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HomeMy WebLinkAboutCSD-011-07 Cl!1[mgton REPORT COMMUNITY SERVICES DEPARTMENT Date: General Purpose and Administration Committee June 18, 2007 Resolution #fifJA---tf<f:J-07 Meeting: Report #: CSD-011-07 File #: By-law #: Subject: WORLD RECORD WALK - October 3,2007 Recommendations: It is respectfully recommended that the General Purpose and Administration Committee recommend to Council the following: 1. THAT Report CSD-011-07 be received; and 2. THAT the Municipality of Clarington participate in the World Record Walk on Wednesday, October 3, 2007. s P. Caruana ctor of Community Services ReViewedbQ~-~ Franklin Wu Chief Administrative Officer JPC/SM/AE/jm CORPORATION OF THE MUNICIPALITY OF CLARINGTON 40 TEMPERANCE STREET, BOWMANVILLE, ONTARIO L 1C 3A6 T (905)623-3379 F (905)623-5506 REPORT NO.: CSD-011-07 PAGE 2 1.0 BACKGROUND 1.1 The World Record Walk (WRW) www.worldrecordwalk.ca will take place extensively across Ontario and in other regions of Canada simultaneously at 12:30 p.m. EDT on October 3,2007. The walk will be one kilometre in length, taking approximately 20 minutes to complete. Schools, communities, workplaces and trail organizations are being urged to participate. As a result, it is anticipated that over 3,000 events will happen at the same time. The cumulative total will be tallied in an effort to break the Guinness World Record for the largest simultaneous 1 km walk. 1.2 The current record was set in September 2006 by Western Australia, with 100,915 participants. 1.3 The World Record Walk is being organized by Green Communities Canada (www.oreencommunitiescanada.ca). a national association of community-based non-profit organizations that deliver innovative environmental programs and services, with a focus on household and community action. Green Communities Canada supports member organizations in working together to achieve environmental sustainability, including healthy ecosystems and communities, sustainable resource use and clean air, water, and soil. 1.4 The World Record Walk has been promoted extensively to municipal leaders to facilitate broad-based community participation. The involvement of communities is part of a broader strategy designed to focus on healthy community design that will encourage active transportation and recreational walking and that will benefit both individual health and the environment. 1.5 With the involvement of schools, communities, workplaces and trail organizations, the World Record Walk is positioned to smash the existing world record with an anticipated participation rate of 300,000+. This event, however, is about much more than breaking a world record. The purpose of the World Record Walk is to launch a "walkolution" by creating a culture of walking in our communities. 2.0 COMMENT 2.1 Healthv Weiohts for Healthv Kids, the report of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Health reported in March 2007 that Canada has one of the highest obesity rates in the developed world. Of young 9anadians aged 2 to 17, 26 per cent are obese. Today's generation of children is expected to have shorter life expectancy than their parents. REPORT NO.: CSD-011-07 PAGE 3 2.2 In Canada, approximately 30% of greenhouse gas emissions result from transportation. These emissions are contributing to global warming which will have long term impact on children. (Canadian Institute of Child Health, Climate Change and Your Child's Health, Information Package: www.cich.ca); 45 per cent of the greenhouse gases produced by the average Canadian family are from personal transportation. (Canadian Climate Change Centre, 1993). 2.3 The Durham Heart Health Coalition supports the Municipality of Clarington's participation in the World Record Walk and also in the broader opportunities of the "walkolution." These are positive, highly visible, green, active, social capacity-building steps that municipal leaders can take to address the two daunting social issues of the obesity epidemic and the dilemma of climate change. 2.4 Many schools in our community will be organizing their own World Record Walk, as it is being promoted extensively to every school in Ontario. 2.5 It is recommended that the Community Services Department organize a walk to contribute to the overall success of the event. The walk is to be promoted to community members and to Municipal employees. 2.6 The success of the event will be evaluated on an annual basis to determine repeat participation.