Thank you very much, Mr. Chair.
Welcome, and thank you for being here. I only have five minutes and they will go by quickly.
Ms. Doig, in line with what you were saying about ways for the federal government to take the best possible actions to try to improve the situation, what players are in the best position to promote favourable environments? Isn't it—and this is my opinion—the people who are closest to those we want to help and for whom we want to create the environments?
Twenty years ago, I worked at Kino-Québec, which is the equivalent of ParticipACTION, and I hope we have made progress in Quebec since. But weight is still a problem and there are other problems on top of that.
Let’s talk about prevention. You mentioned having fun. There was this advertisement that said: "Come out and play!" Being active can be fun. It’s natural for children to want to move from the time they are really little and it's as if we have taken this opportunity away from them. How do we solve this problem of inertia? How can we make people want to be active? You were talking about the tax credit, a tool that the government could use, but the tax credit only applies to families who pay taxes.
At another committee, we did a study on poverty, and I wonder how to reach the poor. Perhaps we should come up with another formula. These families will not pay $250 or $300 to do an activity. Free public parks and pools, and healthy environments, those are some options. There are municipal family policies that make this easier for our families, our wards—since we operate with wards in Quebec. Do we need a national strategy or should we facilitate the work of people who are closest to those affected and whom we want to help? I will let you answer.