Member of Parliament: Health Canada “negligent” on Fukushima radiation threats

Health Canada “negligent” on Fukushima nuclear-radiation threats, Liberal MP Joyce Murray claims

Last year, Joyce Murray dyed her hair red to honour cystic fibrosis fighter Eva Markvoort; now, her hair is on fire over the government's response to potential radiation threats to Canadians.

August 4, 2011

The Vancouver Quadra Liberal MP has criticized Health Canada’s “negligent” job informing Canadians of potential health risks relating to radiation levels following Japan’s Fukushima disaster.

“I think they have been negligent from the perspective of being clear and transparent with Canadians about this issue, right from the beginning,” Joyce Murray told the Georgia Straight by phone.

“And during the election, there were people in Vancouver that were concerned because they couldn’t get the straight story from Health Canada’s website. They felt that the monitoring was very inadequate and there was not clear messaging from Health Canada. I think people do deserve to have a straightforward assessment. If there’s little risk, that should be backed up.”

In his story in today’s (August 4) Straight, Alex Roslin noted that despite sustained levels of iodine-131 that far exceeded allowable levels, “government officials claimed there was nothing to worry about”.

“The quantities of radioactive materials reaching Canada as a result of the Japanese nuclear incident are very small and do not pose any health risk to Canadians,” Roslin quoted Health Canada as saying on its website. “The very slight increases in radiation across the country have been smaller than the normal day-to-day fluctuations from background radiation.”

Health Canada did not respond to Roslin’s requests for an interview.

http://www.straight.com/article-417716/vancouver/health-canada-negl...

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Comment by LYNN SHEDLER on August 10, 2011 at 3:57am: I asked my Doctor about radiation coming to Canada and he said: "it'll never happen". I felt like saying: "Of course it will!!" Therefore, Doctors don't know everything. It's all how the wind is blowing and Vancouver is so close to Washington. If it's happening to the U.S. - then it will happen to Canada...

Comment by truth on August 5, 2011 at 1:37pm: Japan’s Fukushima catastrophe brings big radiation spikes to B.C.

Gordon Edwards, president of the Canadian Coalition for Nuclear Responsibility, says that while radiation coming from Fukushima will lead to higher cancer rates among Canadians, the risk posed to individuals is very small.
After Japan’s Fukushima catastrophe, Canadian government officials reassured jittery Canadians that the radioactive plume billowing from the destroyed nuclear reactors posed zero health risks in this country.

In fact, there was reason to worry. Health Canada detected massive amounts of radioactive material from Fukushima in Canadian air in March and April at monitoring stations across the country.

The level of radioactive iodine spiked above the federal maximum allowed limit in the air at four of the five sites where Health Canada monitors levels of specific radioisotopes.

On March 18, seven days after an earthquake and tsunami triggered eventual nuclear meltdowns at the Fukushima Daiichi plant in Japan, the first radioactive material wafted over the Victoria suburb of Sidney on Vancouver Island.

For 22 days, a Health Canada monitoring station in Sidney detected iodine-131 levels in the air that were 61 percent above the government’s allowable limit. In Resolute Bay, Nunavut, the levels were 3.5 times the limit.
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http://www.straight.com/article-415211/vancouver/fukushima-brings-b...