Interesting article in the G & M on the costs and purported value of
re-vitalizing Participaction, Canada's former "eat right and exercise"
program. The bureaucrats get it. As usual, the politicians don't or won't.

------------
Alarm sounds over cost of fitness plan space
by GLORIA GALLOWAY 

Friday, September 29, 2006 – Page A1

OTTAWA -- Federal bureaucrats say a Conservative plan to breathe new life
into Participaction -- the fitness-awareness campaign killed five years ago
by the previous Liberal government -- is a waste of millions of tax dollars
on what amounts to a sole-sourced contract.

When the program that was established in 1971 with federal financial support
died in 2001, the annual budget for it was $350,000.

Under a proposal obtained by The Globe and Mail that was prepared in July by
the private non-profit board holding the rights to the Participaction logo,
$446,000 would be required from federal coffers to pay for the initial
two-month start-up period.

By the 2009-2010 fiscal year, the initiative would need a $5.445-million
contribution from Ottawa toward a proposed $24-million budget. The rest of
the money would come from the private sector, foundations, provinces and
territories, and gifts in kind.

"We have a serious, significant, long-term challenge facing the country in
rising obesity and lack of physical activity. Our view is that we, as a
government, have to tackle this challenge," said Michael Chong, the Minister
for Amateur Sport who, along with Health Minister Tony Clement, has been
advocating for Participaction's return.

"We're looking at ways to make Canadians aware, through a public-awareness
campaign, of the need for greater physical fitness, the need to live active,
healthy lifestyles. So one of the ways that we're looking at delivering this
message to Canadians is through the revitalization of Participaction... What
I can tell you is that whatever we decide to do must be based on two
criteria. One is that we want to ensure value for money and secondly that
the program delivers results. And that's the only way that we're going to
proceed."

...

The new proposal envisions a massive public-relations campaign, supported by
a state-of-the art website, aimed at persuading Canadians to get active.
But it also has caused eyebrows to rise in the Health Department, where
officials question both the cost and the effectiveness of the concept...

Of concern to Health Canada officials is the desire by politicians to put
money into Participaction, which is basically defunct, rather than the
myriad of non-governmental agencies that are still promoting fitness.

"I am still very uncomfortable with the way we are being influenced by the
minister's office and the discussions around funding the start-up of an
organization when many others, who actually have programs, already exist,"
one Health bureaucrat wrote in an e-mail obtained by The Globe.

Another, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said the fact that politicians
are considering revitalization of Participaction reminds him of the federal
sponsorship program in that there would be little value for the tax dollars
spent...

Within the bureaucracy, he said, everyone knows that this is wrong because
other groups should be permitted to bid for the funding. And he questioned
why anyone in this day and age would think Canadians need to be told that
they should be physically active...

------------

Full article: http://tinyurl.com/o99fm

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