You Deserve A (Tax) Break

Damn straight.

During the last federal election, the Conservative Party of Canada promised Canadians they would seriously consider extending a plan to provide tax deductibility for gym memberships.

In September 2006, Fitness Industry Canada (launched) You Deserve A Tax Break, a national postcard writing campaign encouraging fitness club members to send a postcard - via mail or email - to their Minister of Finance and their local Member of Parliament.

You Deserve A Tax Break is your chance to tell the Government of Canada you and your club members deserve a tax break for contributing to lowering national health care costs while maintaining an active and healthy lifestyle.

Makes sense to me. Clicking on the logo will take you to the page from which you can send your e-postcard. The FIC's front page also includes an informative article from the Edmonton Sun.

Now I need to see if I'm charged GST when I buy organic. If so, removing that would help offset the sometimes greater cost of eating healthier.

I think it's probably fair to say that most people don't change their eating habits until they're given a reason to, usually illness or weight gain. Any incentive towards a healthy lifestyle should be encouraged. Throwing more money at the health care system isn't the only way to "support" it; taking some of the pressure off it would help a great deal as well.

And I include myself in the above group incidentally; it wasn't until I got a wicked kidney stone that I began to question my decision to eat two medium pizzas, a large bag of chips, a large bag and M&M's and washing it all down with a 2L bottle of coke every other football Sunday or so. Next thing I know, I'm laid out on the floor in my parents' living room with an ice pack on my gonads waiting to be taken to the hospital. At 22 years of age, that ain't right.

Anyone who's ever had a kidney stone will tell you that it's not an experience they seek to repeat. I was never able to keep mine, but it looked something like this:



That is, if I had a guy running through my urethra.

In any event, it's unfortunate that I wasn't able to keep it because it would have made a great necklace and a constant reminder that cheese is not intended to be a main course. Or alternatively, a delightful conversation piece as a paperweight.