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Parent Category: Letters

Dear Mr. Martin Weatherall:

On behalf of the Honourable Maxime Bernier, Minister of Industry, I would like to thank you for your electronic correspondence dated August 31, 2006, regarding health concerns which you believe may be related to radiocommunication facilities in the vicinity of your home in Bright, Ontario.

Industry Canada recognizes the importance of considering the potential impact that radiocommunication antennas and their supporting structures may have on their surroundings. As a result, the Department instituted procedures which gives consideration to the environment; health and safety; and land use consultation. Industry Canada procedures for the siting of antenna structures are outlined in, Client Procedures Circular CPC 2-0-03, "Environmental Process, Radiofrequency Fields and Land-Use Consultation" which is available at our Web site: http://strategis.ic.gc.ca/epic/internet/insmt-gst.nsf/en/sf01031e.html

With respect to the health concerns raised, Industry Canada has implemented procedures within CPC 2-0-03 which requires that all radiocommunication systems, (new and amended) be installed and operated in a manner that complies with Health Canada’s guidelines, entitled: "Limits of Human Exposure to Radiofrequency Electromagnetic Fields in the Frequency Range from 3 kHz to 300 GHz - Safety Code 6." A copy of Safety Code 6 is available at the following Health Canada web site:

http://www.hc-sc.gc.ca/ewh-semt/pubs/radiation/99ehd-dhm237/index_e.html. Specific questions on Safety Code 6, or other matters such as electromagnetic hypersensitivity should be directed to Health Canada at the following address:

Consumer and Clinical Radiation Protection Bureau Health Canada
775 Brookfield Road, A.L 6302C
K1A 1C1

E-mail: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Telephone: (613) 954-6699

In regards to your specific situation, it is my understanding that one of our Spectrum Management officers visited your residence in June 2004. At that time it was determined that there were no nearby radiocommunication facilities operating in your immediate area, and in conjunction with a walk around of your residence, while employing the use of a Safety Code 6 Alerting Device, it was determined that the Safety Code 6 levels for the general public were met.

In response to your recent enquiry and the concerns raised, I would like to indicate that we conducted another review of our licensing data on file and visited your area once more to see if anything had changed from a radio transmitter perspective. Our findings indicated that the closest radiocommunication installation to your residence is slightly over 3 kilometres away. As a result of this distance from your residence, the radiofrequency electromagnetic fields associated with this facility would be well within the SC 6 limits established by Health Canada.

I have noted your request for Industry Canada to complete a full electro magnetic radiation review at your home and would like to indicate that based on our initial visit, the results of our most recent review and the fact that there are no radiocommunication transmitters close to your residence, your request cannot be supported. However, you may want to contact your local health authority to determine if there might be other local issues that may be linked to the problems you are describing other than radio transmitters.

I trust you will find this information helpful. If you have any additional questions, I encourage you to contact Rick Hergott who is the Acting Director of our Central and Western Ontario District. Mr. Hergott can be reached (519) 571-6615 or by e-mail at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

Sincerely,

Doug Prentice
A/Director, Spectrum Management, Ontario Region
Directeur int., Gestion du spectre, Région de l'Ontario
Telephone | Téléphone: 905-428-8218
Facsimile | Télécopieur: 416-973-6272
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Industry Canada, 151 Yonge St., 3rd Floor, Toronto, ON, M5C 2W7
Industrie Canada, 151 rue Yonge, 3e étage, Toronto, ON, M5C 2W7
Government of Canada | Gouvernement du Canada

Website URL: http://www.strategis.gc.ca/spectrum
URL du site Web: http://www.strategis.gc.ca/spectre

Details

Parent Category: Letters

R.R.#3

Bright, Ontario

N0J 1B0

519 463 6251

January 8, 2007

Hon. Stephen Harper

Prime Minister of Canada

Ottawa, Ontario, Canada

Dear Prime Minister Harper:

A scandalous safety situation appears to have been festering in two Federal government departments since the reign of the previous Liberal government. This situation involves a very serious threat to the health and safety of the Canadian population, namely widespread electro-magnetic radiation. It needs immediate and decisive action from you and your Government to correct the problem. We will first detail our personal situation, and then the reasons that we believe there are problems within the Ministries of Industry and Health that are endangering the general populace.

Our Situation

We are asking for your assistance with a severe environmental problem that is affecting our home and has kept us from being able to live there for the last two years. During this time, we have tried to get assistance from various federal and provincial ministries and from Hydro One Networks, with no success.

Forty months ago, we moved from Toronto to our retirement home in the country between Kitchener and Woodstock, Ontario. Within a few weeks, I started to notice unusual health symptoms: I had constant headaches, was unable to sleep, experienced electrical noise that has permanently affected my hearing, and I felt generally unwell. At this stage, I suspected the problem was related to electricity, but could not identify how it was harming me. With time, the symptoms became worse: I had difficulty thinking clearly, became depressed, and developed prostate cancer. In October 2004, we engaged the services of Mr. Dave Stetzer, an electrical specialist from Blair, Wisconsin, USA. He was able to identify and measure high levels of ground current electricity that carried high frequencies. This electricity and high frequency pollution was entering our home from the Hydro One electrical distribution system, not directly by wires but, rather, through and across the ground.

In January of 2005, we moved out of our home because of the harm to which we were exposed and have been living in temporary accommodation ever since. As soon as we moved out of the house, my health improved: I was able to sleep properly, think clearly, and my depression disappeared. We are still often at the house for maintenance and security reasons, and also because we are continually trying to find ways to make the home safe for habitation. During these visits, I frequently suffer symptoms that are related to the further exposure that I receive. To learn more about the electrical pollution that is harming us, I have continually been gathering information from sources around the world. From research papers and other information, I have learned that the symptoms from which I suffer are known as “radio wave or microwave sickness”, a problem first identified during the second world war when personnel were exposed to radar. Research since then has found considerable evidence of cancer and much ill health related to exposure to high amounts of radio frequency radiation.

During the summer of 2006, we engaged the services of Enviratest, a company from Morriston, Ontario that specializes in microwave radiation and electromagnetic radiation. They measured very high amounts of electromagnetic radio-frequency radiation inside of our home and found that it was particularly bad in the bedrooms, where dangerously high levels of pulsed microwave frequencies were located. My exposure to this electromagnetic radiation seems to be the main cause of my illnesses. What remains unknown to us is whether the radiation is entering the house through ground current electricity, whether it is being directly broadcasted from antennas in the area, or whether it is a mixture of the two. We are also trying to discern the reason why the intensity of the radiation inside the house is so much higher than it is outside.

Approximately one month ago, we arranged for Hydro One to remove all electrical connections from their distribution system to our house. We were completely without electrical power for three days. During this time, tests and measurements were conducted inside and outside of our home. With no electricity and no connections to our house, we measured six volts of A/C electricity from our kitchen sink to the furnace diffuser on the kitchen floor. This electricity also carried powerful radio frequencies, which are extremely dangerous. This electrical pollution is known as stray voltage or ground current electricity. A poorly designed Hydro One distribution system and an inadequate neutral return system cause it. Hydro One knows how to resolve this problem, but has refused to correct it. Research has shown that the levels of contact current voltage found in our kitchen is hundreds of times higher than the levels known to cause cell damage related to cancer. The ground current electricity and the radio-frequencies measurements inside of our house remained at the same dangerously high levels during the period that the electricity was shut off.

There are two clear environmental problems affecting our home that we cannot solve:

1. Ground current electricity carrying high frequencies from Hydro One.

2. Excessive and dangerous levels of pulsed microwave radiation and other high frequencies from broadcasting antennas.

These environmental problems are regulated and controlled by the provincial government of Ontario and the federal government of Canada, yet I cannot find a government agency or ministry that will provide any assistance. The federal government agency that regulates the wireless and broadcasting industry has refused to take measurements inside of my house and will not identify the offending frequencies. We have been forced to engage the services of electrical, electromagnetic and radio-frequency experts, consultants who have identified the cause of our environmental problems. We have also purchased various meters to monitor the situation ourselves.

We know that our environmental problem is not unique. Recently, I attended another home in our area where radio-frequency levels similar to our own were found. The family that occupies that house has suffered many serious illnesses including three miscarriages, a death from blood related cancer, and a case of melanoma. A young child cannot sleep in his own room where extremely high levels of radio-frequencies were recently identified. In the past, the cows on this farm could not become pregnant, and they suffered much sickness and would not produce milk. I strongly suspect that there are many other homes and farms that are also being harmed. I am already familiar with several cases in different areas of Canada where people and animals have been significantly and adversely affected. Their lives and their health have suffered greatly and they all need help.

Another place where the effects of electromagnetic radiation should be examined is Brantford, Ontario. I am aware of at least two persons in different areas of the city who are being seriously harmed by electro magnetic radiation. There are also many city employees employed at the Market Square Mall who have symptoms of what I strongly suspect to be microwave sickness.

The probability that similar overexposure to electromagnetic radiation is happening in homes and premises all over Canada makes our situation a critical one that needs to be fully investigated and resolved for the safety of all Canadians. I have gathered a great quantity of research and information that indicates that electromagnetic radiation from a variety of different sources is one of the most significant environmental health threats facing Canada today. If the environmental problems affecting our home can be rectified, the lessons learned can eventually help many other citizens of Canada.

Government Concerns

We have extremely serious concerns about the government employees of the Industry and Health ministries and request that you initiate formal inquiries into their competence.

Industry Canada

Please read the message that I sent to Industry Canada dated 17 August 2006 and then the follow up message that I sent to Maxime Bernier, Minister of Industry, dated 31 August 2006. You will notice that I clearly stated that I had not been able to live in my home for a very considerable period of time and that I believed pulsed microwave radiation to be the cause of my illness. My research indicates that Canadian safety limits for radiofrequency and microwave broadcasting are some of the worst and most dangerous in the world. The limits are not based on the harm that can be done to the human brain, nervous system and cell structure, but simply on measurements of heat generated by an antenna’s power output. This is general knowledge that must surely be known by senior ministry representatives. With this information in mind, please then read the response from Doug Prentice, Acting Director of Spectrum Management, and note the information that he has failed to provide.

I feel that the response that I received from Mr. Prentice is a disgraceful failure to provide assistance to a member of the public. This level of incompetence is unacceptable for any public servant, but even more so in this case because of his high ranking status at Spectrum Canada. If this type of inquiry from the public were a common event, Ministry representatives would logically become alarmed about the health damage occurring as a result of radio frequency overexposure or microwave radiation and government and health authorities would launch a large investigation into the causes. Since, however, I suspect that the vast majority of EMR victims do not write to Industry Canada because they have not been able to identify the true cause of their illnesses, it is more likely that my request for assistance with this problem is a relatively rare event. If this is so, then it leaves me wondering why Spectrum Management refused to investigate the problem or provide any real and material assistance. I can see two clear possibilities.

The first possibility is that Mr. Prentice is, very simply, grossly negligent, failing to fulfill his mandate as a public employee to help the public when they have a critical problem related to his sphere of government work. Can he not meet the responsibilities of his department? Is he is ignoring the health and safety of Canadians? He has ignored our very important inquiry about whether the Hydro One electricity distribution system is bringing dangerous frequencies to our home: this is a question to which I expect an informed response from Spectrum Management. He has also ignored the question of whether Industry Canada has any information about health harm from cell phone masts and broadcasted microwave radiation. If negligence is truly the reason for the feeble reply, can Spectrum Canada be trusted to protect the interests of the Canadian public? Given the serious nature of this very real threat, they are probably putting the lives of many Canadians at great risk. A public inquiry may be necessary to resolve the issue.

The second possibility is far more sinister and worrying. Did Mr. Prentice and Spectrum Canada know that ground current electricity might be bringing dangerous high frequency pollution into our home? Did they already know that homes and buildings located a great distance from the source could amplify and concentrate radio frequencies? Did they already know that the measurement levels were likely to be far higher than the background levels in the area, and did not want to measure the true levels of electromagnetic radiation inside our home for that reason? Were they keeping this information from us because it would reveal that their initial investigation of our home in 2004 was a sham? More importantly, were they concerned that the measurements would indicate that their safety levels are not, in fact, safe? In other words, have Mr. Prentice and Spectrum Canada deliberately tried to mislead us about our particular case and the Canadian government and public about the true dangers?

In countries around the world, there has been clear evidence of cancer clusters and ill health developing around cell phone antennas, radar installations and broadcasting antennas. Yet, in his letter, Mr. Prentice has not responded to my inquiries about whether Industry Canada knows about people suffering from electro hypersensitivity; the cause of this illness; or whether they can provide help or advice pertaining to it. Even if Industry Canada is simply ignoring the evidence of death and illness caused by these installations, they are putting the lives of all Canadians at risk. Is it possible that Spectrum Management and Industry Canada may actually be acting with criminal intent to deceive the Canadian public? If so, I believe that he and they have committed a very serious offence that endangers the Canadian public, requiring both a criminal investigation and a public inquiry.

Health Canada

From his reply to me, you may have noticed that Mr. Prentice, rather than responding to me directly, suggested contacting the Consumer and Clinical Radiation Protection Bureau, Health Canada about electro hypersensitivity. Ironically, this is another government agency that seems to be hiding and falsifying facts concerning electromagnetic radiation. Besides gathering a great deal of evidence to support my concerns about the dangers of electromagnetic radiation, I assist other people who suffer from its affects. During the summer of 2006, I was invited by the victims involved to attend a Council Meeting in Simcoe, Ontario where relatively new antennas were causing ill health. Many residents were present at the meeting and spoke about strange and unpleasant health effects (many similar to my own) that they had experienced since Rogers had installed several cell phone antennas on the water tower in the centre of town.

Mr. Robert Bradley from Health Canada attended the same meeting. As public servants supposedly acting in the best interests of the populace, we were surprised that both he and the representative from Industry Canada sat with the cell phone representative in the meeting and supported the position of Rogers to keep the antennas. During the council meeting, he heard from many Simcoe residents about the terrible health effects they had endured since the antennas were installed. He also heard about scientific research from around the world that showed that cell phone antennas are dangerous to people living and working near to them. And, by virtue of his position, he must be aware that there are people around the world who are becoming electro hypersensitive after cell phone antennas and other strong sources of electromagnetic radiation are installed nearby. Nevertheless, he did not suggest that the precautionary principle should be followed, that the antennas should be moved away from the school, the hospital, the nursing home or the residential area. He did not call for an investigation into the exposure levels from which the citizens were reporting serious and debilitating health effects. Nor did he call for a full health investigation concerning the effects that people were suffering. He obviously did not want to discuss the concerns of anyone reporting health effects from the tower or with any people who are electro hypersensitive. In fact, if I had not been told that he represented Health Canada, I would have thought that he was a paid consultant, working for the wireless industry. Is it possible that he is receiving illegal money to support the wireless industry? Even though he is a representative of Health Canada, he was clearly not interested in the people who were reporting illness related to the cell phone antennas installed on the Simcoe water tower. An inquiry is needed into his actions and his motives.

We have further serious concerns about the conduct of Health Canada employees who made blatant errors during the testing of Graham/Stetzer filters. These plug-in electrical filters have been proven to clean up specific high frequency electrical pollution on wiring. The filters have been used in scientific research that has demonstrated their effectiveness, enabling many sick people to become healthy again. The errors that were made during the testing are well described in the attached document entitled Open letter to Health Canada written by Magda Havas B.Sc., Ph.D. of Trent University. Even after the mistakes were pointed out three months ago, Health Canada has made no public apology or retraction of its report. The erroneous information published by Health Canada may be the result of another serious act of incompetence or, worse, of criminal wrongdoing. This type of misinformation to the Canadian public must be stopped and must be replaced by clear, honest, independent and well researched information.

I am a retired police investigator. I am also part of a volunteer group that helps victims of electrical pollution, and I have gathered a great deal of evidence to support the concerns that are mentioned in this letter. There is very good reason to believe that a great number of Canadians are in serious danger from overexposure to electromagnetic radiation. While I have already mentioned cell phone antennas and other broadcasting sources, there are many other sources of EMR that cause danger in Canadian homes, such as cordless telephones, electrical appliances, WiFi and even some house wiring. A public awareness program could easily assist Canadians with the identification of dangers within their homes and provide them with the simple precautions they can take to make themselves safer. I would gladly meet with your staff to provide further information and research on this subject.

Actions to make Canadians safer can be taken quickly, easily and inexpensively. Some actions for consideration are as follows:

1. Request that all wireless facilities broadcast at the lowest possible levels without serious disruption to service.

2. Commence a program to divert as much wireless broadcasting as possible to land based wire and cable technology. This would decrease EMR emissions and make the environment safer.

3. Open an investigative department that will: (a) review scientific research that shows EMR causing harm to health and the environment (b) investigate the claims of illness caused by EMR and try to identify and rectify the cause (c) investigate and report on ways to assist victims of EMR.

4. Develop an education program to inform health care workers and the public about the dangers of EMR and how to protect people from potential harm.

5. Provide electrical, electromagnetic and radio-frequency detection meters to selected health care workers so that persons with cancer and other serious illnesses can have their homes or their environment checked for safety.

6. Provide funds to hold a conference in Canada (as soon as can be arranged) for the many independent researchers and scientists from around the world who can provide evidence of the harmful health effects of electromagnetic radiation. Such a conference would help to make Canada a leader in the rectification of this dangerous, new environmental situation.

7. Introduce ground current legislation, such as is currently before the Ontario Legislature, to eliminate this environmental hazard.

We have been loyal supporters of the Reform Party, The Canadian Alliance, and your election as Prime Minister. I am impressed by your common sense method of government and the fact that you are trying to clean up government corruption. Your proposed reforms to the criminal justice system should save many Canadian lives and protect a great many others from harm. We are also impressed by your recent interest in addressing environmental issues. One issue that has not been adequately addressed by previous governments is that of electromagnetic pollution in various forms. The critical issue of electro- magnetic radiation endangers many more lives than you can ever hope to save with the justice system reforms. According to knowledgeable, independent researchers with no monetary links or ties to the wireless industry, health problems related to EMR are likely to increase significantly during the next few years. The strain that these health issues could place on the healthcare system may be sufficient to place it in crisis. This is a critical time for Canada; and if we fail to address the dangers from electromagnetic radiation there may be huge monetary and human costs! I encourage you to seek the advice of these experts and researchers and make good decisions based on proven scientific principles. Without swift action from you and the Government, Canadian citizens will be exposed to higher and more dangerous levels of electromagnetic radiation each day.

In conclusion, we ask, first of all, for your assistance so that we will be able to live in our home safely again. We are also concerned, however, about making Canada a safer place to live, and request your leadership with this important health and environmental issue. There are many people who will have a strong interest in your reply. Some are victims whose lives have been severely affected by electromagnetic pollution, but there are also scientists, researchers, and persons simply concerned about the future. Because of this, we are sending this as an open letter that will be widely distributed. We would appreciate an electronic reply by e-mail so that your response can be sent to others. Thank you for your consideration. We look forward to hearing from you in the not too distant future.

Yours sincerely,

Martin Weatherall and Sharon McDonald

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