Budget Silent On Physical Activity And Sport Commitment To Canadians
OTTAWA – The Coalition for Active Living (CAL) is still waiting for Canada’s new government to fulfill it’s election promise to invest in a strong and better Canada by reducing chronic diseases like cancer and heart disease caused by physical inactivity. The organization, which represents over 100 physical activity, recreation and sport organizations across Canada, expressed disappointment that the federal budget gave no indication of how the government will make the investments necessary to reverse the trend of sedentary living and increase health through physical activity.
The commitment that the Conservative Party of Canada made to Canadians in its 2006 election platform “Stand Up for Canada” stated: “The most important part of health care is prevention, including insuring that Canadians, especially children, have proper diet and exercise. A Conservative government will promote a wellness and physical fitness agenda to help Canadians and their children stay fit and healthy. A Conservative government will commit to spending at least one percent of total federal health funding annually on physical activity, including amateur sport and programs for school age children such as the Awards of Excellence program.”
Much work needs to be done to fulfill this pledge, but the recent federal budget fell silent.
“The previous government was good at making promises to invest in physical activity and then not making the necessary investments,” says CAL co-chair Christa Costas-Bradstreet. “We are hopeful that this government is more interested in keeping a commitment, especially one that will benefit the health and well being of our children and families, and ultimately reduce the burden on our health care system.”
The Coalition for Active Living has developed a business plan and shared it with the government. It describes the strategic investments necessary to undertake an aggressive strategy to address the physical inactivity epidemic in Canada. It targets new investments and incentives in areas of strategic emphasis, which will be needed to achieve the pan-Canadian goal of increasing physical activity by 10 percent in every province and territory by 2010. These five points include:
• healthy public policy
• community physical environments that encourage physical activity
• supportive social environments
• public education
• research and knowledge exchange
Recent investments by the federal government in ParticipACTION and the Children’s Fitness Tax Credit are an important start in addressing public education and healthy public policy, but fall far short of the 1% investment promised. Without comprehensive investment, Canada will not make the grade when it comes to increasing physical activity and decreasing chronic disease.
For more information, contact info@activeliving.ca.
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