Municipal officials are considering an end to water fluoridation on the Island of Montreal in a move spurred by a petition from a resident who claims he has the support of Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
A council representing Montreal and the suburban municipalities on the island are scheduled to vote Thursday evening on whether the six West Island suburbs that treat their water with fluoride should stop the practice.
The city’s water department has recommended that fluoridation be stopped, in part due to cost, though public health officials support fluoridation as an effective way to reduce tooth decay.
But mayors of the affected suburbs say they only learned of the city’s plan in September, years after the department began studying the issue. They say residents haven’t been consulted and the process is undemocratic.
In a report dated March 2024, the water department says it began considering the use of fluoride …