Claresholm Healthy Community Coalition Success

In January 2010, the Claresholm Healthy Community Coalition received funding to start a two-hour free public swim on Saturday afternoons at the local pool. The pool reports that after more than a year of running free public swimming that it is their best program for attendance. Many families and individuals who would not normally utilize the pool are coming out to take part in the free public swim, a great success for the coalition whose purpose is to increase active living opportunities in Claresholm.

Because of the great success of this initiative, the coalition celebrated with a pool party in conjunction with June is Recreation and Parks Month. ARPA contributed to this event by sending prizes, all given away by the end of the party, and a banner. By collaborating with local grocers, they were able to provide the event with bottles of water and freezies for participants. The local FCSS club led games for the 80 children and youth who attended. Because of partnerships with local community members, ARPA and FCSS, the pool party was a great way to show off the success of the free swim initiative.

21 Days to Healthy Eating

Communities ChooseWell has partnered with Sobeys to bring families across Alberta an exciting challenge called 21 Days to Healthy Eating. The challenge encourages Alberta families to come back to the table together and enjoy healthy family meals together.

Communities ChooseWell in partnership with Meals on Wheels Edmonton will be hosting the first ever ChooseWell Iron Chef Provincial Finals on October 15th, 2011 at the Edmonton Meals on Wheels corporate location.

Winning culinary teams from local events across Alberta will be vying to become the first ever ChooseWell Iron Chef Champions at the Provincial Event.  The provincial champions will be awarded with great prizes for participants and their community. 

The event, which is designed to promote healthy eating,  use of local foods and intergenerational programming, puts teams consisting of one youth and one adult together to try and create the most healthy and delicious meals possible. 

A judging panel made up of local experts and celebrities will be on hand to rate the creations.  The event will also feature hosts, a live audience and fun challenges for spectators. 

For more information about ChooseWell Iron Chef please contact the ChooseWell team at choosewell@arpaonline.ca or at 780-415-1745. 

ARPA continues to monitor the development of regional plans in Alberta and encourages Alberta communities within the Lower Athabasca Region and others in the province to be fully engaged in the review and discussion of the Draft Lower Athabasca Regional Plan which is now available online at www.landuse.alberta.ca.

As a contribution to the Alberta Real Estate Foundation (AREF)'s 20th Anniversary "Through Leadership Series" a dialogue has been started called Re-Imagining our Neighborhoods. This is an initiative of The Natural Step Canada and AREF and its purpose is to engage communities in discussing what goes into creating a sustainable neighborhood. ARPA supports initiatives such as this one, and we encourage you to join the discussion. Click here to join the facebook discussion group. For more information about The Natural Step Canada initiative, please go to http://www.thenaturalstep.org.

The PC Leadership Vote is coming up quickly on September 17th, and the candidates are Doug Griffiths,  Doug Horner,  Gary Mar, Ted Morton, Rick Orman, and  Alison Redford. As the vote is just days away we thought we'd give you an update on the policies and actions more directly related to recreation, parks, community development and improving the quality of life and health of Alberta's Citizens that each candidate has given to date:

Doug Griffiths intends to strengthen the role and responsibility of municipal governments in building stronger communities across Alberta, as well as clarify the role and responsibility of the provincial government in building stronger communities across Alberta.

Some examples of how Griffiths would do this are to implement cross-ministry coordination and decision making, encourage and support arts, culture, recreation, heritage, and searching for opportunities to use public infrastructure to maximize community benefits and address community needs (read more).

Doug Horner wants to create an Associate Ministry with a focus on wellness of all Albertans in sport, fitness and nutrition with an emphasis on involvement in community-based activity programs (read more).

Horner also supports doubling the funding for the Alberta Foundation for the Arts over the next three years and establishing a basis for long-term planning and funding; increase support to the Community Initiatives Program that builds inclusive, safe, and strong community across Alberta; as well as implement a "Corporate Arts" program to provide arts organizations with major business support functions that are often not affordable to non-profits (read more).

Horner released a "Community Sport and Fitness" policy statement (read more). As such Horner recognizes that participation in sports, fitness and leisure activities are the cornerstones of building healthy communities across Alberta and are core to promoting wellness among Albertans. Horner's platform on "Community Sport & Fitness" would involve:

• move towards an accelerated development of new multipurpose community recreation centres in major municipalities
• the conversion of outdated facilities on municipal reserve lands into community hubs that involve sport, arts, green spaces, etc. 
• establish a rural recreational and community hall development financing program - towards rejuvenation of core recreation and culture assets in communities.
• match the Federal Children's Fitness Tax Credit of up to $500 annually - but open it up to all ages of Albertans.

Gary Mar has released a policy handbook that includes a proposed Early Years Strategy that will streamline existing early childhood programs to make it easier for children and families to get assistance when needed. He will also encourage a joint-partnership with other services at a local level for joint planning and delivery, as well as improving the availability of mental health services for expectant and new mothers (read more).

Mar has also proposed an increase in health spending on prevention and health promotion, including the creation of a Wellness Innovation Fund, which would not just be the domain of the Alberta Health Services, but of any department of government (read more).

He also supports dynamic, inclusive and vibrant communities. He wants to focus on arts, culture and community spirit, which includes developing a blueprint for a greener Alberta by 2050, provide sustainable long-term funding for arts and culture, assess funding to plan, build and upgrade recreational facilities and create a Fair and Safe Play initiative in schools, communities and sports teams (read more).  

Active Kids, Healthy kids is another initiative of Mar's and it would address the need to make participating in recreational activities more accessible to all children and youth in Alberta in order to support active kids and amateur sport (read more). 

Ted Morton will create a new fund called Go Outdoors Alberta (GOAL). The GOAL Fund will be created by directing 1 percent of annual provincial lottery revenues into a dedicated fund. This will help fund important priorities such as the purchase of land to be used for parks and protected areas, support for Alberta's land trust organizations, and the development of trails and other recreational priorities.

Morton also supports development of urban natural areas. He would use the regional planning process under the Alberta Land Stewardship Act to work with stakeholders to identify urban and regional parks and to strengthen the parks network in Alberta (read more).

Rick Orman has proposed reversing the Province's recent decision to move all lottery revenues into the General Revenue Fund. Orman would restore the Lottery Fund as a separate fund and to its original purpose, which included funding for recreation and community enhancement projects. Orman will also support increasing the portion of lottery funds allocated to community enhancement projects and arts and culture by $100 million next April.

Orman also supports the development of a long-term arts and culture and community spirit development strategy. This strategy would be developed in partnership with local and regional government officials and stakeholders (read more).

Alison Redford wants to encourage Alberta families to be more active, athletic, and happy by proposing a $1,500 Family Recreation Tax Credit to support participation in organized sports and recreational activities like summer camps (read more). 

Redford intends to highlight the importance of volunteers in Alberta as drivers of change by developing policy to ensure that the Alberta Government is working together with the volunteer sector to build communities by bringing non-profit agency pay grades up to standard with their peers in government, change privacy laws to make it easier for the voluntary sector to work with those in need and make communication between the sector and elected officials more open and transparent. 

Redford has also indicated that she wants to promote arts and culture as economic forces and work to attract new arrivals to work in Alberta's arts community. Redford would work with municipalities to design and create accessible green spaces as well to showcase local artists talent with public art installations, as well as increase funding for culture and the arts in other policy areas such as health care to grow related jobs and heighten the field's visibility (read more).

For more information on the 2011 PC Leadership Vote, please visit the PC Association of Alberta's website, or view a list of upcoming important dates [pdf] or FAQs [pdf] related to the leadership campaign.

Resolution Deadline for Annual General Meeting

PLAY - It's Serious Business

Community Sport & Recreation Provincial Dialogue; Proceedings Report

Alberta Recreation and Parks Association update on advocacy for a Ministry of Wellness

Aviva Community Fund: This Fund asks you to share your ideas to create positive change in your community. The most popular ideas, as chosen by Canadians, will have a chance to share the $1,000,000 Aviva Community Fund. Click here to enter your idea!

Due: September 26. 

Pace Car Grants: This year, with the support of FedEx Express Canada, $500 Pace Car grants are being offered in support of a "Walk This Way" Child Pedestrian Program. Help decrease speeding in residential communities everywhere by introducing a Pace Car Program in your neighborhood!

Click here take advantage of this opportunity.

Due: September 30. 

Chevrolet Safe and Fun Hockey Helmet Donation for five year olds: If you have a child who was born in 2006 and is registered for the 2011/2012 Hockey Season they are eligible to receive a free Bauer Hockey helmet from Chevrolet. To register for the Chevrolet Safe and Fun Hockey Package, including the free helmet, go to www.chevrolethockey.ca. 

REConnect is a monthly e-newsletter published by the Alberta Recreation & Parks Association. For more information, please contact arpa@arpaonline.ca.