A Message from Peter Milliken, M.P.

Children's Fitness Tax Credit

With the new school year underway, many children in Kingston and the Islands who are enrolled in fitness programs may be eligible for the Children's Fitness Tax Credit.

The purpose of the Children's Fitness Tax Credit is to encourage Canadian youth to include physical activity as part of a healthy lifestyle. By doing this, not only do children receive the health and well-being benefits of being active individuals, but they also gain valuable exprience in teamwork and leadership, and forge lasting friendships. The Children's Fitness Tax Credit is meant to make the cost of these experiences more affordable to Canadian families.

Through this Canada Revenue Agency program, a portion of the cost of a fitness program for a child under the age of 16 (or, if eligible for the disability tax credit, under the age of 18), is refunded on your annual tax return. You can claim up to $500 per child per year to receive a maximum rebate of $75 per child. Most sports and fitness-oriented activities can be claimed. Please note that it is the responsibility of the fitness program to prove its eligibility for this tax credit to the Canada Revenue Agency.

For more information about this program visit http://www.cra-arc.gc.ca/whtsnw/fitness-eng.html

Time for Kingstonians to get active

On Nov. 17 (2009), city council endorsed an Active Living Charter for the City of Kingston. This marks a pivotal moment, and opportunity, for our city.

The charter signifies a commitment to promoting "active transportation," which means any form of self-propelled travel (such as walking or cycling), either on its own or in combination with public transit. It also means a commitment to promote recreational walking and cycling, as well as other forms of physical recreation.

The idea is for Kingston to become a city that facilitates the means by which all members of the community can safely and routinely travel under their own steam and engage in daily physical activity. As members of the Kingston Coalition for Active Transportation, we applaud council's initiative and wish to highlight the need and the opportunity that now exists to promote active transportation in our city.

At first glance, a concerted effort to promote active transportation might seem unnecessary. Are we not, after all, free to walk anywhere we like, or ride a bike when we please? Of course the answer is yes. However, the safety and ease of active transportation have been severely limited by decades of organizing our cities around the automobile.

Think of the difficulty of negotiating sidewalks in winter, especially after a storm and if you happen to be older or travel by wheelchair. Think of how intimidating it can be to ride a bicycle downtown or along any of the busy thoroughfares that link the city centre with the shopping and residential areas in the suburbs.

In addition, there are numerous gaps in the services and amenities for active transportation. There are few public benches on city streets to allow people to rest. Public drinking fountains and toilets, where they exist, are only seasonally available. Bicycle racks are uncommon beyond the downtown core, and sheltered bicycle racks are non-existent.

Our point, however, is not to deride our city for lacking some services and facilities. Kingston is no worse, and is probably better off, than many other similar-sized cities in this respect. Rather, the point is to celebrate council's recognition of active transportation as fundamental to the future development of the city and to draw attention to the opportunity for improvements that may arise from this endorsement.

The ecological, economic and public health costs of maintaining our current level of dependence on the automobile are not sustainable. Solid evidence of this has appeared in the daily news for the past 15 years or more. At the same time, an increasing number of Canadians and people in similarly automobile- dependent countries are recognizing the many positive virtues of active transportation, not just for their environment but also for their health and the health of their communities.

Active transportation gets us out of our vehicles and out of our habits of driving every time we need to get from one place to another. It allows us to see and talk to our neighbours; to build physical activity into our daily routine; to save money that would otherwise be spent on buying, fuelling and maintaining vehicles; and to reach our destination without emitting an excess of harmful gases into our atmosphere.

The charter is posted on the city's website, and we invite readers to check it out. As you will see, it states that "Kingston supports active living" through policies, community designs, infrastructure, equipment, recreational programming, education and awareness, and working together with people and organizations.

Adopting this charter is an important first step in allowing council to move forward with promoting active transportation. Making this statement a reality will require a serious commitment from city hall, as well as the energies of all of us who want a healthier, cleaner, happier city.

With so many positive benefits to both the individual and the community, and with the momentum built by council's endorsement of the charter, now is the time to take the steps that will further encourage active transportation in the City of Kingston.

Jamie Linton Carolyn Bonta Spencer Moore Kingston

Get Active with Walk On!

Volunteer led walks provide a safe, free, and social atmosphere for people of all ages to increase their physical activity. No registration required. Accessible to mobility disabilities.
Walk On can be your first step to a healthier you.

Call 613-549-1232, ext. 1180 for more information.

COMMUNITY-Wide Physical Activity Pass is back in its 5th Year

Effective November 1st, all Grade 5, 9 and 10 students from two local school boards, Algonquin and Lakeshore Catholic District School Board (ALCDSB) and Limestone District School Board (LDSB), will get free access to participating facilities at designated times.

Kingston Gets Active (KGA) is the coalition spearheading this community-wide program aimed at getting students active. “We are very fortunate to have close partnerships with many local organizations that assist in making this program a success,” said Hang Nhan, Coordinator of Kingston Gets Active.

For example, KFL&A Public Health is coordinating the physical activity passes with the school boards and its schools. Participating organizations such as City of Kingston - Recreation and Leisure Services, Town of Greater Napanee - Department of Parks, Recreation and Culture, Kingston Family YMCA, WJ Henderson Recreation Centre and CFB Kingston are offering their facilities for free access. Students can enjoy activities such as swimming, ice skating and use of gymnasium at participating organizations.

If your child is in Grade 5, 9 or 10, a letter from school will be sent home within the next few weeks with a schedule listing participating facilities and hours available for access. “The idea behind this free program is to provide neighbourhoods with easy and accessible active opportunities so children can be active on a regular basis,” explained Nhan.

Working together in collaborative partnership, Kingston Gets Active is a dedicated team that strives to mobilize communities to increase the number of accessible active opportunities. The goal of Kingston Gets Active is to promote, encourage, and support citizens to be active on a regular basis, and enjoy the many health benefits that come from being physically active.

Volunteer to be an Ambassador

Kingston Gets Active is dedicated group working together to promote physical activity in Kingston.

Kingston is a spcial place and volunteers are special people. We invite you to join us to be a volunteer KGA Ambassador. A varitety of roles are available to match your interests, abilities, and time.

KGA Ambassadors motivate locail residents to adopt a more physically active lifestyle. They deliever current information though presentations and displays to community groups, organizations and workplaces.

A complimentary comprehensive 22-hour training session will be provided staring Oct. 17, 2009. Space is limited. Get your application in today and don't miss this opportunity. Individuals interested in becoming an Ambassador will be contacted for an interview.

Pedometer Lending Program

Kingston residents who want to get a move on can now measure their progress with the help of the pedometer lending program that has been set up at local libraries. Pedometers, which count the wearer’s steps during physical activity, can be borrowed for up to three weeks and can be renewed.

The pedometer lending program was the first, in a series of initiatives that are part of the ACTIVE2010 Kingston Gets Active strategy. Community partners involved in this pedometer lending program include Kingston Frontenac Lennox and Addington Public Health, the Kingston Family YMCA, City of Kingston, Queen’s University and the Kingston Frontenac Public Library.

Residents can use their library card to borrow a pedometer for three weeks and can renew their loan for up to nine weeks, depending on demand. They will also receive an information packet with instructions on how to use the pedometer and information on walking as a form of exercise.

When they return the device they will be asked if they wish to complete a short survey. Data gathered in the surveys will be used to evaluate the program. The following library branches are participating: Calvin Park, Central, Isabel Turner, Kingscourt and Pittsburgh.

Chief Librarian and CEO, Deborah Defoe, thinks the lending program is a natural fit for the library. “Libraries are active community participants, and we are concerned about the health of the communities we serve,” she said. “And we have the infrastructure in place already to handle the lending of these tools.”

Coordinator, Linda Whitfield, says, “for many people, using the pedometer, is a great motivator, showing them just how many steps they do in a day. Then, they can continue to use the pedometer and aim to increase that total by 3 to 4,000 steps.” Working towards 10,000 steps a day slowly will help avoid injury. Aim to maintain for 6 months and this should seal the behavioral part of your lifestyle.

The Public Health Agency of Canada recommends at least 30 minutes of physical activity every day. Walking can be a great way to contribute to this recommendation. You don’t have to feel that you have to walk 25 to 45 minutes all at once. Walking for 10 minutes at a time, several times a day, is just as good for you!

Getting out for walks as the winter weather looms may be challenging. Check out the indoor walking opportunities at Memorial Centre and the Quarry Sportsplex. Morning Mall walks are popular, plan your shopping trip to take extra time for window shopping. And add up those steps.

Watch for the Great Kingston Step Counting Challenge and enter your steps and help us build to the grand total.

For more information on the pedometer lending program, please contact us