Wawa Municipal Council's turning a request for a vote on fluoridation back to the public.
While a letter read out in the March 5th meeting requested Council call a plebiscite on drinking water fluoridation, a CAO report discussed in last night's Committee of the Whole meeting noted that a single request does not show enough support, but a petition signed by at least 10% of the municipality's electorate - about 220 people - would require Council to put the question to a vote.
The report noted - per Ontario's Fluoridation Act - municipalities that wish to remove fluoride from the drinking water supply must use a similar process to that which was used to add it - in Wawa's case, it was a 1985 plebiscite - and that the question put to the public would need to be "are you in favour of the discontinuance of fluoridation of the public water supply of this municipality".
Councillor Cathy Cannon expressed support for the petition plan, while Councillor Mitch Hatfield spoke in favour of simply putting it to a public vote, and Mayor Melanie Pilon - who noted she’d urged the resident to bring his concerns to Council - expressed hope a vote would lead to a thorough debate with broader education about fluoridation.
In the end, Council agreed to the recommended option: turning it back to the letter writer to submit a petition signed by at least 10% of the electorate - in order to make it onto the ballot for the next municipal election, which is in fall 2026, it must be submitted by late April 2026.