Canada: Trustee's cell-tower opposition a huge step

Bron: www.oceansidestar.com/opinion/trustee-s-cell-tower-opposition-a-huge-step-1.1753105 .
5 febr. 2015

It was just one letter, not even much-discussed in public before it was sent, but it may reverberate through the ether for a long time.

The trustees of School District 69 voted to send a letter opposing a proposed Telus cell tower because it's too close to Oceanside Elementary, occupied five days a week by some 450 children from kindergarten to Grade 7. Their opposition was a ''precautionary measure,'' the trustees said in their letter to Industry Canada, Telus and the Regional District of Nanaimo: ''Young developing minds could be at risk.''

News of the letter has shot like a jolt of electricity through a community long ridiculed as

''the tinfoil hat brigade.''

It began with just a few people complaining that radiation from cell phones and cordless phones was making them sick: headaches, nausea, rashes, a wide range of symptoms. With the proliferation of WiFi and smart meters, their numbers grew.

Still, no matter how much they urged people to consider the science and the warnings from the World Health Organization, they just couldn't get the mainstream to take them seriously.

Now a publicly elected body has voted to exercise the precautionary principle because of the effects cell-tower radiation might have on developing brains.

It's a huge step, and the District 69 trustees are not alone.

The French parliament has passed a law, the first of its kind in the world, requiring the mapping of all cell-tower locations, as well as annual measurements of electromagnetic fields.

It requires that all cell-phone ads must promote the wearing of an accessory that reduces exposure of the head to radiofrequency radiation or risk a fine of more than $100,000. Vendors must provide these devices to children under 14 upon request.

Wireless internet, or WiFi, is prohibited in places dedicated to the welcome, rest and activities of children under age three.

The law requires as well that wireless access for internet in elementary schools must be disabled when not in use for teaching.

This last requirement is something local trustees are now obliged to address.

If they have exercised the precautionary principle in relation to a cell tower, how can they rationalize bathing children in WiFi radiation for six or more hours a day?

But let's not pick on the trustees. What about the cell towers approved by local councils in residential areas?

We're not going to give up our cell phones and other wireless devices but it seems we're finally waking up to the fact that there may be ways to use them more safely, thanks to those courageous foot soldiers in the brigade.



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