While Ottawa and industry continue to peddle the notion that it is still inconclusive about the alleged dangers posed by wireless technology, despite the availability of overwhelming scientific data that it is harmful, Canadian school children—the most vulnerable of all Canadians—suffer the most.

Last week, British scientist Barrie Trower, a former naval weapons expert, rang the alarm bell at the University of Toronto about the immediate dangers posed by Wi-Fi to school children exposed to it. He warned that future generations could face genetic disorders as a result of prolonged exposure to low-level radiation waves.

The warning comes just weeks after a group of Ontario parents went public that their kids were coming home from school sick, possibly as a result of wireless radiation emissions from Internet routers in the schools.

Shockingly and without any regard for erring on the side of caution, some critics downplayed the claims and said kids were just making excuses in an attempt to get out of school. Others said that Wi-Fi is everywhere and it makes no difference if we turn it off in the schools. But isn't reducing exposure the first step? When smoking was proven to be harmful, there was not an outright ban overnight. It took a long time and small steps to eventually minimize human exposure to toxic cigarette smoke. Wi-Fi, or more accurately, electro-smog, should be treated the same way.

Unfortunately, the Simcoe County School Board in Ontario sided with Ottawa and Industry Canada's flawed, outdated Safety Code 6 and quickly stifled the alarm. It said it would not remove the wireless infrastructure from schools.

Another school in Ontario, Brock University, was warned this week by Prof. David Fancy about Wi-Fi health dangers.

Trower, now a professor at Dartmoor College, said in the Ottawa Citizen last week, “When I realized these same frequencies and powers (as weapons during the Cold War) were being used as Wi-Fi in schools, I decided to come out of retirement and travel around the world free-of-charge and explain exactly what the problem is going to be in the future.”

He went on to say that children are affected differently than adults when exposed to wireless emissions and said “low-level microwaves can damage the ovaries in girls.”

“That girl could have a genetically deformed child, and that could be carried through generations,” Trower said.

“You are not just risking the current health of your children, you are risking the future generations of your children.”

Predictably, Health Canada issued a statement last week strumming the old “everything is OK, there's nothing to see here” line, holding up Safety Code 6 as their “proof.”

The recent debate wouldn't be the first time concern has been brought up in Canada over wireless emission safety. In 2003, the Vancouver School Board banned any future cellphone tower masts from being put up on its property. What's more, the International Association of Fire Fighters (IAFF) placed a ban on using fire halls as base stations for cellphone and microwave towers. The IAFF produced a lengthy, scholarly report citing dozens of reports by scientists who have carried out studies showing the negative biological effects as a result of exposure to low-level electromagnetic radiation.

So, why haven't B.C. school boards put the students first in this matter, erred on the side of caution, and set the precedent in Canada? After all, British Columbia does have a reputation for being the most health-conscious.