Letter: Policy change affects recreation centre members

We received some infuriating news when we recently brought our children swimming at the Howard Armstrong Recreation Centre in Hanmer. We were told that family memberships would no longer include programs such as swimming.

We would have to dig into our pockets to pay more for those programs, which were included until now.

We were advised the city is losing money with other fitness facilities in the region that are not as successful as the Armstrong centre, and the city wants to generate more income from our centre. Why should the residents of Valley East have to pay more?

We are a family with five children, and this is an important change for us and for many other families in our area. We have been purchasing a family membership for many years. It’s affordable and offers fitness programs for our kids.

The loss of this all-inclusive membership will mean fewer fitness classes for my children and the loss of important skills such as swimming and healthy living.
The city believes the new membership program will be beneficial, as it will give us access to centres in Capreol, Dowling and Falconbridge.

We live in Hanmer and want to go to the recreation facility closest to home. This change is not an improvement or benefit for Valley East families.

I ask our city councillors, municipal staff and the mayor to reverse this bad decision.

Jean Gionet
Greater Sudbury