Thank you.
Good afternoon. My name is Kelly Murumets. I am the president and CEO of ParticipAction.
I am joined by my partner, Donovan Bailey, who is a member of our ParticipAction board. He needs no introduction, so I'll give you a little introduction of me.
I come from the private sector. I most recently ran a publicly traded telecom company. I left the private sector to join the not-for-profit sector because I'd like to change the world. ParticipAction is my second cut at it. I left an MBA for a Master of Social Work; that was my first cut at it, and this is my second cut at it.
I truly believe it's possible for ParticipAction to change the world. Our vision is that Canadians will be the most physically active on earth. We can only do that if we're partnered with our other not-for-profit partners, with the public sector, and with the private sector, and I believe 100% that it's possible.
We are in the midst of an inactivity crisis in our country. More than half of Canadians are deemed to be physically inactive, almost half of Canadians are overweight, and childhood obesity rates have tripled in the last three decades. Our kids--not American kids, our kids--spend at least six hours a day on screens, meaning television, text messaging, Internet. If you multiply that by seven, it's 42 hours a week. Our kids spend as much time on screens as their parents do in their jobs.
The data in my sector is crummy, but I know that $5.3 billion of health care costs in 2001 were directly attributable to physical inactivity. In addition, 25 chronic diseases are directly attributable to physical inactivity. We have a crisis in our country, and our proposal is that if the government would invest $5 million per year for a long-term sustainable investment in ParticipAction rather than pouring more and more money into treatment, we could deal with prevention and make sure we have healthy living for all Canadians. Donovan and I are here to tell you why that would be a good investment.
ParticipAction is the national voice of physical activity and sport participation in our country. With that, over the last two years we have been able to take small investments, get things done, and realize great returns on those investments.
I'm going to talk about two different track histories. One is a track record that's a bit more historical. The ParticipAction of old was around for 30 years. Many of us--depending on our age--remember it. You'll remember either the 60-year-old Swede, or Hal and Joanne, or the Canada Fitness Awards and the flexed arm hang. I sit on planes almost every day, and someone beside me always tells me some beautiful, fond memory they have of ParticipAction.
ParticipAction of old was wildly successful: we have an 84% brand recognition. I've run two companies in the private sector, and I would have died for those kinds of brand awareness and brand equity numbers. We have that in this Canadian--