Seventh Generation Initiative

"There is a tradition in some societies to consider the interests of the next seven generations whenever decisions are being made.

For the modern world to do the same would mark our passage to maturity."

Planning for Seven Generations

There are three stages to the Seventh Generation Initiative.

Stage 1:
The first stage is to:

• Define our society's values in a way that is consistent with the long term well-being of people, communities and ecosystems; and
• Create and publish a set of measures based on those values which would regularly tell us whether things are getting better or worse.

This is the purpose of the "Canada Well-Being Measurement Act".

The Initiative is promoting public awareness of and discussion about our society's values, and things that are happening that improve or damage our well-being.

Most adults have concerns about employment, environment, safety, health, fairness and control over their lives. Most are also concerned about the quality of these things for generation to come. The associated values come forward when people discuss what they feel indicates well-being.

By promoting such discussion and encouraging feedback, we can identify what activities increase our well-being over time and which diminish it. Then establish ways of measuring whether our state of well-being is improving or deteriorating.

When passed, the Act will require Parliament to appoint its Standing Committee on Environment and Sustainable Development to make recommendations on how the measuring system should be assembled. In turn, the Committee will be required, as a first step, to ask the public what we think indicates well-being and to seek advice from individuals and engage organizations that are already working on measuring systems.

Requiring citizens' input will make sure that the measuring system is relevant to people's experiences. Citizens' input will also help in the delicate task of weighting different factors so that when two factors are in opposition, there will be a democratic basis for deciding which should take priority. To protect against the danger that people will judge factors according to their immediate self interest, the discussion kit will include a reminder to consider the impacts our suggestions might have on the next seven generations. In addition, we encourage the involvement of the group with the longest actual time horizon, youth, with the hope that they will help speak for future generations.

The Standing Committee will also involve people and organizations already working on social and environmental measuring systems. Enough excellent work is being done in this field to provide a solid foundation for measuring improvement or deterioration in such factors as: economic inclusion, income distribution, crime, unpaid work, involvement in decision making, opportunities for personal development, biodiversity, renewable and non-renewable resources, durability of goods and pollution.

Establishing these and other measures will legitimize the factors involved. Regular reporting will make them visible. Visibility will enable anyone to see how policies and actions affect the measures. Increased awareness of causes and effects will naturally incline decision makers to consider how their decisions might affect the measures and the management process will evolve to seek well-being in the broader context.

Stage 2:
Assessing policy and legislation for their impact on the next seven generations.

Once values consistent with long term well-being are established the logical next step will be to assess proposed policy and legislation for their long term impacts. How might decisions affect the measures of well-being over the next seven generations?

We decided not to include the screening of policy and legislation in Stage 1 because we didn't want concerns about adding a step to the already lengthy governing process to get in the way of establishing the long term values. Once the values are identified and work on measures of well-being underway, however, there will be nothing to lose, and a sustainable future to gain. The second legislative proposal, the "7th Generation Act", will require government to assess its decisions with long term social and environmental impacts in mind.

We anticipate that by the time we have gathered enough momentum to put the "Canada Well-Being Measurement Act" into effect that the alliance network forming around the first stage will be strong enough to proceed effectively with the "7th Generation Act".

Stage 3:
Creating policy and legislation to improve long term well-being.

As the process of assessing policies and legislation for their impacts on long-term well-being becomes accepted, it will also become easier to introduce policies and legislation designed specifically to improve long-term well-being. There are many policy modifications and legislative initiatives that would incline society away from non-sustainable activities and towards sustainable ones. These include: Full Cost Accounting, Product Stewardship, measures to limit inequity and recognize voluntary and unpaid work, shifting taxes from things we want more of such as employment to things we want less of like pollution and resource consumption, and shifting subsidies from activities that cause problems to ones that solve them.

Such policies would tune the system so that the most sustainable choices would also be the least expensive. People could then assist long term well-being by shopping for bargains and those who wanted to partake in activities that degrade society or the environment would help pay the cost of correcting the damage through the price of their purchases.

We look forward to collecting such proposals and introducing them to a governing process that is committed to long-term well-being.

How you can help:

There are two actions that are mutually supporting and need to proceed together. They are informing and involving other people and encouraging your MP to support the Act.

A) Popular involvement - Encouraging people across Canada to think about and discuss possible measures of well-being and the importance of having such measures broadly reported.

We will provide support materials to any one interested in discussing well-being with their family, friends, association, union, religious community or any other group.

In the context laid out in the "Measuring Well-Being" booklet, questions like:

What do we value as a society?

What do we feel truly indicates our state of well-being?

What sort of world do we want to leave for our children?
can lead into interesting discussion. Notes from such a discussion are the raw material we are looking for to create and validate measures of well-being.

The process aims to familiarize as many people as possible with the importance of measuring well-being and the seven generations perspective. Comments identifying what values people hold and how we might measure changes that affect those values will be very useful in establishing the new measuring system. We hope you will join in the effort to introduce the topic and encourage feedback. Send your ideas and those of your associates to us at:

Sustainability Project/Inviting Debate
2799 McDonald's Corners Rd.
RR #3 Lanark, Ontario, K0G 1K0

phone (613) 259-9988
e-mail: sustain5(at)web.ca

Another way to get the word out to people is to involved local media. If you know anyone at the local media, encourage them to do a feature on Measuring Well-Being. We welcome any opportunity to talk with reporters looking for more information to do a story.

B) Passing the "Canada Well-Being Measurement Act".

Inspire your MP to support the "Canada Well-Being Measurement Act". The more people they hear from, the more likely they are to take the time to look at the proposal. If they can be motivated to consider the issue, there is a good chance that they will grasp and therefore support the need for improving our measure of progress. If enough constituents communicate their interests, MPs will respond.

There are several hurdles for the "Canada Well-Being Measurement Act" to clear on its way to discussion in the House of Commons and from there to be passed into law. All of them can be assisted by lobbying your MP. Information about which is your riding, who your MP is and how to reach him or her is available from:

1-800-667-3355

No postage is necessary when writing to MPs in Ottawa.

Be sure to ask your MP to comment on the Act. Get back to them if you don't get a reply. They get a lot of mail, but if you remind them and insist on answers, as your representative, they are obliged to reply. You can make them consider the proposal.

When a private members bill is introduced in the House of Commons, it is put into a 'hat' from which items to be discussed are drawn at random. If 100 MPs put their names on it, the bill goes into a less crowded hat and has a greater chance of getting drawn. There are already a couple of dozen MPs who have responded positively. Joe Jordan, the MP from Leeds-Grenville who is introducing the bill, thinks that enough MPs from a variety of political parties will sign on to reach the second hat, particularly if they are prompted by their constituents.

Mr. Jordan says that, with enough public encouragement the bill could be removed from the lottery system and adopted as a Government Bill. This would assure that it comes forward for discussion in the House. Since the Prime Minister decides most of what goes on in Parliament, it is important to make sure he knows that citizens are concerned about how we measure well-being. Send copies of your letters to Mr. Chrétian and encourage him to make the "Canada Well-Being Measurement Act" a Government bill.

The Right Honourable Jean Chrétien, Langevin Block, 80 Wellington St., Ottawa, ON, Canada, K1A 0A6, 992-4211, Chretien.J@parl.gc.ca

To Do:

We are not yet at a point where long term responsibility can be assumed but we have a broad foundation for making it happen. With your help and that of hundreds of others who have expressed interest in measuring well-being, we can reach out to our communities and stimulate the chain reaction needed to shift social priorities.

* Bring this initiative to the attention of Canadians. People across the country need to know that our governments are not presently working with enough information to make decisions in the interest of future generations. Contact us for copies of the "Measuring Well-Being" booklet and suggestions for helping those around you understand why we need expanded measures of well-being.

* Help involve citizens' networks. If you are a member of a group that is part of a larger network, cooperation in getting the network involved would be excellent. If a union or religious institution were to decide that measuring well-being was something their broad membership should think about, our efforts would be multiplied dramatically.

* Write, call, fax or email your MP

• Encourage him or her to look closely at the "Canada Well-Being Measurement Act".
• Tell them to get a copy of the "Measuring Well-Being" booklet from Joe Jordan's office on Parliament Hill.
• Insist that they tell you what they think.
• Encourage others in your community to contact their MPs.
• The more letters MPs get, the more seriously they consider acting on behalf of their constituents. For each letter they receive, they figure there are hundreds of others who feel the same way but didn't write.
• Write the Prime Minister and ask him to make the "Canada Well-Being Measurement Act" a Government bill.
• Encourage local media to do a story on measuring well-being.

Feel free to contact our coordinating office if you want to discuss details.

For our part, we will continue to reach out and encourage others to join this campaign. Last season, volunteers typed up a list of all the community newspapers in Canada. We will launch the "Canada Well-Being Measurement Act" with a letter to the Editors of these papers and Press Releases introducing the Initiative and encouraging readers to get involved.

We also have a list of over 100 networks in Canada involved in social and environmental issues. When the campaign begins we will reach out to these networks and encourage them to forward materials explaining to their people how the proposed measuring process will help in their work. Your help in getting the attention of these networks could make the critical difference.

A golden opportunity for reassessing the goals of society begins when 1999 rolls over to 2000 and will continue until the third thousand years start in 2001. We hope that you will work with us to assure that we set our collective sights on serving the interests of the next seven generations and beyond.

International outreach:

Any country taking full responsibility for social and environmental impacts would be at a competitive disadvantage in the global economy as it exists today. We reach out to people in all countries to cooperate on a common task. Expanded measures of well-being must be established in the System of National Accounts to which nations subscribe when they become members of the United Nations. If the 7th Generation is considered in decision making everywhere, the playing field can be raised to the point where our common task will be to provide the greatest possible assurance of long-term well-being.

Please contact us if you are interested in measuring well-being in your country.