Media Clipping — Fall 2001, Alternatives Journal

Nova Scotians Count What Really Counts

By Jen McKay and Liann Bobechko

If what we measure is an indication of what we value, then the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) - the most commonly used measure of the country's economic well-being - suggests that the exchange of money is what we value most.

For many years critics have argued that the GDP is at best a misleading measure of progress. Now Nova Scotia is doing something about it.

A non-profit research group, Genuine Progress Index for Atlantic Canada (GPI Atlantic), is developing a new measure of sustainable development and well-being that will give Nova Scotians a better sense of how they measure up.

Conventional GDP measures of progress assume that national well-being increases as more money is spent. The GDP does not distinguish between activities that benefit or harm ecological and social systems. Increasing sales of Prozac and oil spill clean-up expenditures boost the GDP, implying that depression and environmental contamination are signs of greater well- being. Also, GDP-measures neglect important activities that are not bought and sold - such as volunteer hours and unpaid labour in the home.

The GPI approach aims to be more realistic. It will produce an indicator set that covers five categories: time use, natural capital, environmental quality, socio-economic capital and social capital. Together, the indicators will provide a better picture of the quality of life in Nova Scotia, taking into account the things that really matter to people - the amount of leisure time they have, the health of their forests, and the level of education that they attain.

The project was initiated in 1997 and involves analysing information from the government of Nova Scotia databases to present social and environmental well-being alongside the state of the economy. A community-based GPI project was started in 1999 in Glace Bay and involves raw data collection by the project team. The large quantity of data to analyze and maintaining a steady source of adequate funding are two main challenges of the GPI project.

The Nova Scotia project was inspired by the first GPI, produced, in the US in 1995 by the Redefining Progress group. GPI Atlantic hopes that their efforts in Nova Scotia will someday be adopted as the official method of measuring well-being, not only in their own province, but also across the country.

In this they are encouraged by Liberal MP Marlene Jennings, who introduced a private member's bill in Parliament last year. Bill C-268, the Canadian Well-Being Measurement Act, calls for "development and periodic publication of a set of indicators of the economic, social and environmental well-being of people, communities and ecosystems in Canada."

Copyright © 2001, Alternatives Journal

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