Open Letter to Members of Parliament
This open letter to your MP can inform people in your area
about the Canada Well-Being Measurement Act and generate the popular interest
that can incline him or her to support the Act. Copy it out or customize
it, filling in your MPs name and other details where noted [ in square brackets
] and send it to the editors of the local newspapers. Information on which
MPs represent which ridings and how to reach them is available from 1 (800)
O CANADA (1 (800) 622-6232 ) or at: www.parl.gc.ca/common/index.asp?Language=E
(Language=F) for French.
Date
Open letter to [first name last name] MP .
Dear [ Mr. or Ms. last name of MP]:
Will you support, the "Canada Well-Being Measurement Act"?
This Act can help anyone who makes decisions. It proposes regular reporting
of measures indicating the state of the environment and the health of our
communities. When made available along with the present measure of economic
growth, the additional factors would accommodate more informed decision
making.
The problem with relying exclusively on Gross Domestic Product (GDP)
as a measure of progress is that when it adds up all the monetary transactions
for a year, it fails to distinguish between money spent on positive things
like food and education and things we'd be better off avoiding. Money spent
on medicine to combat pollution-related illness or to clean up after automobile
accidents makes the GDP rise, but it does not indicate increased well-being.
GDP is also blind to other factors that are critical to our well-being.
Unpaid work in homes and communities isn't counted, and GDP takes no notice
of natural resource stocks. Remember the once great Cod Fishery on the East
Coast? Its contribution to the GDP grew steadily right up to the year before
it collapsed and threw thousands of people out of work.
GDP has its place, but there is a critical need for more detail when
measuring progress. Changes in pollution levels, natural resources, the
durability of goods, employment satisfaction, leisure time, unpaid work,
crime, and the quality of education and health care are all factors which
affect our well-being. Policies and actions should be responsive to changes
in these factors.
Running society looking only at the growth of GDP is like driving a
bus looking only at the speedometer. The "Canada Well-Being Measurement
Act" (CWBMA) calls for a wider range of instruments on Canada's dashboard
and it proposes that we keep our eyes on the road.
These are challenging times. In Canada, thirty million people are looking
out for obstacles to our well-being. The CWBMA is asking anyone interested
to share their insights about what sort of indicators can best help us see
our way safely through the times ahead.
I am writing this open letter to encourage others in this riding to
learn more about this initiative and to encourage you, [ Mr. Ms. name of
MP ], to do the same and to get back to us with your comments about the
Act and whether or not you will support it. Details are available from Joe
Jordan MP's office, Rm. 422, Confederation Bldg., House of Commons, Ottawa,
K1A 0A6, phone: (613) 992-8756. No postage is required for letters to the
House of Commons. Details are also available from http://www.SustainWellBeing.net/index3.html
[Print your name and sign.]
- 30 -
[Put your phone number and address below the - 30 -. Many
Papers will not print letters that cannot be confirmed with the person who
sent them. Your phone number is important.
It is understood in journalism that anything below - 30 - is for the
editors' information only - not to be published.
If you have time, send a copy of your letter directly to your MP with
cc. [the name of the paper(s)] to which you sent it at the bottom.
If politicians think people are watching, you will get their attention.
Questions and comments are welcome.
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Last Update: May 17, 2003
Filename: http://www.SustainWellBeing.net/7GI/openlet.shtml