1) Many of us have written to Health Canada with information about studies and asking them for information, only to get letters from Tim Singer that are filled with inaccurate, dated, or just plain industry information. One of our members has asked Health Canada to provide Mr. Singer’s curriculum vitae to see what education or experience he has which would make him the expert he presents himself to be. The response below from Health Canada is very interesting, and know that the member will continue to pursue this.
2) I wrote to the federal Minister of Health and Minister of ISED informing them about French and American studies of cell phones in which many of the most-used cellphones exceeded the very high allowable SAR limits. I am sharing the response from ISED, which I find significant. Forget about the fact that he says the usual misrepresentations, inaccuracies that we get from all levels of government. Notice that he admits that the SAR limits were set to prevent tissue heating. I believe this is the first time we have this acknowledgement in writing. His letter and my response are below.
3) A member has been in touch with her MLA, Sonia Furstenau, to ask for help in keeping her analog while under the threat of disconnection. According to this member, Ms. Furstenau has offered to lend her support but believes if she gets emails from many people in the same position (regardless of area of the province), her voice will be louder. So please, if you are being threatened with disconnection or if you have been, while fighting to keep your analog, please write to your MLA [https://stopsmartmetersbc.com/z/bc-contact-e-mail-lists/] and copy “Sonia Furstenau” <soniafurstenau@gmail.com>.
(click on photos to enlarge)
BC Hydro and the government feel that the smeter issue is dead. It isn’t. There are many people who write me each day telling me they have been threatened and that, for one reason or another — e.g. due to health problems that could be exacerbated by exposure to RF or increased EMF, due to the fear that smeters are fire hazards, or that the smeters are the key to 5G — they are desperate to keep their analogs. After paying the extortion fee for nearly 6 years, this is how BC Hydro is treating its customers. I would suggest you include Ken Duke, Counsel for BC Hydro (ken.duke@bchydro.com) . This is an issue of ethical, fair treatment and I believe we have not been treated fairly from the start, but now BC Hydro is going beyond all bounds with disconnections to force its smeters on a “customer” without concern for health or safety.
4) Paul LeMay is organizing events for Dr. Martin Pall and Dr. Anthony Miller in Ontario over the next few days. He has asked the Toronto School Board to allow these 2 distinguished scientists to discuss wireless radiation at the Sept. 18 Board meeting. His letter is below. If you have friends or family in Toronto, please share with them and encourage them to call to their trustees to see if this has been allowed, and to attend if it has been.
Letters:
From: “Martin Proulx” <martin.proulx@canada.ca>
To: Sharon Noble
Cc: “Martin Proulx” <martin.proulx@canada.ca>
Sent: Monday, September 16, 2019 7:48:00 AM
Subject: Cell Phones and Radio Frequency Exposure
Dear Ms. Noble:
I am writing in response to your email of September 4, 2019, regarding cell phones and radio frequency (RF) exposure.
Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada (ISED) has adopted Health Canada’s Safety Code 6 (2015) as the Canadian RF exposure limits for wireless devices and their associated infrastructure. The Canadian limits are set far below the threshold (at least 50-fold safety margin) for all known established adverse health effects and provide protection for all age groups, including children, on a continuous basis (24 hours a day, seven days a week).
Health Canada’s scientific evidence indicates that the threshold for adverse health effects is much higher than the peak specific absorption rate (SAR) limit of 1.6 W/kg for cell phones. However, as a precautionary measure, the peak SAR limit in Safety Code 6 was set to more than 50 times below the level at which excessive tissue heating could occur in the most sensitive tissue (the eye). This means that the peak SAR limits in Safety Code 6 would need to be exceeded by a factor of more than 50 before one would see any thermally related adverse health effects.
Furthermore, Canada’s approach to cell phone safety testing is among the most stringent in the world. ISED requires that all manufacturers of wireless products, including cell phones, meet the regulatory requirements set forth in its technical standards. ISED’s technical standards are based on recognized international testing procedures that have been adopted by most countries around the world. When cell phones are tested for compliance, they are tested at full power for the duration of the test. In reality, cell phones operate at much lower power levels, to preserve battery life, maximize call time and avoid network interference. As such, under normal operating conditions, a cell phone yields much lower SAR levels than levels measured during compliance testing performed in laboratory settings.
ISED also maintains a market surveillance program, which audits routinely a sampling of wireless devices on the Canadian market to ensure that wireless devices available to Canadians continue to meet Health Canada’s Safety Code 6.
Additional information on Radiofrequency Energy and Safety can be found on our website.
Please accept my best wishes.
Sincerely,
Martin Proulx
Director General, Engineering, Planning and Standards Branch
SPECTRUM AND TELECOMMUNICATIONS SECTOR
Innovation, Science and Economic Development / Government of Canada
Martin.Proulx@canada.ca / Tel: 343-291-1500 / TTY: 1-866-694-8389
*******************************************
From: “Sharon Noble”
To: “Martin Proulx” <martin.proulx@canada.ca>
Cc: “Ginette PetitpasTaylor” <Ginette.PetitpasTaylor@parl.gc.ca>, “ised minister-ministre isde” <ised.minister-ministre.isde@canada.ca>
Sent: Monday, September 16, 2019 9:33:35 AM
Subject: Cell Phones and Radio Frequency Exposure
Dear Mr. Proulx,
I do appreciate receiving your response.
I am surprised to learn that ISED does routine sampling of wireless devices. Could you please provide me with the results of those done over the last 4 years? As per my initial letter, many of the most common models and brands, through independent testing in France and the US, were found to exceed SAR emissions standards that are higher than those set by Safety Code 6 even at some distance from the body. The Canadian public would be reassured to know that their cell phones are superior and safer than those used in the United States.
SAR laboratory studies normally are performed at some distance from the head using a “model” that is atypical of the vast majority of the Canadian adults. SAR testing does not mimic how cell phones are normally used or carried, especially by children. Companies are mandated to state in their manuals that phones should never be near the body (not just the head) when in use, but these warnings are not readily available or visible to the people who use these devises. Has ISED taken the step, in its effort to ensure cell phone safety, amended its testing protocol to more closely replicate exposure during normal usage or does it follow the “standard” used by industry?
Granted health and biological effects of RF radiation are not in your purview or area of expertise, but I am sure that you would not want to provide inaccurate information to those with whom you communicate.
Many of the statements that are in your letter below [above] are contrary to what has been found and reported by many independent experts over the years. You acknowledge that Safety Code 6 applies to thermal effects yet thousands of studies have shown biological effects/harm at levels far below the exposure level that produces heating. Two very recent studies, each done over 10 years and costing more than $25 million US, have shown that exposure to RF radiation at levels far below those allowed by Safety Code 6 can cause various cancers, e.g. glioblastomas and schwannomas of the heart. One was done by the U.S. National Institute of Health, National Toxicology Project https://www.niehs.nih.gov/health/materials/cell_phone_radiofrequency_radiation_studies_508.pdf
The second was done by the world-renowned Ramazzini Institute in Italy and confirmed the findings of the NTP study at exposure levels that were mere fractions of those allowed by SC 6. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/29530389
Unfortunately even 2 years after the results were announced, Health Canada has failed to review its current stance or even to revise its website to inform Canadians about these significant studies.
I give you all of this, Mr. Proulx, to let you know that the information you are relaying to correspondents is inaccurate and based on antiquated or non-independent data.
I look forward to receiving the results of the ISED sampling at your earliest convenience.
Regards,
Sharon Noble
___________________________________________________________________________
Please read the letter below this one first, the one from Ms. Hebert-Jodoin.
From: Hans Karow (name given with permission)
Sent: September-14-19 10:24 PM
To: ‘christinen.smith@canada.ca’
Subject: RE: Your Access to Information request with Health Canada (A-2019-000863)
Thank you very much for your information.
In another words, there is no way to find out about Tim Singer’s educational background, especially his accreditation about the electromagnetic radiation issues emanating from power lines and telecommunication antennas?
If that is the case, please provide the legal references that the Office of the Information Commissioner of Canada is indeed not allowed by which law or regulation to disclose the educational background and all previous employments history of any Health Canada employee.
Thank you, and I definitely will like to get back to your office after your response.
Sincerely,
Hans Karow
******************************
From: Hébert-Jodoin, Geneviève (HC/SC) [mailto:genevieve.hebert-jodoin@canada.ca]
Sent: September-11-19 7:30 AM
To: Hans Karow
Subject: Your Access to Information request with Health Canada (A-2019-000863)
Our file: A-2019-000863 / CS
Hans Karow
Dear Hans Karow:
This is to acknowledge receipt of your request made under the Access to Information Act (the Act) for the following information:
Provide the curriculum vitae for {Tim Singer}, Director General, Environmental and Radiation Health Sciences Directorate Health Canada / Government of Canada {tim.singer@canada.ca} / Please also provide the educational background and the whole employment history.
Your request and application fee were received by our office on September 10, 2019, however, we are unable to proceed with your request as stated. Under the Act, Health Canada may not disclose the personal information of an individual (other than the requester) via an Access to Information request. While there are some limited exceptions, they would not apply to most of your request.
Specifically, the only elements of Tim Singer’s curriculum vitae that are not already public knowledge which we could disclose to you under the law are those dealing specifically with his employment with the government of Canada. Anything else would be considered Tim Singer’s personal information, and would have to be protected as a result.
As a result, it may be preferable to reduce the scope of your request exclusively to Tim Singer’s employment history with the government of Canada. Alternatively, we could proceed with your request as written, but this would likely result in significant processing delay as we would then have to identify and redact all of Tim Singer’s personal information.
The processing of your request will start once this question has been resolved. In the meantime, your request will be put on hold. Should we not hear from you by October 11, 2019, we will consider your request abandoned and the file will be closed.
Please contact the undersigned either by phone at (613) 862-6063, by email at christinen.smith@canada.ca or by fax at (613) 941-4541, with reference to our file number cited above. In the event that our program officials require clarification of your request in order to properly identify the relevant records, you will be contacted by us.
Health Canada is committed to assist you with your request and will ensure that every reasonable effort is made to help you receive a complete, accurate and timely response. More information about the Principles for Assisting Applicants is available at: https://www.tbs-sct.gc.ca/pol/doc-eng.aspx?id=18310#appC
Please be advised that you are entitled to complain to the Office of the Information Commissioner of Canada concerning the processing of your request within 60 days of the receipt of this notice. In the event you decide to avail yourself of this right, your notice of complaint can be made online at: https://www.oic-ci.gc.ca/en/submitting-complaint or by mail to:
Office of the Information Commissioner of Canada
30 Victoria Street
Gatineau, Quebec K1A 1H3
We are happy to be able to offer you a new and fast way to receive answers to your inquiries at no additional cost to you. EPOST Connect is a secure messaging service that protects your documents, files and messages (see attached). As a result, your identity and all information sent to our office will be protected, and your privacy rights will be respected at all times under the Privacy Act.
Once you have created your EPOST Connect account, we ask that you inform our office by email at: hc.atip-aiprp.sc@canada.ca
Yours sincerely,
Geneviève Hébert-Jodoin
Junior Analyst, Access to Information and Privacy
Health Canada and the Public Health Agency of Canada / Government of Canada
genevieve.hebert-jodoin@canada.ca / Tel (343) 549-1454
___________________________________________________________________________
Dear Toronto District School Board Trustees,
I am a Vancouver-based independent science writer who has taken on the responsibility of coordinating a number of Ontario events for a distinguished professor emeritus from Washington State University, Martin Pall, PhD, who along with Dr. Anthony Miller, an epidemiologist professor emeritus from the University of Toronto, were formally invited by Queen’s University’s Faculty of Engineering and Applied Science to present talks on the effects of wireless technology on human health on Friday, September 20th, 2019. (Dr. Pall is one of the world’s experts on the effects of wireless radiation on human health, and is a most sought after speaker to international scientific conferences. His more recent published work can be gleaned on PubMed.)
Given this fact, Dr. Pall will be able to brief TDSB Trustees on this important topic when he is in Toronto on September 18. Thus, I send this e-mail to request that Dr. Pall be given the opportunity to brief the TDSB Trustees at their upcoming meeting on September 18.
If time allows, I would also like to request if Dr. Miller might also address the Trustees during this same occasion. Dr. Miller is the lead co-author of a peer-reviewed paper published in Environmental Research in November 2018, wherein it was recommended that wireless radiation be re-classified from its current Group 2B carcinogen classification as prepared by the expert IARC (International Agency for Research on Cancer) panel in 2011, to a Group 1 carcinogen. Dr. Miller sat on that original 2011 panel. This implies that it is only a matter of time before the W.H.O. reconvenes the IARC panel and revisits the matter, or before personal injury case lawyers begin to take legal actions against government bodies for recompense.
Thus, the foregoing e-mail may come as something of an informational shock to you all. Owing to now convincing scientific evidence (despite what Health Canada or telecom industry spokespeople might now claim), within the next few years, current wireless technology such as WiFi units will very likely be yanked from all schools, libraries, hospitals and every publicly funded facility, just as cigarettes were banned from all work places some 25-30 years ago. Moreover, in the interim, owing to this same scientific evidence, all publicly funded facilities could be potentially found to be liable for the harms caused to individuals, whether they be teachers, staff or students, if they fail to take remedial steps sooner rather than later.
This implies a need for the TDSB to now seriously consider the alternatives, such as fully internet wired schools in the near term, and in the longer term, a plan to call for the use of safer LiFi infrared line-of-sight wireless technology development now in development, where wireless is actually deemed “necessary”.
I look forward to your collective response, and some sense of the time they might be afforded to speak.
Paul H. LeMay
Sharon Noble, Director, Coalition to Stop Smart Meters
“Those who have the privilege to know have the duty to act.” ~ A. Einstein