City of Toronto – Letters to Ministers of Health & Industry and Toronto Hydro
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There were 3 agenda items before Toronto City Council Dec. 16-18
C4ST feels there were important precedents set by these items being passed by Council including another municipality in Canada formally asking Health Canada to revise Safety Code 6.
We especially thank councilor Jaye Robinson for her efforts and councilors Michelle Berardinetti and Adam Vaughan for their motions.
City Council passed this agenda item.
C4ST supported the Terms and Conditions that we understand City staff has included in the Rogers agreement, especially:
We feel this is a very important precedent in North America and one other cities can copy.
City Council passed the above agenda item including the following additional motions:
City Council passed this agenda item.
C4ST did not support this item since this would be a new area of cell tower and antennae intrusion.
However, these new towers will be subject to the same terms as above:
On Monday December 16th, 2013 Toronto City Council will be voting on a major motion affecting the City of Toronto’s protocol for towers under 15 Meters in height which are currently exempt from public consultation by federal guidelines. The motion is Item 29.8 Review of City Protocol for Telecommunications Towers Under 15 Metres in Height (CLICK HERE).
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Monday November 4th, 2013 there will be a City council meeting where Toronto Public Health will vote on the recommendation from the Medical Officer of Health to remove Toronto Public Health’s prudent avoidance policy for wireless/RF radiation arising from cell tower emissions. Let the Board of Health know that you want the Prudent Avoidance Policy to remain in place because you do not want the fate of all Torontonians to rely on Health Canada’s antiquated Safety Code 6.
Health Canada’s Safety Code 6 is the exposure guidelines for the cumulative limit of wireless/RF radiation exposure to the human body. It governs the emissions from cell phones, cell towers and antenna, WiFi, smart meters, as well as consumer goods such as cordless phones and baby monitors. It was put in place in the 1980’s, based on tests done to a 220lb mannequin on 6 minutes of exposure, does not take into account children, or biological effects at all and is embroiled in a national conflicted controversy unfolding in Ottawa at the moment. It is one of the worst in world today leaving Torontonians and Canadians at the mercy of industry. Learn more HERE.
Prudent avoidance is a precautionary principle in risk management, stating that reasonable efforts to minimise potential risks should be taken when the actual magnitude of the risks is unknown. In this case it takes the form of wireless radiation (EMR/RF) dictated in a document called Safety Code 6.
Toronto Board of Health is voting on the irresponsible recommendation to remove prudent avoidance [PA] for human exposure to Microwave/EMF radiation emissions from wireless antennas. Prudent Avoidance in Toronto is currently 100 times lower emissions than the federal standard, Safety Code 6 (SC6) in line with China and Russia, and even tighter restrictions on emissions in Switzerland, Italy, Belgium, Bulgaria, and Luxemburg. Removing Toronto’s prudent avoidance would not be a good thing.
Please come out and support:
Toronto City Hall
West Wing
100 Queen Street West
Toronto, ON, M5H 2N2
Meeting Room 1, 2nd Floor between 2pm-4pm on Monday 4th November.
You can also contact the Toronto Public Health Complaints Officer
Call: 416-338-7600
Email: tphfeedback@toronto.ca
Fax: 416-338-8061, Attention Toronto Public Health Complaints Officer
Mail: Toronto Public Health Complaints Officer, 277 Victoria St, 4th Floor, Toronto, ON, M5B 1W2
This report responds to a motion by the Board of Health (BOH) to review the City of Toronto's Prudent Avoidance (PA) policy related to radiofrequencies (RFs) emitted from cell phone towers and to provide an update on evidence regarding public health impacts from exposure to cell tower RFs. Under the policy, adopted by City Council in 2008 as recommended by the BOH, Toronto Public Health (TPH) reviews the predicted RF values provided by companies applying to install new cell phone base stations (cell towers) in Toronto and requests that providers keep RF emission levels 100 times below Safety Code 6, Health Canada's public exposure guideline. Compliance with the PA policy is voluntary as the authority to regulate cell phone towers (including siting and the development of appropriate RF exposure levels) rests with the federal government.
Since 2008, 33 applications for towers have been assessed by TPH and compliance with the PA policy has been high. With few exceptions, RF emissions estimates typically have met the PA policy level and all have been well below Safety Code 6. The application of the policy is however restricted to a relatively small subset of cell towers in the City that are subject to municipal consultation and enforceability is constrained by a lack of municipal jurisdiction.
From its review of recent health evidence, TPH notes that the majority scientific opinion indicates that the health risk to the public from cell towers and other telecommunications sources of RFs is low.
Toronto Public Health responds regularly to resident concerns and councillor inquiries about cell phone towers and antennas. Response strategies have involved site visits, requesting information on emissions from the provider and/or Industry Canada and most recently, taking field measurements of RFs from specific antennas. The information reviewed by TPH has indicated that the RF levels from these antenna systems have consistently been well below Safety Code 6 and have met the PA policy level. Based on a review of evidence and TPH's experience implementing the policy, continued application of the PA policy in the form of a stricter exposure guideline is no longer necessary as it does not confer a health benefit to the residents of Toronto. The Medical Officer of Health therefore recommends that the Board support discontinuation of the PA policy. Toronto Public Health will continue to monitor the health evidence related to RFs from cell towers and will continue to respond to and address public concerns as they arise.
Click HERE to read the Full Recommendation to Toronto Council to Remove PA
Click HERE to read the Toronto Public Health Full Report
As a concerned Torontonian, it is of critical importance that you write an email (on the right hand side of this page) and/or call your Councillor COPYING all Councillors across Toronto to explain why you are concerned about this, and to make it clear that you do not support removal of Toronto’s Prudent Avoidance Policy, and that you want your Councillor to also not support removal.
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Loren Vanderlinden
Manager, Healthy Public Policy
Email: lvander@toronto.ca
Monica Campbell
Director, Healthy Public Policy
Email: mcampbe2@toronto.ca
Reg Ayre
Manager, Healthy Environments
Email: rayre@toronto.ca
Melanie Azeff
Public Health Inspector
Email: mazeff@toronto.ca
Dr. David McKeown
The Medical Officer of Health for the City of Toronto
Email: dmckeown@toronto.ca
Toronto Public Health Complaints Officer
Email: tphfeedback@toronto.ca
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Councillor Joe Mihevc (Chair)
Email: councillor_mihevc@toronto.ca
Councillor Raymond Cho
Email: councillor_cho@toronto.ca
Councillor Sarah Doucette (Vice Chair)
Email: councillor_doucette@toronto.ca
Councillor John Filion
Email: councillor_filion@toronto.ca
Councillor Gord Perks
Email: @toronto.ca
Councillor Wong-Tam
Email: councillor_wongtam@toronto.ca
Trustee Pamela Gough
Email: @toronto.ca
Abdul Fattah
Email: @toronto.ca
David Laws
Email: @toronto.ca
Suman Roy
Email: @toronto.ca
Jennifer Sarjeant
Email: @toronto.ca
Rumina Velshi
Email: @toronto.ca
Clerk
Email: clerk@toronto.ca
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UPDATE: Toronto Board Of Health REJECTS the recommendation from the Medical Officer of Health Dr David McKeown to drop Prudent Avoidance. On Monday November 4th, 2013 The Toronto Board of Health heard deputations from C4ST and concerned citizens regarding this unexplainable recommendation to drop Prudent Avoidance to instead trust in Safety Code 6 and Health Canada which is in the midst of a national controversy.
The Board of Health voted 4-4 (not the majority required) to reject recommendation #1 to drop Prudent Avoidance, and passed the two recommendations seen below.
Health Canada’s Safety Code 6 is the exposure guidelines for the cumulative limit of wireless/RF radiation exposure to the human body. It governs the emissions from cell phones, cell towers and antenna, WiFi, smart meters, as well as consumer goods such as cordless phones and baby monitors. It was put in place in the 1980’s, based on tests done to a 220lb mannequin on 6 minutes of exposure, does not take into account children, or biological effects at all and is embroiled in a national conflicted controversy unfolding in Ottawa at the moment. It is one of the worst in world today leaving Torontonians and Canadians at the mercy of industry. Learn more HERE.
Prudent avoidance is a precautionary principle in risk management, stating that reasonable efforts to minimise potential risks should be taken when the actual magnitude of the risks is unknown. In this case it takes the form of wireless radiation (EMR/RF) dictated in a document called Safety Code 6.
Toronto Board of Health voted on The Medical Officer Of Health’s recommendation to remove prudent avoidance [PA] for human exposure to Microwave/EMF radiation emissions from wireless antennas. Prudent avoidance in Toronto is currently 100 times more protective than the federal standard, Safety Code 6 (SC6), is in line with China and Russia and even tighter restrictions on emissions in Switzerland, Italy, Belgium, Bulgaria, and Luxemburg.
The Board of Health encouraged Industry Canada to:
The Board of Health encouraged Health Canada to continue to use prudence and to actively review health evidence including most recent scientific research and studies and to allow public and expert consultation pertaining to human exposure to RFs and to revise Safety Code 6 whenever appropriate to protect human health.
City Council discontinue the prudent avoidance policy wherein the City requests that radiofrequencies from cellular phone base stations are kept 100 times below Safety Code 6 in areas where the public normally spends time;
Click HERE to read the minutes from the November 4th Toronto Board of Health Meeting
Click HERE to read the Full Recommendation to Toronto Council to Remove PA
Click HERE to read the Toronto Public Health Full Report
Thank you to all that supported our efforts to retain Prudent Avoidance. Although not enforceable on a municipal level currently, this decision by Toronto Board of Health reconfirms Toronto as a leading City in Canada re concerns around RF exposure. It sends a clear message to Health Canada and Industry Canada that the largest City in Canada wants better regulations to protect its citizens.