Health committee  Certainly at ThinkFirst we want kids to stay active and safe, including in team sports. Some of it's the age-appropriateness of the risk strategies. We find that if you eliminate bodychecking at younger ages, as they have in the States, Ontario, and Quebec, there's a lot more saf

Health committee  So here is one area in terms of regulations. You mentioned risks to children and safer environments. A lot of types of injuries are going down, which shows that some injury prevention is working. But there are some really high-concern areas—snowmobiles and ATVs, for example. So t

Health committee  I agree with you that balance is very important. We want people to know the real risk, the actual risk. For example, a child won't learn a lot from having their hand burned, so let's look at it head-on. In skiing and snow sports we want kids to wear helmets, but we have a standa

Health committee  My colleagues talked about child care. We found at Injury Prevention that a safe space can reduce injuries. National child care programs and investments in infrastructure can certainly help. Another way is the federal government investment in active and safe programming. My colle

Health committee  We appreciate the work you've done with helmets in skiing. We would see research as a pillar, we would see public awareness as a pillar, and we would want policy to be a pillar. We want to wrap up the three E's: enforcement, engineering, and education. We would like to see work w

Health committee  I agree with my colleagues about opportunities at the medical level, as well, to increase that interchange. At ThinkFirst Canada we work in schools and we work with a range of medical practitioners and VIPs, as I mentioned, to get the message to children, their families, and thei

Health committee  Other ways to connect with the medical system would be a prescription for a helmet, as well as a well-baby visit--

Health committee  In terms of overall child injury rates, Canada lags behind most OECD countries in tackling this problem. In addition—this is from Smartrisk—unintentional injuries cost Canada approximately $20 billion per year. The great tragedy is that most of these injuries are predictable and

Health committee  Thank you very much. And thank you very much to the committee for the opportunity to speak here today. Health promotion is such an important issue, and preventable injury is the leading cause of death for young Canadians under 44. Indeed, it's a leading cause of disability and

Health committee  I'll give one example from our chapter in Winnipeg. We deliver, across the country, educational programs. ThinkFirst for Kids and Brain Day are two examples. They've been getting a lot of invitations in Winnipeg to go to aboriginal communities, rural and remote communities. There

Health committee  One thing we're all celebrating is the announcement in the Speech from the Throne regarding the child and youth strategy. As Dr. Groff and others have said, the NGO sector and the Canadian Collaborative Centres for Injury Prevention and Control are looking forward very much to co

Health committee  We have had some conversations with the Minister of Health. We submitted some plans or suggestions to move forward. Our organizations have participated with product safety renewal, so that's an area we're excited about. And we're delighted that $10 million was awarded by CIHR,

Health committee  My name is Rebecca Nesdale-Tucker and I'm with ThinkFirst Canada. I would very much echo what my colleagues have said at the table. Number one is that we'd like to see strategic action. It has worked on the international scene in other countries. It simply makes sense to figur

Health committee  As Dr. Groff and Ms. Heatley said, an all-ages injury prevention strategy has been called for by ThinkFirst Canada and its partners for many years. It was a welcome announcement, then, when the federal Speech from the Throne called for such a strategy for children and youth. The

Health committee  Thank you. I'm Rebecca Nesdale-Tucker, executive director of ThinkFirst Canada. We're grateful for the invitation to present to you today on this important health issue. Preventable injury is the leading cause of death for young Canadians age one to 44, and it's a leading cause