Health committee  Great, thank you. Good afternoon. I am absolutely honoured to be here, so thank you very much for the invitation. On behalf of ParticipACTION, we thank you. For the next ten minutes, I'll just tell you a little bit about ParticipACTION, and why we are back. We were relaunched in 2007, so we'll let you know why we're back, what we have done for the last four and a half years, and the results we have achieved.

Health committee  I would love to. Transfer payments probably aren't the only way to go. There is a lot of small “p” politics when it comes to transfer payments, in my humble experience. If you used very neutral brands, like PHE Canada, or ParticipACTION, and deployed $1.5 million a year, with at least a three- to five-year commitment, you could be in every school in the country--at least grades 4, 5, and 6.

Health committee  With respect to the ParticipACTION awards, we need common metrics. We need them right across the country, because it's very difficult to do research if we're comparing apples and oranges. That's part of the ParticipACTION awards. We've been working with Dr. Mark Tremblay at the Children's Hospital of Eastern Ontario to create a common metrics process that would be used right across the country.

Health committee  That was Andrea, so I'll let Andrea answer.

Health committee  I can answer that, but I can't relate it to Europe. ParticipACTION ultimately needs to speak to all Canadians. We have limited resources, so we try to be laser-sharp focused. While our most recent campaign actually supports 100% physical activity guidelines, we're the second way to communicate those guidelines.

Health committee  The program on which we partnered with Coca-Cola is called Sogo Active. “Sogo” means nothing. Kids made it up. We did it all with a focus group of teenagers, and they made up the name, and they designed the protocols for Sogo Active. It is, as I mentioned, peer-led, youth inspiring youth to become more physically active.

Health committee  More and more, given the economy, businesses aren't donating moneys as much as they used to. They are always thinking about the return on their investment. So when businesses think about getting involved in physical activity and making Canada a healthier country, they're doing it with an economic perspective.

Health committee  It requires multi-sectoral participation. But I believe that every initiative requires leadership, and this one is so impactful in terms of the prosperity and the future of our country that it needs to start at the federal level. The leadership needs to start with the federal government, but it has to include provincial, territorial, and ultimately municipal governments—as I said, all sectors.

Health committee  We have a lot of passion in our sector.

Health committee  Right.

Health committee  That was good. I got in before. My answer could have gone more quickly. Who are you asking it of, Kirsty?

Health committee  Do you want to go first, Andrea?

Health committee  Sure. I get asked that question quite often. ParticiPACTION believes strongly that-- By the way, I come from the private sector. I left the private sector because I'd like to go and change the world. I believe the only way to do that is for the not-for-profit sector to be arm in arm with the private sector, the public sector, and their partners in the not-for-profit sector.

Health committee  Good afternoon. Thank you very much for inviting us to present today. We're honoured. My name is Kelly Murumets. I'm the president and CEO of ParticipACTION. We are the national voice of physical activity and sport participation in the country. Our vision is that Canadians will be the most physically active people on earth, and I will tell you that I jump out of bed every morning, I love my job, and I'm jazzed to be the leader of an organization with that kind of mandate.

Health committee  Hello and good afternoon.