Should I answer first, since I had the first question?
I'd like to share not just Edmonton but three ideas, because they all share a commonality in that they were initiated by the community. The City Centre Education Project in Edmonton was initiated by a principal who said we don't have enough money to hire a physical activity expert, but we need one, so let's work together with other schools to do so. They got five schools together and they hired a physical activity expert. They also hired a public health nurse to help initiate a change in food policy within the school. They identified lots of kids in their school who needed some special help in accessing physical activity programs. So they trained and brought in experts to create active before and after school care. I don't have the exact numbers on how much that cost. I did at one point; it's not at the top of my mind.
In Erin, Ontario, there's a program called Erin Hoops. It started off as a basketball club. Many kids played in this basketball league, but then it got too expensive to play in the school. They took on the school board; they took on the city. They lost on all counts, but Patrick Suessmuth, who ran the program, didn't give up. He found a community centre, a space that was a little bit rundown, and somehow he negotiated a free lease to open that space. And 500 kids a month now come through that space. They don't only play basketball, they rollerblade, they play ping pong, and the only rule is no hitting and no slamming of doors in that place--again, some real innovation.
Whitehorse had a problem with vandalism in its inner city school. They created something called the Whole Child Project. Again, they opened the school doors in the evening. They partnered with the RCMP, who ran a school bus all around the neighbourhood. They invited grandparents, uncles, children, etc., to come into this open school concept.
Various resources were offered in that school. One was floor hockey and basketball, one was healthy cooking classes, another was helping people who needed to navigate the social programs so they could access the further help of the community. We talked to one of the mothers who went through this program with her three kids. She was in a deep depression when she accessed this program and credits this program for getting her out of the house one night a week to play with her kids. It saved her from deep, deep depression.
All these things have something in common. They happened because somebody wanted to take action. That action was supported by some money in the community--in one case, the RCMP; in another case, some private funding; and in another case, some government funding. A little bit of money in those kinds of initiatives really goes a long way.