Canadian Heritage Committee on Nov. 27th, 2014

[Ted Hsu, Liberal, Kingston and the Islands, ON]

Mr. French.

[Landon French]

From our perspective, I think there are a couple of things. First, your ability to communicate with Canadians is tremendous. You have to think about how to use the assets you have in that regard, whether it's the income tax form or other different ways you and the government have to communicate with Canadians, to get a message in there at the right time about getting Canadians to think about how much they have moved recently or how they can move more. I think those communication channels present a tremendous opportunity.

The other thing is the actual physical assets of the government and how they can be used from a recreational point of view. That doesn't have to be something elaborate. It can be simple. It could be trail space, or it could actually be other property that's not being used—gyms or rinks or things like that—that local communities can use and leverage. They'll create the programs. If the assets are there and the physical space is there, then it's amazing to see what Canadians will create. That's where we end up spending a lot of time partnering with community organizations to create the programs to get people moving. The assets that the Government of Canada has should be plenty to get Canadians moving, and there is lots of help from the trail, from us, and from many others to take advantage and make the most of those opportunities.

[The Chair, Conservative, Gord Brown]

Thank you, Mr. Hsu.

We will now go to Mr. Weston for up to seven minutes.

[John Weston, Conservative, West Vancouver—Sunshine Coast—Sea to Sky Country, BC]

Thanks to both of you, and Mr. LaBarge, thanks for your personal story. Some of what we're doing today goes back to a personal story of someone else who didn't have your good fortune.

Tom Hanson was a photojournalist on Parliament Hill. In 2009 he was playing pickup hockey—I believe he was in his thirties—and he dropped dead. I remember that after that sad event, the Prime Minister addressed all of us and said, “Consider your lifestyles, parliamentarians, and be careful.” From that came the parliamentary fitness initiative. Peter Stoffer, Kirsty Duncan, and I have exhorted our colleagues to participate in something, not only for ourselves, but also as role models.

I want to take this moment to thank my colleagues. Not once in six years has anyone taken exception to our relentless e-mails and letters.

[Voices]

Oh, oh!

[John Weston, Conservative, West Vancouver—Sunshine Coast—Sea to Sky Country, BC]

We sign ourselves as the CFFOs, chief fun and fitness officers, and we try to make sure it's fun. As you have indicated, it has to be fun, as well as good for our health.

Let me first compliment Canadian Tire for that wonderful ad campaign, “We All Play For Canada”. It's patriotic. It makes you want to get up and do something. It's just first class, and it really seems to be the result of a good corporate citizen. Kudos on that.

Both of you have emphasized the importance of partnerships. You named at least a dozen organizations, Landon. You talked about Canada Soccer, the Boys and Girls Clubs, and the YMCA.

In terms of reaching our goal of 300 cities to proclaim national health and fitness day by next June—we're at 155—do you think that companies like Canadian Tire and the Running Room can play a role in getting them on board?

[Landon French]

We're happy to help, absolutely. Obviously, we have interests in almost every community across the country and relationships with many of those municipalities. We work with over 300 municipalities right now, with their parks and rec departments, on Jumpstart activities and programs, so we'd be happy to support that and help you in any way we can.

[John Weston, Conservative, West Vancouver—Sunshine Coast—Sea to Sky Country, BC]

That's great to hear.

Senator Greene Raine started to evoke a vision about Canada's 150th. You've added a little bit, Mr. LaBarge, on that. On the notion that you touch 1,000 municipalities today, that you're within 30 minutes of 80% of Canada's population, and that this modest initiative of ours has 155 cities already before the bill has even passed, can you build a bit on that, on this vision of celebrating on the trail or trails of Canada, promoting health and fitness, and taking advantage of what we've done here to promote the trail?

[Paul LaBarge]

Maybe I can go back and then go forward.

In Canada 125 in 1992, the single most successful program.... By the way, the then-government of Mr. Mulroney allocated $90 million for those celebrations. One of the things we observed was that the single most successful celebration was the cheapest one. It was the concept of the block party. It was the concept of a bucket with Canadian flags in it, some streamers, several copies of O Canada, and I think recipes for Nanaimo bars.

[Voices]

Oh, oh!

[Paul LaBarge]

Anyway, people would write in, suggest that they were going to have a block party and say how many people were going to be there, and they'd get the equivalent number of buckets required. It was on July 1 and it was the single most successful program we had in terms of the feedback from the public.

My view to you, and my advice, would be to capitalize on that. Capitalize on your fitness initiative. Capitalize on the fact that Canadians actually, as was noted by Mr. French, don't want to be spectators. They want to be participants. Deep down inside, they want you to ask them to do something together, because they actually really like their communities.

I think the opportunity is there to reach out to your mayors, each one of you as members of Parliament, and to reach out to all of the municipalities that you touch and say to them that this is our chance to do something together that reflects who we are as Canadians. If you combine the partnerships we have with organizations like Canadian Tire, partnerships that include even the financial institutions, life insurance, and so on, and if you bring all of that together in terms of affording people the opportunity to be with their neighbours on a day that is essentially about coming together, and to do it not as spectators, but as participants, to make them the centrepiece of the show, then I think you will have success. If we can join that together with the concept of activity, then it will be quintessentially Canadian.

[John Weston, Conservative, West Vancouver—Sunshine Coast—Sea to Sky Country, BC]

It's remarkable; you mentioned at the beginning that you started 25 years ago, that you are one of the original signatories of the Trans Canada Trail Foundation, and you're still at it today. Can you even remember what entity organized that matching program or that program with the packages that you just described?

[Paul LaBarge]

That was done by the Canada 125 Corporation, a corporation that was set up by the federal government. I happened to be one of the incorporators as well as the secretary during its existence. That was the organization that did that.

[John Weston, Conservative, West Vancouver—Sunshine Coast—Sea to Sky Country, BC]

The state of Idaho claims that it brings in about $350 million a year in bike tourism. That's a profit because people go there to get on its trails. You talked a little about the potential of an economic benefit to Canada. Do you want to elaborate perhaps on what we might do toward 2017 by making people from other countries want to come and celebrate on the trails?

[Paul LaBarge]

Already in Quebec probably one of the biggest presences is Vélo Québec, and one of the reasons for the success of the trail in Quebec is the number of cycling routes. The 550,000 people on Le P'tit Train Du Nord is not an accident. That's a deliberate promotional activity. It's cross-country skiing in the winter and it's biking in the summer.

The Trans Canada Trail has donated to the Government of British Columbia over $17 million in closed rail lines that have been converted into trails. The beauty of rail lines that are converted into trails is they never have a slope of more than 5%, which means they're readily accessible to virtually every person of every level of fitness. I know for instance that in the Niagara area we have trails that go through wineries. The same thing is now being done down near the Sandbanks, and it certainly is the case in B.C. as you go through the Okanagan. So you can now bike to the various wineries.

Again I come back to the fact that in P.E.I. it's the second most significant tourist attraction, and it attracts people from Germany, France, and England for bike tours.

[The Chair, Conservative, Gord Brown]

Mr. Weston, we're going to wrap up.

Thank you very much to our witnesses for their contribution to our study of the bill. Thank you very much, Mr. French and Mr. LaBarge.

Members, we're going to move very quickly. I think we can work through this clause-by-clause study very quickly, in a minute or two.

Pursuant to Standing Order 75(1), consideration of the preamble and clause 1, the short title, are postponed.

Shall clause 2 carry?

[An hon. member]

On division.

[Rick Dykstra, Conservative, St. Catharines, ON]

Why wouldn't we want a recorded vote?

[The Chair, Conservative, Gord Brown]

If you want one, call for one.

[Pierre Nantel, NDP, Longueuil—Pierre-Boucher, QC]

Can we restart this, please?

[The Chair, Conservative, Gord Brown]

We're going to back it up here now that everybody is at the table. There may be some reconsideration on where we're going.

(Clause 2 agreed to)

Shall clause 3 carry?

[Rick Dykstra, Conservative, St. Catharines, ON]

Let's do a recorded vote.

[The Chair, Conservative, Gord Brown]

I heard unanimity here. If you want we'll—

[Pierre Nantel, NDP, Longueuil—Pierre-Boucher, QC]

I don't need a recorded vote on this.

[Terence Young, Conservative, Oakville, ON]

Do you want it on record that you supported it?