A Popular View of Progress

Wherever problems arise, people notice. They try to set them right and form organizations to study the situation and devise solutions. When problems are bigger than can be dealt with on a community level these groups try to motivate governments to act.

Stimulating governments to action can be a slow and frustrating process. Problems often get much worse before serious action is taken. We need a more effective way to engage the governing institutions which we empower with legitimacy and our tax money. The "Canada Well-Being Measurement Act" Bill C-268 can fill this need.

At present governments focus most of their attention on economic growth as measured by Gross Domestic Product (GDP). The faith remains from simpler times that if the economy is growing everything will be OK. GDP, however, is only the sum total of money spent over a period of time. It grows as much from $100 spent on the replacement of stolen goods or medicine for pollution related illness as it does from $100 spent on food or education. Furthermore, GDP is blind to the unpaid work of raising children, elder care and community building. How can such an insensitive account represent our state of well-being? No wonder many social and environmental circumstances degenerate even as GDP rises.

The CWBMA would measure "the economic, social and environmental well-being of people, communities and ecosystems in Canada." These indicators would be based on "broad societal values" identified by "the public through submissions and public hearings." The indicators would be publicly reported, independent of political influence, through the Office of the Auditor General.

What we count and what we measure shows what we value. When we count only monetary transactions (GDP), environmental quality and social cohesion receive too little attention. When we legitimize other factors by measuring and reporting on them in our core measure of progress, they become visible. This visibility, in turn, enables us to see how policies and actions affect the measures, and encourages decision-makers to pay attention to them.

The 7th Generation Initiative is looking for help from across Canada to develop this system and bring it into use.

Additional details are available by writing (no postage required) to:
Joe Jordan MP.
Rm. 422, Confederation Building,
House of Commons, Ottawa,
K1A 0A6.

Or by email from Mike Nickerson the
Project Coordinator at: sustain@web.ca.

Details are also posted on the Internet at: http://www.SustainWellBeing.net/index3.html

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Last Update: May 11, 2002
Filename: http://www.SustainWellBeing.net/7GI/citizens.shtml