Again, there are so many children in our population, clearly, who would not be able to take advantage of that particular option and opportunity. And to in any way suggest that this is an initiative that will seriously fight, in a way that's substantive, the issue of childhood obesity in our Canadian population, I believe, is a false concept, particularly in the way it's been set up, Mr. Chair. We don't even know if more children, other than the children who have already participated, are participating. We won't know for several years. We can't afford to wait that long.
I really say, with great respect, that if we're going to have this initiative, accountability needs to be built into it. We need to hear back about whether this is in fact helping in this area, and we need to do so much more if we are going to actually have an impact, as other countries have, in actually reversing this serious trend. This is, as one of our other speakers mentioned, an issue of “long live our kids”. So, please, let's all keep that in mind. And whatever influence we all have, we encourage a much stronger leadership role by the federal government.
This committee certainly worked very hard on this issue in a very positive way, I felt, because we really had that great interest to ensure the longevity and quality of life of our children.
Thank you, Mr. Chair.