Finance committee  I'm certainly not here to argue against the importance of the arts. I am a father of four children who have piano lessons and drama club. I'm certainly not here to argue against that. But we are facing a health care crisis, and I believe that physical activity and good nutrition are the cure.

Finance committee  Well, I guess if we had a solution for helping people who were poor, we would come forward with it. The reality is that when you're trying to make ends meet and you're on a very tight budget, oftentimes certain things get left out, and we find that it's physical activity. They're just trying to do everything they can to make ends meet and may not have the resources to do it.

Finance committee  First of all, in our industry we're seeing seniors as the largest growth area of our business, and it's not just because of the growth in the population; seniors are becoming more active and are taking more control of their health. This is an area that our initiative would also respect.

Finance committee  That's who pays our costs, but we're asking that this initiative cover not-for-profits, YMCAs.... Any sporting activity would qualify for this initiative.

Finance committee  That's correct.

Finance committee  No.

Finance committee  Thank you for the question. In terms of preaching to the converted, or encouraging people who are already converted and are members of fitness organizations, certainly the postcards that we are sending out are on behalf of members of our facilities. And that's not just the commercial industries.

Finance committee  It's towards preventative--

Finance committee  Yes, I own five clubs in Edmonton called Club Fit.

Finance committee  The cost of our initiative, based on the cost of a tax credit, we estimate to be about $150 million.

Finance committee  In the big picture of the costs of the total health budget, and the fact that it's leading to prevention, I think a good case could be made that this would actually save the government money over time.

Finance committee  With respect to the children's fitness tax credit, a committee was struck, and it went across Canada to determine what activities should be included. We think the same thing should be done if we were to have an adult fitness tax credit, so that it's not just limited to gyms, but it would be men's hockey, women's hockey, soccer, or other sports.

Finance committee  If you look at twenty years ago, the cost of gym memberships, in particular, was typically $80 to $100 a month. We're $29 a month. It's relatively inexpensive to go to a gym today, and the number of people who are participating is one of the reasons. In the last five years, the number of people participating in gyms has gone from 10% to 15% of the population.

Finance committee  Good morning. Thank you. Mr. Chair, members of the committee, the Fitness Industry Council of Canada is a not-for-profit trade organization representing 2,000 fitness facilities across Canada with two million members. Our primary objective is to represent and promote the commercial fitness industry in pursuit of a more physically active and healthy country.