Begin forwarded message:
Subject: Woman passes through Peterborough on Sarnia-Ottawa march to protest electromagnetic radiation
Reply-To: Melissa <melissa_rama@yahoo.ca>
News Local
By Brendan Wedley, Peterborough Examiner
Wendy Hoy, centre, stands with her supporters who are fighting against cellphone towers near homes and wireless Internet in schools. Hoy is walking from the Sarnia area to Ottawa to protest exposure to electromagnetic radiation. BRENDAN WEDLEY/PETERBOROUGH EXAMINER/QMI AGENCYWendy Hoy is broadcasting her message about the sensitivities to electromagnetic radiation from cellphone towers, cordless phones and wireless Internet by walking across the province from the Sarnia area to Ottawa.Hoy, 57, stopped in Peterborough on Wednesday to meet with Mayor Daryl Bennett and march with about 20 local residents who have been fighting against cellphone towers near homes and wireless Internet in schools."We don't have control over what we're exposed to when it comes to these EMFs (electromagnetic fields)," she said in the lobby of City Hall.Hoy explained that she decided to walk from her home in Port Franks to Ottawa to raise awareness about concerns surrounding exposure to EMFs."It's a big challenge to try to change things at a federal level," she said. "We should try to change the situation one heart at a time."Cellphone towers are regulated by Industry Canada and must meet Health Canada's safety standards for exposure to radio frequency emissions.Opponents argue that those standards aren't stringent enough and that Health Canada should match the regulations set by some European countries.Peterborough resident Craig Niziolek said he suffers from electro-sensitivity — when he's near any EMF transmitter, such as a wireless router or a cellphone, he feels pressure on his head and gets pains.Niziolek said when he was recently at a concert a woman standing next to him pulled out her cellphone and he had a shooting pain run up his arm to his chest."I can't use a cellphone without getting a headache," he said.He said doctors couldn't find anything wrong with him, but he did research and discovered that he suffers from electro-sensitivity.After previously working as an electrical technologist, Niziolek now specializes in energy healing and therapeutic touch."I'm very sensitive to energy now," he said.Hoy started her walk after learning in March that a telecommunications company was putting up a cellphone tower in her community and two other towers in nearby communities.She said she wants cellphone towers prohibited in Port Franks, Ont. to make the community a sanctuary for electro-sensitive people.Malini Menon, with Kawartha Safe Technology Initiative, commented that Industry Canada recently approved a new cellphone tower near homes and a school in Peterborough even though residents and city council opposed the location."There are potential health effects," she claimed. "To us, our health is most important."