Montreal’s representatives on the agglomeration council voted unanimously to impose the change on demerged suburbs.
Montreal voted to stop fluoridating tap water in the West Island by early 2025 during a tense agglomeration council meeting Thursday.
“It’s a polarizing subject,” said city councillor Maja Vodanovic. “We have people on our side who are fervently against it, and you are for it,” she added, explaining that this has been a 70-year debate since the West Island introduced fluoridated tap water in the 1950s.
The city made the move out of concerns for employee safety and high maintenance costs, as well as questions about its health effects. Fluoridation of water has been shown to reduce tooth decay by 25 per cent in children and adults, according to the Public Health Agency of Canada. But studies have suggested a potential link between high concentrations of fluoride in water and lower IQs in children.
Alex Bottausci, mayor of Dollard-des-Ormeaux, said unilaterally deciding without consulting West Island officials is “simply disrespectful … especially on a topic that does not affect your residents, but our residents.”
Water treatment plants in Pointe-Claire and Dorval, the only ones using fluoridation, supply about five per cent of drinking water on the island of Montreal.
“I feel bad for you. But this was the decision, and this is democracy,” Vodanovic said, adding that Montreal would like to work better with surrounding cities, and is open to working more closely with the demerged cities in the future.