Trudeau Creates a Minister of Physical Activity
A Promising Development for Canadians
John Weston, President, Canadian Health and Fitness Institute
(Vancouver, July 27, 2023). “Cabinet choices have nothing to do with merit - unless you yourself are chosen.” Such was the advice from my friend, Stockwell Day, then Minister of International Trade, after I as an MP was overlooked by Stephen Harper in his choices for Cabinet.
As the country reacts to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's cabinet shuffle yesterday, one thing jumps out that is actually quite encouraging. Though not in the spotlight, one appointment which could cause dramatic improvement in Canadian quality of life is Carla Qualtrough's appointment as Minister of Sport and Physical Activity. I do not recall that we have ever previously had a “Minister of Physical Activity”. Hopefully, this is finally a government acknowledgement that physical activity is key to reversing enormous negative trends in Canadian health and wellness.
We have seen sedentary behaviour steadily on the rise, which leads to overweightness, diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and mental illness. About a third of our youth are overweight or obese, twice the proportion of a generation ago. Countless studies have shown - with increasing confidence - what Dr. Jack Taunton commonly says, that “Exercise is the best medicine.” Taunton is with me a cofounder of the Canadian Health and Fitness Institute, dedicated to “Making Canada the Fittest Nation on Earth by 2030”. We have a four-pronged strategy to increase physical activity, en route to promoting better physical, mental, and spiritual health for Canadians.
In a recent New York Times Bestseller, Canadian/US doctor Petter Attia hammers home the message powerfully - that pro-active lifestyle steps make people live longer and more healthfully, prolonging lifespan AND “healthspan”; that these steps are essential to avoid bankrupting the nation; and that established institutions are too embedded in their ways to catalyze the necessary cultural transformation - we as active citizens need to lead the charge (Outlive: The Science & Art of Longevity (Harmony Books, 2023). As Attia puts it, ““Medicine’s biggest failing is in attempting to treat all these conditions (heart disease; cancer; neurodegenerative disease; and type 2 diabetes) at the wrong end of the timescale - after they are entrenched - rather than before they take root” (p. 16). It won’t surprise you that he echoes our Taunton in concluding that “Exercise is by far the most potent longevity ‘drug’.” (17)
The headlines will continue to discuss the ministers in the portfolios of finance, defence, and justice. But don't lose sight that for the first time, we have a Minister of Physical Activity, a great British Columbian, the M.P. for Delta, BC. Who has struggled with visual impairment since birth but gone on to win Bronze as a Paralympic Swimmer, develop a successful legal practice, and now has the opportunity to blaze trails in what could be a groundbreaking portfolio.
What an inspirational choice to help get Canadians moving! Whatever you think of Justin Trudeau and the Liberals, it's worth pausing to catch a politician doing something right.