Tax credits for children’s recreational expenses are mostly a political sop to middle class families, but so far as the tax credits actually increase physical activity among youngsters, it’s hard to criticize them.
As the provincial Department of Health Promotion and Protectionexplains,
The tax credit, or healthy living incentive, provides an allowable tax credit of up to $500 per child to help with the cost of registering children and youth in sport or recreation activities that offer health benefits.
But what sort of recreational activities qualify? The complete list of authorized organizations shows organizations promoting such noncontroversial sports as skiing, baseball, football, hockey and the like. Other sports are less popular, but few would argue they don’t fit the criteria of “offer health benefits”: badminton, judo, the truly physically demanding (seriously) rope skipping, etc.
But then we get to these:
36. Nova Scotia Rifle Association
41.Shooting Federation of Nova ScotiaAnnapolis Valley Shooting Sports ClubAtlantic Marksmen AssociationCape Nova Rifle & Revolver ClubChignecto Handgun ClubChignecto Muzzle Loaders SocietyClare Shooters AssociationCumberland Marksmen AssociationHighland Gun ClubIPSC Nova ScotiaNorth Mountain Gun ClubNova Scotia Muzzle Loaders AssociationNova Scotia Rifle AssociationPictou County Military Rifle AssociationSt. Mary’s Shooters AssociationScotia Sportsmen’s Associationa
Forget the other public policy issues involved; what, precisely, is the “health benefit” of teaching kids to shoot? If there’s even one piece of scientific evidence showing that children who know how to shoot guns are healthier than those who don’t, I’m completely unaware of it. On the contrary, their risk of early death is increased several fold.
This article appears in Dec 18-24, 2008.
If we’re going to get rid of shooting sports because it’s too dangerous, let’s also exclude sports for children, then. After all, 242,000 children are injured from paying sports in Canada every year. As for health benefits, if Mr. Bousquet is unaware of the health benefits of competitive shooting, perhaps he should find out what they might be before assuming there are none. Try holding a rifle in your hands and hitting a target 100 yards away before degrading the sport.
I didn’t say shooting sports are too dangerous. I said they don’t promote health.An incident or two like the kid blowing his head off at the Ohio (I think) shooting range aside, I’m sure most shooting ranges are safe. It’s gunplay outside the shooting ranges that isn’t safe.
Tim, you did say that children who know how to shoot have their risk of early death multiplied several fold, so Wayne’s interpretation was quite understandable. Your jump in logic from “shooting sports” to “outside gunplay” was not made explicit or written clearly. In any case, I agree with you, so no offense, OK?
Wayne, surely you know that facts seldom trump left-wing political correctness in Mr. Bousquet’s commentary.