Message from the ED
Dear Members and Supporters of a Bike-Friendly Canada,
My first year as Executive Director has flown by incredibly fast and we can look back together and celebrate many accomplishments this year. You will be able to read about these in this newsletter. The momentum for cycling in Canada has grown and is unstoppable now. From big local victories like Bike Lanes on Bloor Street in Toronto and a bike-friendly bridge in Halifax, to the growing call for federal investment in cycling and walking from our partners like the Canadian Association of Physicians for the Environment (CAPE). CAPE recently wrote a letter, calling for a National Active Transportation Strategy that was signed by 8 major national health organisations, and sent to Minister Philpott. Our National Bike Summit, the first of its kind in Canada, was a sold-out event with speakers such as Mayor Lisa Helps of Victoria, Josh Shaw of Lightfoot Bikes and Jean-Francois Pronovost of Velo Quebec, all joining our call for a National Cycling Strategy.
As your ED I have been meeting with numerous federal officials, elected and non-elected. I have met with the Ministries of Environment and Climate Change, Health, Infrastructure and Communities, Transport Canada, the Privy Council Office, Small Business and Tourism and Sports and Persons with Disabilities. I’m developing ties with national stakeholders including the Federation of Canadian Municipalities, Canadian Urban Transit Association, Parachute Canada, Cycling Canada, Physical and Health Education Canada, Green Communities Canada (GCC) and the Active School Travel Alliance of Canada (ASTAC). Together with these allies we can get to a #BikeFriendlyCanada. In fact, with GCC and ASTAC we have formed the Active TransportationAlliance, to further our common goal of making Canada a bike and walk friendly country.
We can’t do this work alone. We need the financial support of all of you that believe in a #BikeFriendlyCanada to do our work and take it to the next level. Please contribute to our campaign by clicking the Support Us Today button below. We are planning a two-day National Bike Summit in Ottawa May 28-29, 2018. Help us make it happen!
Judi Varga-Toth, Executive Director
Support Us Today
We’ve launched an e-petition to support Bill C312: An Act to Establish a National Cycling Strategy. Together, our voices and signatures will show the Minister of Environment and Climate Change Catherine McKenna that we do WANT federal leadership and vision for cycling. Sign today and share.
Bike Shorts…
The Way Forward is Paved with Bike Lanes: How investing in cycling infrastructure will make Canadian cities more efficient, our businesses more competitive and lead to billions in reduced health and environmental costs for all of Canada. Read the Canada Bikes full pre-2018 Budget Submission
As referenced above, eight national health organizations have sent a letter to the Federal Minister of Health asking her to invest in the development of a National Active Transportation Strategy. Signatories to the joint letter include Heart & Stroke, Diabetes Canada, Canadian Cancer Society, The Canadian Lung Association, Asthma Canada, the Alzheimer Society of Canada, Upstream, and CAPE. Kim Perrotta of CAPE created a blog post with details of what Active Transportation can do for Canada.
Our postal code is a powerful predictor of our health. The design of our cities and neighbourhoods can either help or hinder our physical activity and social interactions, influencing our chances of experiencing poor health outcomes like heart disease, diabetes, and cancer. Canada will spend over $180 billion on infrastructure over the next 12 years. How will these investments impact our health and wellbeing? Who stands to benefit, and how? These are the big questions motivating all of us at INTERACT (Interventions, Research and Action in Cities Team), a new national research collaboration of scientists, urban planners, and engaged citizens uncovering how major changes and investments in city infrastructure are shaping the health and wellbeing of Canadians from coast to coast. For the full story on the INTERACT Project
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