Mr. Speaker, I am grateful to speak in support of Motion No. 206. This motion would go a long way towards helping Canadian families, and especially our youth, with being active through participation in sport and other physical activities.
I would also like to thank my colleague, the member for Simcoe—Grey, for her hard work on dealing with the issue of sport. In particular, her private member's bill looking at tax credits would further assist in getting Canadians active in today's world. As the deputy shadow minister for youth, sport and accessibility, it was my pleasure to see not only the member's private member's bill on a tax credit being introduced into the House of Commons, but also this motion focusing on physical activity, which I support. Sport enhances many health issues, such as obesity, diabetes, joint mobility, pain, arthritis and more. It also positively affects physiology, fitness, goal setting, team work, dedication, positive self-esteem, friendships, psychomotor skills as well as new interests.
Statistics show that obesity is set to affect over 30% of the Canadian population by 2030. That is a very troubling number. Not only is obesity itself an issue, but we must also consider the negative health effects that obesity can cause. Diseases such as type 2 diabetes and high blood pressure can seriously affect a person's quality of life. The treatment of these diseases, which are widely preventable through diet and exercise, also puts an increased burden on our health care system and in turn the taxpayer.
Before becoming a member of Parliament, I was a chiropractor. During my practice, I saw first-hand the negative ways that obesity can impact the human body, causing issues like cardiovascular problems, fatigue, joint pain and sometimes limited mobility, not to mention the huge impact on self-esteem. It is clear that something needs to be done to incentivize Canadians, particularly young Canadians, to keep healthy and active in order to avoid potential future problems. This motion would help to do just that, as it did in its previous iteration.
Participation in sporting activities is a major challenge for families, who are living day to day and paycheque to paycheque, attempting to keep their children active and fit. A small tax break, such as was suggested by the member for Simcoe—Grey, would be a helping hand and perhaps impetus to get involved. Not everyone can benefit from the kindness of others, a family member or philanthropic endeavour to help pay to include their children in sport.
In Saskatchewan, we have an organization called “Sask Sport”, which helps families. I had the pleasure within my community to assist some families who needed help through one aspect of the program, KidSport. The assistance comes through many means. KidSport is one program. Others are Dream Brokers, Children in Sport, the aboriginal sport development program, Parasport, long-term athlete development program and Sport for Life.
These programs focus on the concept that no kids should be left on the sidelines and that all should be given the opportunity to experience the positive benefits of organized sport. They involve children and youth, those attending elementary schools, with fundamental skills-development programs, as well as focusing on increasing participation by first nations and Métis communities. The assistance spans from the community level to high-performance levels. They help to build and create active and healthy communities through these programs by enabling non-profit sporting organizations to deliver quality sustainable programs, services and events.
We know that the original children's fitness tax credit worked. Introduced in December 2006 and implemented in January 2007, according to the Department of Finance, 1.8 million Canadian families claimed the credit in 2014, which is 43% of all families with children. This is something that we want to encourage to get more people involved and more active in sporting activities. I believe that Motion No. 206 would assist in that manner.
My colleagues on all sides of the House are able to attest to the expenses that come with putting their children in sports. My wife and I raised two sons and a daughter, all of whom were involved in athletics while growing up. Believe me, it is not cheap. The cost of equipment for Canada's beloved sport alone, hockey, can be in the thousands of dollars, and figure skating can be triple that cost. Many Canadian families do not have that kind of money, so they are left with a choice of whether to put their children in sports knowing the health and various other benefits that has, or whether they pay their bills next month.
We feel that no parent should have to make that kind of choice, and a child fitness tax credit would definitely work to help mitigate that type of situation.
I would like to take a moment to talk about the benefits of child and youth participation in sport and physical activity. The most obvious benefit would be to general physical health.
As I previously stated, many diseases associated with obesity can be prevented with diet and exercise. In 2014, the OECD reported that overweight and obesity rates in Canada were high, with almost 28% of 11- to 15-year-olds being considered overweight or obese. This is troubling, given that the OECD world average at the time was 19%. It is clear, from a physical perspective, that our children and youth are not getting enough activity. Any incentive to improve on that statistic should be pursued and implemented. We know that most times healthy children grow into healthy adults, and it is up to all levels of government to assist in the pursuit of the physical health of Canadians.
Participation in physical activity is also hugely beneficial for the brain and mental health. In 2018, the Participaction report card on physical activity for children and youth focused on this, outlining the connection between physical health and brain health. It stated that there are numerous benefits of physical activity for the brain, such as increased focus and attention span, better performance in academic settings due to increased memory, lower levels of depression and anxiety and much more. In this day and age, when more children than ever are spending increasing amounts of time looking at screens, we need to ensure that every option to participate in physical activity is given so that the next generation of Canadians can grow into healthy and happy adults.
My own personal experiences have also taught me a lot about how physical activity and participation in sport can positively affect children and youth, and not just on a physical or mental health level. I coached hockey for many years in Saskatchewan. I saw first-hand how many life skills young athletes can pick up by being part of a team or by participating in competitions. These skills included things like leadership, teamwork, co-operation, self-esteem, sociability and more. It was always amazing to see a young player start the season as a shy, introverted person and end it as a confident and more outspoken individual. I am proud to have been able to play some role in that transformation, and today I am proud to be speaking in support of an initiative that will help to build these skills for Canadian children and youth well into the future.
Earlier in my remarks, I mentioned the 2018 Participaction scorecard. I would like to go back to that for a moment. Each year, Participaction assesses child and youth physical activity in Canada and gives it a letter grade. Unfortunately, the grade given for overall physical activity in 2018 was a dismal D+. That means that only 35% of five- to 17-year-olds are meeting the physical activity recommendation within the “Canadian 24-Hour Movement Guidelines” for children and youth. With obesity being a growing epidemic, paired with increased amounts of screen time for children and youth of all ages, these statistics are very concerning.
Also included in that report is a specific grade given to government for the strategies and investments it has implemented to encourage greater participation in physical activity for Canadian children and youth. The grade given in 2018 was a C+, which shows that there is absolutely room for improvement. We, as legislators, need to pursue all avenues available to us to address issues like childhood inactivity, which includes supporting initiatives such as this.
We know that Canadian families deserve support from their government, particularly when it comes to keeping money in their pockets. The fact that 43% of all Canadian families with children utilized the original children's fitness tax credit proves that there is a need for government assistance in this specific area. I am confident that any type of financial assistance or initiative would be great in helping to motivate people to increase their level of activity.
I am also extremely pleased and happy to see the inclusion of disabilities in these motions.
As I stated before, we know, and research shows, that healthy children become healthy adults. By instilling good habits and practices, such as regular physical activity for our children and youth, we are helping to grow a healthier, happier and more productive Canada. That is something I believe all members of this House can get behind.