| Alberta may be in the midst of a major economic boom, but a new report from the Pembina Institute argues that the average Albertan’s overall well-being and quality of life have declined.
The report uses a measurement called the Genuine Progress Indicator (GPI), an alternative to the gross domestic product (GDP) measurement traditionally used by governments. The GPI looks at not just economics, but also social and environmental indicators. The measurement is created by weighing 51 different indicators, such as volunteer rates, voter participation, environmental health, suicide rates and the GDP, among others. All data comes from Statistics Canada.
The GPI in 2003 (the last year statistics were available) was lower than in 1961, despite the fact that the GDP grew by over 400 per cent in the same time period.
"I think the key messages are that our (GPI) as measured by these 51 indicators is not keeping pace with the (GDP). In other words, we’re having incredible growth through the amount of investment in Alberta, we’re having incredible growth in the GDP, but overall well-being is not necessarily improving," says Marlo Raynolds, executive director of the Pembina Institute. "I think the real opportunity here is for the government of Alberta to look at measuring success from an environmental, social, economic perspective and really guiding policy by that more comprehensive set of indicators."
Raynolds says no governments in North America currently use the GPI as a measurement of success, but he argues that the Alberta government could demonstrate leadership and be the first to do so.
"It’s kind of a greater increase in awareness that just straight economic growth and cash doesn’t bring people happiness. We get a lot of benefits from the wealth, but there’s a lot of challenges that come with it," he says.
The Pembina Institute’s report found that Alberta’s suicide rate is the second highest in Canada, there’s an increasing gap between rich and poor, and the industrial footprint on the environment is rapidly growing, leading to 90 per cent of the province’s forests being fragmented. According to the report, one-quarter of Alberta’s animals are at risk or "may require special management or habitat protection to prevent their long-term decline," 19.8 per cent of Albertans lived below what Statistics Canada calls the low-income cutoff in 2003 and the number of people living below the low-income cutoff increased by 17 per cent between 1961 and 2003.
However, life expectancy has gone up while infant mortality has decreased and unemployment and under-employment rates are down while weekly wages are higher.
Raynolds says there’s a movement in other parts of North America to re-examine how governments measure success. In Nova Scotia, a non-profit organization called GPI Atlantic is pushing for use of the GPI, as is an organization in California called Redefining Progress. The Atkinson Charitable Foundation and GPI Atlantic are working on a Canadian Index for Well Being.
According to the Atkinson Charitable Foundation website, the goal of the new index will be to "account honestly and accurately for changes in our human, social, economic and natural wealth through a new index that can best capture the full range of factors that determine well-being in Canada." |
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