Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

Good day, everyone. Bonjour, tout le monde.

First of all, thank you for the invitation to appear before the committee. It is truly appreciated and I hope that I'm able to add some value to your discussions about national health and fitness day in Canada.

I am pleased to be able to be here to support Bill S-211, which would recognize the first Saturday in June of each year as national health and fitness day across Canada. The Sport Matters Group, or SMG, is a group of individuals and organizations who believe that a values-based, ethical sport experience along with regular and accessible physical activity and facilities required to participate are integral to Canadian culture and the development of our people, communities, and nation.

We are keenly interested in sport physical activity and recreation at all levels and at all ages. SMG's collective voice promotes the value of sport and physical activity to Canadians and advocates policies, programs, and interventions that try to ensure every Canadian has access to the sport and physical activity opportunities to which they aspire.

Because sport and physical activity for all ages are important to the long-term mental and physical health of Canadians, Sport Matters pays attention to those factors that have a bearing on this health. My message to this committee is clear and simple: increased healthy, active living and sport participation is no longer a nice to have goal for governments in Canada; it is a must have. The facts that show the importance of an active, healthy lifestyle are well known, but allow me to share a sampling of those with you.

Only 15% of adults and fewer than 10% of teens meet the daily physical activity guidelines for health benefits. Canadian kids are spending seven hours and 48 minutes a day in front of a television, video game, or computer screen. Approximately one in four Canadian adults is obese. Similarly, 25% of Canadians aged two to seventeen are overweight or obese. Physically active youth have less anxiety, stronger social connections, and are less likely to abuse alcohol or drugs. They are less likely to develop chronic diseases and have stronger social cohesion, reducing risk-driven behaviour. Results from the Canadian health measures survey forecast accelerated disease development, increased health care costs, and loss of productivity due to declining fitness levels in Canada.

The Conference Board of Canada estimates that we could reduce hypertension cases by 220,000, diabetes cases by 120,000, and heart disease cases by 170,000 over the next 25 years through healthy, active lifestyles. These changes alone could add up to a saving of $2.6 billion over that 25-year period.

Last, nearly nine in ten Canadians believe that children do not get enough physical activity.

Physical activity is not just important to individuals, but it also has a massive impact on Canada's economy, as you're hearing. The Canadian Institute of Actuaries has determined that assuming current cost-of-living increases, health care budgets will consume 69% of total government budgets by the year 2037. We need to be greatly concerned about this as it leaves little for spending on other programs and activities. The actuaries also believe that all of this will reduce Canadian economic growth to a level of 1.5% to 2% per year over the next 25 years. This compares to the average 2.5% to 3% per year over the past 25 years.

Two separate documents released by the Conference Board of Canada this fall offer some very important facts about healthy, active living and the sedentary behaviour of Canadians. They provide insights into not only the benefits of leading an active, healthy lifestyle, but the drawbacks of being sedentary. Physical inactivity currently costs Canadian taxpayers approximately $6.8 billion per year, or 3.7% of health care costs. Getting moving and active is associated with as much as a 30% reduction in all causes of mortality rates. The Conference Board report also highlights the fact that an increase of only 10% of Canadian adults sitting less and moving more would reduce Canada's health care costs by $2.6 billion and inject $7.5 billion into the economy by 2040. This study goes on to say that the benefits of such an increase would start showing by as early as 2020 if we could get that 10% of adults more active next year, in 2015. All of this reinforces the need for physical activity as one solution to the problem of inactivity and its detrimental effect on health care costs.

Bill S-211, and national health and fitness day, if passed, will not be a panacea that will solve these issues. Nothing is. However, it will provide important additional awareness to the physical activity issue. Passing this bill will see the federal government set a precedent for provincial and municipal governments to emulate. There is a critical need for governments to take on this leadership role in support of preventative health care.

If municipal governments take the initiative seriously, national health and fitness day will grow from its current 155 communities that have taken it on to likely over 300 or more communities.

I envisage many more programs like the 10,000 step challenge undertaken by the Plant Pool Recreation Association in Ottawa this past June. This type of program encourages Canadian families to get active in a fun and interactive way. The creativity of local groups is limitless, and with that creativity will come the excitement of programs that serve their communities best, which will lead to increased participation.

If communities want to use national health and fitness day as an engagement tool, they could open their facilities on a complimentary basis to citizens wishing to use them. This loss leader would not only get more people active that day, but it might just bring in more users for the facilities being operated by these communities. If municipal facilities offer this type of activity, perhaps the for-profit fitness club sector might also start doing the same, much like GoodLife Fitness clubs did this past year.

Studies like the Institute for Canadian Citizenship's “Playing together” report show that new Canadians as well as other sectors of the population would welcome a chance to try facilities and programs on a complimentary basis in order to learn more. Support from a Sport Matters Group perspective will continue. We believe in it and we will support national health and fitness day and ensure that our over 1,000 constituents are aware of how they too can support the initiative by working with the various levels of government as well as with national and provincial sport organizations.

The federal government should see this initiative as the start of a movement to get Canadians moving, one that allows tremendous engagement for government and unifies us all.

I urge the government to pass Bill S-211.

I'm happy to answer any questions committee members might have.

Thank you.

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