Thank you, Chair, for the introduction.
I am here with two officials from Sport Canada, Tom Scrimger and Jacques Paquette. They will be able to answer questions you might have afterwards as well.
I'm delighted to be here with the Aboriginal Sport Circle, and Silken as well and Sandra. I think the last time we saw each other was in Fredericton.
Thank you very much for allowing me to appear before the committee.
Good afternoon members of the committee, ladies and gentlemen.
I am very please to be here with you today as the minister for Sport, to discuss an issue that is of concern to us all.
Rising obesity rates and lack of physical activity, especially in our children, is a serious, significant, and long-term challenge facing the country. The only way we can meet this challenge is for all of us—parents, educators, the private sector, the sport and fitness communities, governments, and other stakeholders, all of us—to tackle this challenge together.
As we can see from the alarming statistics before us, it is imperative that we reverse this trend. Brian McCrindle, a cardiologist at the Hospital for Sick Children in Toronto, said, “This epidemic of pediatric obesity may become the most important and devastating public health challenge of the 21st century.” In fact, some experts believe that an increasing number of children could die before their parents as a result of this obesity epidemic if we do not act now. The solutions to this looming crisis are complex and will require coordinated and sustained effort from everyone. I'm sure you'll agree our children's health is worth it.
We know that regular physical activity is of immense benefit to dealing with childhood obesity, but today's children are no longer as active as they once were. There are a variety of reasons for this. For many children, physical activity is no longer an integral part of the day. Children are bused to school, driven to wherever they need to go, and parents are often concerned about letting their children play outside unsupervised the way many of us might have done when we were younger.
We are well aware of this problem, and our government has already taken several measures to address the issue.
We have demonstrated our commitment to the good that comes from sport and physical activity by introducing the children fitness tax credit. This initiative is valued at $160 million per year and will encourage participation in sport while reducing the cost of organized physical activities for many parents.
An expert panel was appointed by my colleague the minister of Finance to make sure that this tax credit delivers maximum benefits when it comes into effect on January 1st, 2007.
Our government made a commitment to encourage all Canadians to be more physically active and play sports. Currently, only 31 per cent of Canadians age 16 and over are actively engaged in organized sports. As surprising as the statistic may seem, less than 3 per cent of Canadians with a disability are involved in sport. Clearly, the challenge before us is great.
That is why earlier this year, I announced our government's new policy on sport for persons with a disability. This funding will improve access to sport, increase participation, and support our athletes with disabilities.
In addition, our policy on aboriginal people's participation in sport aims to reduce the barriers to aboriginal participation in sport. We recognize the positive role played by sport and recreation in strengthening the emotional, mental, and physical, as well as spiritual aspects of aboriginal life. The Government of Canada has committed $1 million annually to increase aboriginal participation, with a focus on enhancing coaching and building the capacity of provincial and territorial aboriginal sport bodies. I am pleased to say that these actions on the part of the government are strong, tangible manifestations of our commitment to get all Canadians active and fit through sport participation.
In the last nine months as minister in this portfolio, I have become familiar with many of the communities—local, provincial, non-governmental—in the wide world of sport and physical activity. Indeed, we have numerous partnerships to support the work of others in this field. Sport Canada has negotiated a number of bilateral agreements on matching funds with all provincial and territorial governments. These agreements support grassroots projects to improve sport participation opportunities for children and youth and aboriginal peoples. I have a few examples.
In British Columbia, community hubs for sport development gave over 2,200 children the opportunity to learn about and play soccer. This program reached 15 schools and also resulted in more than 80 coaches being trained in soccer and mini-soccer officiating.
In another example, in Newfoundland and Labrador there was recently held a Festival of Sports that reached most regions of the province and enabled 7,000 students to take part in non-competitive sports. There are plans to extend that reach to remote areas.
In Saskatchewan, Sport Match places a high priority on aboriginal schools. The program provides students with the opportunity to experience new sports and achieve active and healthy lifestyles.
During a June federal-provincial-territorial meeting of ministers responsible for sport, physical activity and recreation, we acknowledged overall targets for the participation of children and youth, girls and women, and the importance of working collaboratively in implementing public awareness campaigns. These targets include increasing sport participation rates for girls aged five to nine from 68% to 73% by 2012, while at least maintaining the current rate of participation for boys in the same age group at 77%. The target for teen participation levels is an increase of 5%, from the current 66% to 71%, by 2012.
The importance that regular physical activity programs in schools can play for children and youth cannot be overstated. While I recognize the clear jurisdiction the provinces and territories have with respect to education, I would like to invite my counterparts to open a dialogue on how we could expand our partnership in this regard. The upcoming FTP meeting of ministers responsible for sport and recreation in Whitehorse next February would represent an ideal opportunity for my counterparts to share their thinking with me.
Sport Canada also assists national sport organizations and multi-sport service organizations through its sport participation development program, with a view to increasing participation. Preference is given to projects that target children and youth in under-represented groups—in other words, girls and young women, aboriginal people, people with a disability, youth at risk, and the economically disadvantaged.
Some examples include support to Athletes Canada for Run-Jump-Throw, a program created to develop basic motor skills pertaining to all aspects of physical fitness that has a reach of over 25,000 students across the country; Softball Canada's program, Learn to Play, which has introduced the game of softball to thousands of kids over the past couple of years; and Speed Skating Canada's Cutting Edge program, which is aimed at children aged six to thirteen, with the goal of increasing interest and skill in speed skating.
These are just a few examples of initiatives that we have undertaken, working across all levels of government, that aim to address the issue of physical inactivity of our children and youth.
As a government and as a society, we are recognizing the infinite benefits that accrue from sport participation. Over the last nine months, my thoughts on sport in Canada have coalesced around what I call a core sport philosophy. As I see it, a core sport philosophy has three prongs: it's about participation, it's about competition and winning, and it's about supporting both the novice athlete and the elite athlete.
Allow me to focus just on the participation aspect for today. I am more convinced than ever that sport is a fantastic school of life. It speaks to almost every aspect of our daily lives and to the codes and values that guide us as a society. Through sport we learn the thrill of victory and the excitement of victory. Through sport we also learn to deal with disappointment and defeat, sometimes in the most public and exposed situations where there is no room to hide. In sport we learn to set goals and we learn to push ourselves to higher limits.
Sport appreciates talent and judges you on your skill, your ability, and your merit, without regard for race, religion, or creed. It bridges our differences and levels our status. Sport in Canada allows a guy with the last name of Chong to start a rugby club in small-town Fergus, Ontario, home of the Fergus Highland Games.
The lessons of the playing field make great athletes, but they also make great citizens, so our focus on participation is motivated by a much broader recognition of the benefits of sport in society. Our government wants to help expose as many Canadians as possible to the life lessons that sport teaches us and allow them to reap the rich social and health benefits that sport participation offers. I am confident that you will all see how the initiatives I spoke of earlier help in that regard.
Thank you very much for your attention. I'm sure that by working together we can help increase sport participation among all Canadians, including children. In my view, inaction is not an option. Our children's futures are at risk, and we need to act now.
Thank you.