trees in constrained areas (streetscapes, parking lots) will be enough to grow a medium-sized tree. We also learned that the Town does have very specific soil quality requirements and that the soil used to plant trees will be tested to ensure that it meets the requirements. Furthermore, we have been assured only native species will be planted in the NHS and that the plan will specifically preclude the planting of invasives. An expert also stressed the need to always plant trees that are capable of reaching large stature, even in constrained areas, because trees sometimes get lucky and find enough water and soil to thrive. This is important information and should be reflected in the choice of trees planted. We found the process of using a special committee, composed on members of Council (in this case Mayor Burton, Council Elgar, Councillor Adams and Councillor Grant) with key staff on hand and delegations welcomed, was a very useful way for interested parties to have input and for knowelge to be shared in a somewhat informal but respectful and efficient way. We look forward to the same process being used to address the North Oakville East Trails Plan in January.

The Urban Forest Plan will go to the Council with a final staff report in January and be voted on. We will keep you up to date on it because if the final report is as good as we think it will be it will be nice for some of us to attend the meeting and show Council and staff our support, not only to their commitment to achieving 40% tree canopy cover by 2057, but also for creating a leading edge Urban Forest Plan that other cities are sure to emulate. Oakvillegreen would also like to thank the Mayor and Councillors on the committee and Town staff, especially Chris Mark, director Parks and Open Space, for their work on the committee and for ensuring we will have a plan that both meets the Town's Tree Canopy objectives and provide our community with a healthy, resilient and beautiful urban forest that will provide many benefits to citizens for generations to come.

Background
On December 6, Oakvillegreen offered several suggestions to a special committee reviewing the recently released North Oakville Urban Forest Strategic Management plan that will guide the Town in reaching its goal of 40% tree canopy cover by 2057. Overall, Oakvillegreen endorses the plan and commends Town staff on its creation, however there were a few areas that we believe need to be improved including: requiring higher soil volumes for street trees, regulating soil quality for tree planting, ensuring tree planting specifications are drawn into street engineering diagrams; increasing the amount of native plants required from 20% to 50% or more; putting in policies about plant selection to increase biodiversity and the resilience of our urban forest and implementing the Plan quickly so that it covers the new development already taking place north of Dundas.

The only other person to make a delegation was a representative of the the developers who are building north of Dundas. In summary, they suggested throwing out the rules in the plan about tree planting, especially as they pertain to parking lots and street trees, letting the developers do as they want and if tree goals can't be met, having the developers pay money to the Town to be used for tree planting elsewhere by the Town or by community groups.

Needless to say, this didn't sound like a good idea to Oakvillegreen. It's also important to note that the Plan makes very clear that parking lts and streets in North Oakville must be treed according to what is currently in the plan or Oakville will not achieve its goal of 40% tree canopy coverage. As well, the Plan notes opportunities to increase tree canopy in South Oakville are limited, therefore, it is critical for trees to be planted North of Dundas. Indeed, 90% of the Natural Heritage System must have tree canopy if we are to reach the 40% goal.

The special committee consisting of Mayor Rob Burton, Councillor Tom Adams, Councillor Allan Elgar and Councillor Marc Grant will meet again on Tuesday, December 13 at 1 p.m. in Committee Rm. 1 at Town Hall to hear a staff report on the two delegations and discuss changes to the Plan. We will be in attendance at this meeting and welcome any of our members and friends to join us. To read our full delegation please click here.