Bikes belong in Ontario!
The Bicycle Trade Association of Canada (BTAC), with the ThinkFirst Foundation of Canada, an organization dedicated to preventing brain and spinal cord injury through education, is holding a media conference in Toronto at Sweet Pete's Bike Shop, Thursday, September 20th at 11 a.m.
The purpose of the media conference is to:
- Release the "Bikes belong in Ontario!" policy platform - a comprehensive policy program to promote cycling in Ontario;
- Support the proposal of provincial investment in municipal cycling infrastructure and an Ontario PST exemption on bicycles and bicycle helmets;
- Explain how the bicycle is the healthiest, most environmentally friendly and efficient means of urban transportation available to Ontarians;
- Explain how a tax exemption on helmets will promote safe cycling and prevent brain injuries.
The media conference will take place at Sweet Pete's Bike Shop, 1204 Bloor Street West, on Thursday, September 20th at 11 AM.
WHAT: Release of "Bikes belong in Ontario!" policy platform
WHERE: Sweet Pete's Bike Shop, 1204 Bloor Street West (on the north side, 2 blocks west of Dufferin).
WHEN: Thursday, September 20, 2007, 11 a.m.
WHO: Rob White, BTAC Vice-President, Dr. Charles Tator, ThinkFirst Foundation of Canada President, Pete Lilly, Sweet Pete's Bike Shop and BTAC Director
For more information, contact:Brent Kulba (e|c|o media relations), 416-972-7401, kulbab@huffstrategy.com
The Bicycle Trade Association of Canada (BTAC) is the national voice of cycling in Canada and the hub of the Canadian bicycle industry. BTAC advocates, builds partnerships, promotes trade and commerce and seeks to motivate, unite and inspire Canadians to make bicycling the preeminent form of transportation and recreation in Canada. See www.btac.org for more information.
ThinkFirst is a joint effort from not only neuroscience health professionals and educators, but also injury survivors, corporations, local businesses, and communities to prevent brain and spinal cord injury through education aimed at healthy behaviours in children and youth. See www.thinkfirst.ca for more information.
Crossposted to Spacing
Comments
Aidan
TV ads?
Tue, 09/18/2007 - 19:58About time the bike trade took the lead, since we know governments won’t! They should get ads on TV like the Dutch ones, to make cycling look cooler than driving (which it is!): http://clevercycles.com/?p=180
Support SweetPete’s, too. One of a half-dozen good bikeshops in this city.
anthony
Bikes Belong in Ontario
Thu, 09/20/2007 - 18:12I went to this event this morning. I rode my bicycle there, thank you. Can't say that was true of too many of the other attendees.
A press kit was made available, the core of which is found here in PDF format. Toe post-event press release is found here.
I also have a copy of the audio I recorded of the event.
Rob White, the VP of BTAC, was the first to speak. He read a well prepared speech. He started by explaining a bit about BTAC, and quickly got on to explaining why Bicycles make sense as apart of the transportation mix, and gave a glimpse of why BTAC is behind these efforts (to sell more bikes). He went to explain many of the individual and societal benefits of cycling, most of which I'll assume you are familiar with.
Dr. Charles Tator, a neurosurgeon from "Think First" advocated for the use of cycling helmets.
And Paulette Blais representing CAN-BIKE spoke briefly about the many benefits of the CAN-BIKE program for all cyclists aged 9 and older.
The Liberal party was represented by Sylvia Watson and Tony Ruprecht. No other political types were there. Some media did show up, including CBC Radio 1. And Hamish Wilson. Kelly Thornton represented the city of Toronto's cycling staff.
After the presentations some questions were asked. Panelists and other did their best to answer the question. Hamish seemed to take particular delight in grilling Dr. Tatter about bike helmets. I see now that it is hard to be prepared for Hamish's interrogations.
All in all the event went well.
What I was disappointed about was the CAN-BIKE segment (but not with Paulette Blais). The segment did not seem to be as slickly integrated with the rest of the group. It seemed like like it was a last minute tack-on. I was also warned to expect an announcement about new funding for CAN-BIKE to be able to expand and deliver the program to a wider audience, but that part, if it's true, wasn't part of today's announcement. I hope to find out more soon.
Darren_S
Brain injury
Fri, 09/21/2007 - 08:14Why have a brain injury group present? What sort of message does this send out about cycling? ThinkFirst is somewhat controversial, it refuses to demand that car drivers wear helmets. Drivers have a far greater number of head injuries than cyclists.
I could not imagine or have ever seen the Automobiles Dealer's Association having press conferences with similar groups.
geoffrey (not verified)
RE: Brain
Fri, 09/21/2007 - 09:14RE: Brain Injury:
http://www.singletracks.com/blog/?p=407
One more reason to wear a helmet: Bear attacks
by Jeff Barber
Anthony Blasioli was attacked by a bear during a mountain bike ride earlier this month in Banner Forest Heritage Park in Washington state but luckily, he survived. Blasioli credits prayer and his bike helmet with saving his life.
I saw Anthony on one of the morning programs yesterday and they showed his bloody helmet with a huge chunk missing from it - gory stuff. On the show he also mentioned that he used his bike as a shield to keep the bear away and that the helmet saved him from more serious injury. Most of his ear was ripped off but other than that, the guy is alive which is all that matters.
This is certainly not the first time we’ve reported on bears attacking mountain bikers and while it’s unlikely that you’ll be a victim, it at least gives me one more reason to wear a helmet (as if you really needed one).
Unfortunately they do not serve as well as the majick cloaks of invincibility the motormayhem insidioustry would have us believe and in fact may contribute to the apparent obligatory aggressive nature of the typical motorholic sociopath: link