When the electricity bill goes up, most people expect to be tightening their belts, not loosening them.

The Sun Country Health Region, however, is suggesting high power and gas bills may eventually contribute to an already crippling obesity epidemic in Saskatchewan.

On Wednesday, the Sun Country board approved the wording on a resolution they will present to the annual convention of the Saskatchewan Association of Health Organizations (SAHO), to be held at Saskatoon in March.

The resolution calls for SAHO to lobby SaskPower and SaskEnergy to remove all demand meters at any publicly-owned recreational facility and charge utility rates at a flat rate of nine cents per kilowatt hour.

It also calls for SAHO to approach the ministers in charge of both Crown Corporations, as well as the Minister of Health, Social Services and Municipal Affairs and "request their assistance in establishing a fixed rate."

The reasoning, according to the board, is Saskatchewan Health statistics, as well as many other sources, point to a growing trend of obese and overweight people in Saskatchewan.

To be healthy, people need to be active. To be active, they need access to local recreational facilities, like hockey rinks, swimming pools and so on.

The problem, said board chair Earl Kickley, "is that the cost of electricity and gas for recreational facilities has gotten to be so high that it's just about impossible to operate."

Kickley said recreation is part of a long-term health plan to keep people health by exercising.

"In the long term, it will keep our people healthy and then we don't have to pay big health dollars to keep them going."

Removing demand meters and establishing a fixed rate would translate into lower bills for these facilities, especially those in small towns, and make it more feasible for them to stay open.

When a resolution is presented at the SAHO annual convention, it is voted on by the membership. If passed, SAHO takes the action called for in the resolution and lobbies the government and relevant ministers.

SAHO has some influence in government affairs, said SAHO board chair Alex Taylor, because it represents all the health regions in Saskatchewan, as well as several other member agencies.

Kickley said board members were also planning to speak to organizations like the Saskatchewan Association of Rural Municipalities (SARM) and the Saskatchewan Urban Municipalities Association (SUMA) about accepting similar motions.

Asked if they considered the possible financial burden SaskPower and SaskEnergy would face, Kickley responded by saying installations in most of these facilities have been in place for 20 to 40 years, and in that time, they have paid for themselves.

"We think that it's time that they give us a break on these," he said, noting the resolution only applies to publicly-owned facilities.

This is not the first time a group has lobbied the provincial government for lowering power and gas rates for small facilities.

Shauna Bourassa, director of leisure services for the City of Weyburn, said Saskatchewan Parks and Recreation has been lobbying for the past year about reducing rates at public facilities.
Bourassa stressed she did not necessarily support Sun Country's resolution or the changes proposed by the health region. But she and others have long been saying that change is needed when it comes to power and gas bills.
"The small town facilities will soon not be able to operate, because operation costs are so expensive," she said, adding that the Weyburn Colosseum alone pays an estimated $14,000 to $15,000 in monthly power and gas bills.