ParticipACTION is back
Posted by admin, Mon Feb 19 10:36:36 UTC 2007
$5M to bring back ParticipACTION exercise program
The federal government pledged $5 million over two years Monday to renew ParticipACTION, the federal fitness-awareness campaign. Starting in the early 1970s, the non-profit agency encouraged Canadians to get fit. The program included a series of television ads that encouraged people of all ages to “keep fit and have fun.” The program ran for three decades, until its funding was cut in 2001. The federal government decided to renew ParticipACTION to help Canadians develop healthier lifestyles, said Secretary of State for Sport Helena Guergis. The focus is on kids 12 and younger, and groups at high risk, such as seniors, aboriginals and people with disabilities. The renewal of ParticiPACTION and a new website, www.HealthyCanadians.ca, were announced by Guergis, Health Minister Tony Clement and Public Works Minister Michael Fortier in Toronto and Montreal on Monday. “We all remember the ads … and so that’s the kind of thing we want to see happen again,” Clement said.
And I think that’s a good thing. Canadians of all ages remember ParticipACTION. My husband and I were just laughing over a ParticipACTION reference in a television show last week, and wondering how many Canadians would realize what a Canadian in-joke that was, and how many non-Canadians would even notice. (And if you were wondering, it was on Stargate Atlantis).
Now, I guess that means setting up the exercise bike in the basement just became my evening priority…
