Liberal candidate Kevin Flynn signed himself up for the Heart & Stroke Foundation’s Healthy Candidates campaign today. Flynn is the first of the Oakville candidates to agree to the challenge. Flynn joins 121 other candidates across Ontario in this pursuit for a healthy style.
“I signed up for the Healthy Candidates Campaign in 2011. There was no doubt in my mind to do this again,” said Flynn. “Signing up for this challenge means candidates pledge to promote and support better health. The Ontario Liberal government has already made efforts in this area. Since 2003 we have more than doubled public health funding in the province to increase health promotion, illness prevention, and screening.”
One of the initiatives of the Ontario government is the Healthy Kids Community Challenge which encourages kids to eat healthy and stay active. Said Flynn, “As adults, we need to be good role models for kids. The Healthy Candidates campaign is a great way to show our commitment to leading healthy and active lives.”
Some of the ways the 2014 Team Flynn campaign is keeping healthy includes having plenty of fresh fruits available in the campaign office for staff and volunteers and a twice-weekly walking group led by Flynn’s wife Janice, an avid runner.
Each major party campaigning in the June 12 provincial election has an ambassador to lead the way for their parties. The Liberal ambassador is Deb Matthews, Minister of Health. In a statement for the initiative she explained her motivation in signing up: "I'm proud to be the Liberal Ambassador for the Heart and Stroke Foundation's Healthy Candidates campaign. Working with the Heart and Stroke Foundation, I've seen what a difference health promotion and education makes in preventing heart disease. This campaign is a fantastic way to encourage Ontarians to live healthy, active lives.”
NOTES:
1. In January, Kevin Flynn helped announce Ontario’s Healthy Kids Community Challenge. This initiative was a community led program designed to improve the health and activity of children and youth in communities across the province.
2. Since 2003, the Ontario government has more than doubled public health funding in the province, (growth of 158%). Hospital funding has increased by more than 50%. There are more than 100 major health capital projects completed or underway, including 23 new hospitals such as Oakville’s new state-of-the-art facility. The new Oakville Hospital represents the largest health care investment into Oakville by any government.
3. According to the Heart & Stroke Foundation, health care already costs fifty cents of every dollar that Queen's Park spends, which could accelerate to eighty cents of every dollar by 2030. Heart and Stroke Foundation believes that the way to reduce the cost of health care is to challenge the next government to do more to promote and support better health in Ontario. Investing to promote better health today will save money and lives today and tomorrow. Increased promotion of better health, we can prevent 80% of premature heart disease and stroke. Ipsos Reid recently found that 85% of Ontarians would support investing more to promote and support better health in our province. (Source: www.healthycandidates.ca)
