Mr. Speaker, thank you for the opportunity to speak to a motion that I believe will touch all Canadians' lives in a positive way. With Motion No. 206, the member for Newmarket—Aurora has been a tremendous champion and advocate for active living through the example of his family, his wife and his kids, and how they participate. Motion No. 206 would lift up the many athletes and those achieving new goals in physical activity in his community, roll that out and study how that can have such a tremendous effect on all Canadians.
I think back to some of the commercials from our past that are decades old, where Participaction commercials had a 72-year-old Swede as compared to the 40-year-old Canadian. They were at the same level of health, but the Swede was doing more active things and it showed in less disease and a better quality of life. This is what Motion No. 206 is all about. It is about closing that gap in a very comprehensive way, as the member has put forward, not just about physical activity but the enumerable benefits that come through physical activity, socially and emotionally.
Many people who pick up a sport or try an activity like walking or jogging, riding a bike or swimming say that it lifts their self-esteem. Somebody being able to walk around the block the first day and then walk around two blocks a week or two later feels that sense of accomplishment in the goal they have reached.
That is why the Government of Canada is so supportive of Motion No. 206. It instructs the House Standing Committee on Health to study fitness and physical activity levels in youth in Canada. The study would provide an opportunity to examine the complex factors and conditions that influence youth participation in physical activity.
There is a vast majority of Canadians who do not get enough physical activity today. At least eight out of 10 adults and six out of 10 children and youth do not meet the recommended guidelines for physical activity. Simply put, Canadians need to move more and sit less.
As they grow up, Canadian youth participate less in sport, especially girls. While 79% of boys and 70% of girls participate in sport in adolescence, girls tend to drop out of sport at a much higher rate than boys do. Moreover, if a girl has not yet participated in sport by the age of 10, there is only a 10% chance that she will be physically active later on as an adult. Understanding the reasons behind these trends is key to reversing them and in turn closing that gap.
The proposed study will be an opportunity to hear a range of perspectives regarding this important issue, including the steps that the Government of Canada and its partners have taken to increase physical activity.
For instance, the Public Health Agency of Canada, through its community-based initiatives, aims to increase physical activity among youth and families in partnership with the non-governmental sector, the private sector and others. The Public Health Agency of Canada has invested $112 million and leveraged an additional $92 million, which is just terrific, from its amazing partners to support projects and address the common risk factors, including physical inactivity associated with major chronic diseases. We know we are at an epidemic with diabetes.
Some of these projects target children and youth, for example, the APPLE Schools Foundation is leading an initiative called “Transforming Healthy School Communities” to improve health behaviours among children and youth in the school environment.
Another project, Sharing Dance, led by the National Ballet School of Canada, provides creative dance opportunities for youth to get active. Alongside these projects, the Public Health Agency of Canada has supported efforts to increase physical activity through programming that addresses healthy weights and mental health.
Mental health is so important when it comes to physical activity. It is shown that if someone participates in physical activity, there are not only the health attributes of being physical, but also the social and mental benefits. When we say mental, it leads to less bullying.
Getting back to self-esteem, someone having higher self-esteem would give that person the ability to shelter themselves from bullying by others who may be sending negative signals, when participating in sport is for the most part about being a positive individual.
In addition, budget 2018 announced new investments in support of increased physical activity among Canadians. The government provided $25 million in more funding over five years to Participaction, which I just spoke about. We are already seeing progress with this funding. A few weeks ago, Participaction launched an app that can help Canadians, young and old, track their activity levels and encourage them to be more physically active. I encourage everybody to get this app. It is based on leading-edge technology, delivering tailored content to Canadians based on their needs and interests.
In addition, members may have seen billboards and other creative media promoting Participaction's evidence-based prompts to help Canadians move more and sit less. As the Participaction campaign notes, everything is better when someone is active. I can attest to that.
Budget 2018 also announced $47.5 million over five years, and $9.5 million per year ongoing, to expand the use of sport for social development in more than 300 indigenous communities. Not only will this funding support increased physical activity, it recognizes the important connections between physical activity and other dimensions of our lives, such as mental well-being, social connection and academics. I have been a part of a program called running and reading, which has shown that if students go out for a run or do some physical activity before they do a test, read or immerse themselves in academia, they do much better. It is conclusive. We know it works. Again, this will have immeasurable types of impacts on our society, Canadians, as well as our youth, right through to adulthood and into their senior years.
Supporting Motion No. 206 will provide an opportunity to learn about how we can all work together on this important issue.
No one organization or sector can work in isolation to tackle the problem of physical inactivity in this country. It is why the federal, provincial and territorial ministers responsible for sport, physical activity and recreation together released a policy framework to increase physical activity and reduce sedentary living in Canada. The framework is appropriately named “A Common Vision for increasing physical activity and reducing sedentary living in Canada: Let's Get Moving”.
The framework represents considerable collaboration by federal, provincial and territorial health officials, the non-governmental sector and indigenous organizations to identify areas of common interest and action. It identifies a number of areas for focus, such as cultural norms, spaces and places, and leadership and learning. These areas of focus can help guide our collective action over the coming years.
I know that the member for Newmarket—Aurora has been passionate about this. He has promoted this in his community. He has has brought this forward to the House of Commons as Motion No. 206, so we can look at how we can now deliver the vision he has had for so long to the rest of Canada from coast to coast to coast.
Everyone has a role to play. Communities, academia, the charitable and not-for-profit sector and the private sector must find ways to work together if we are to be successful in getting Canadians to move more and sit less.
An example of the importance of evidence is the "Canadian 24-Hour Movement Guidelines” produced by the Canadian Society for Exercise Physiology, with support by the Public Health Agency of Canada. The guidelines are currently available for children aged zero to four and children and youth aged five to 17, and were produced using the latest scientific evidence. These guidelines have adopted a novel approach, which results in the integration of physical activity, sedentary behaviour and sleep. In other words, they place physical activity and sedentary living in the context of our daily lives.
In conclusion, the government is supportive of this study. It would provide an opportunity to learn from the many important investments, initiatives and undertakings that have been made by the Government of Canada and its many valuable partners, which have been working together to increase physical activity. Most importantly, this study would focus increased attention on an issue that is most important to the well-being of all Canadians.
I commend the member for Newmarket—Aurora and thank him. We wholeheartedly support Motion No. 206.