Safety Code 6 – Call to Action

September 27th, 2013 UPDATE: A new chair, as well as two new members have been confirmed for the expert panel reviewing Safety Code 6. The new Chair of the Panel, effective immediately, is Dr. Paul Demers, Professor with the Dalla Lana School of Public Health at the University of Toronto and Clinical Professor with the University of British Columbia. Additionally, Dr. Bryan Kolb, FRSC, a neuroscientist from the University of Lethbridge, and Dr. Anne-Marie Nicol, the Principal Investigator of the CAREX Canada Project, from Simon Fraser University, will also join the panel. Drs. Kolb and Nicol will assume the roles vacated by Dr. Brian Christie and Dr. Louise Lemyre, who are unable to continue with the project for personal family reasons and academic commitments. Full biographies of all panellists are available here.

The public consultation will be held in Ottawa on Monday, October 28. Additional details will appear in this space shortly. The RSC will directly contact those individuals who have previously been confirmed to speak at the session. Additional invitations will then be extended. Written submissions from members of the public continue to be encouraged. For further details, please consult the RSC protocols for public consultations.

August 8th, 2013 UPDATE: Concerns have flared over possible conflicts of interest of a second member of a panel chosen by the Royal Society of Canada to examine safety levels for cell towers, cellphones and wireless devices.
Second Wi-Fi Panel Member’s Conflicts are Problematic

August 6th, 2013 UPDATE:  The first article written in response to the Moulder Conflict.
Safety Review Panel Suffers from Conflict of Interest

July 29th, 2013 UPDATE:  A second scientist is under fire for conflict-of-interest on a panel examining safety levels for cell towers, cell phones and WiFi in Canada.
Conflict of Interest Shakes Canadas Review of Wireless and Cell Phone Safety

An update to the report done by the RSC in 1999 (below) this update was completed in 2001-2003.
Updated RSC Panel Review of SC6

Attached below is the last review of Safety Code 6 (1999) by the conflicted panel of the RSC. A must read if you haven’t seen it.
RSC Panel Review of SC6 – 1999

July 19th, 2013 UPDATE: Facing public controversy over a potential conflict of interest revealed in a CMAJ investigation, the chair of a Royal Society of Canada panel reviewing federal safety guidelines for Wi-Fi, cellphones and other radiofrequency devices has stepped aside. Read the full article here.

July 16th, 2013 UPDATE: Letter written to Dr. Yolande Grise, President of the RSC, re Conflict of Interest on the Expert Panel Review of Safety Code 6: Potential Health Risks of Radiofrequency Fields from Wireless Telecommunications Devices. Also contained in this letter is significant evidence as to why Dr. John Moulder is yet another conflicted panel member.
Letter to RSC President

July 10th, 2013 UPDATE: Dr. Daniel Krewski has resigned from his role as chair of the “independent” federal government panel to study potential Wi-Fi health effects after allegations surfaced that he had previously received a substantial government contract.
Panel Chair Resigns

July 9th, 2013 UPDATE: The Royal Society of Canada has postponed the July 8th meeting to a date yet to be determined but is anticipated to be later this Summer.
July 8th Consulation Delayed (Notice)

June 26th. 2013 UPDATE: Below is the response being given by MP offices at this time re the RSC conflict.
MP Response re RSC Conflict can be found here.

June 20th, 2013 UPDATE: The Canadian Medical Association Journal has just published an article calling out the Royal Society of Canada for undisclosed conflicts of interest re the panel chair and other members charged with reviewing Health Canada’s Safety Code 6. Due to public concern as well as the CMAJ investigation the Royal Society of Canada is currently “reconsidering only” its decision to appoint University of Ottawa professor Daniel Krewski to chair the panel, after it was uncovered he failed to disclose a $126,000 contract in 2008-2009 from industry Canada. This amount was apparently paid to him to assist in addressing what the Department believes is opposition often based on misperception and misinformation and  to convince Canadians that Safety Code 6 is legitimate.  Highlights of this contract can be found here.

According to Flynn, who chairs the society’s Committee on Expert Panels and its Scientific Advisory Committee “I am confident that the existing panel, working with a wide variety of inputs and subject to peer review of its report, will make a fair assessment of Safety Code 6 and make sensible recommendations for changes.”

Read the full CMAJ article here »

Despite national news coverage and interest, at this time the Royal Society are not disbanding the panel, and are proceeding with their flawed review as planned.

They have set aside one day only – July 8thNEW DATE TO BE DETERMINED BUT ANTICIPATED TO BE LATER THIS SUMMER as a day for citizens to provide input to be considered. This is where we need you!

Given that they are restricting input to one day and allocating speaking opportunities on a first come, first served basis, we do not believe it likely that all registrants will be able to speak. However, just as importantly, we want to track and make public the desire of Canadians to have reasonable input in this process, the number allowed to delegate, as well as those not permitted. Video conferencing is allowed, so you will not have to travel to Ottawa.

Although this process is fundamentally flawed in that their criteria & bibliography have not been made public so as to allow informed public consultation, we are nonetheless keen to delegate and show Canada and those in charge just how big an issue this is. We will continue to push towards a proper evaluation and update of Safety Code 6.

Thank you again for helping us bring awareness to this disturbing process that Health Canada has chosen to update a very outdated safety code that is failing to protect Canadians everywhere.