Media Clipping — May 10, 2003, CBC NEWS ONLINE

Canada Urged to Count on More Than GDP

OTTAWA—A federal advisory panel wants Canada to become the first country to adopt a new way of measuring overall economic development and prosperity.

The National Round Table on the Environment and the Economy (NRTEE) plans to release its proposal on Monday. CBC obtained a copy of the report on the weekend.

Instead of relying solely on standard indicators, such as Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and the Consumer Price Index (CPI), the group is suggesting six new numbers be added to the mix.

These include measurements of: forest cover; freshwater; greenhouse gas emissions; wetlands; and workforce education.

NRTEE says that gauging a country's growth and prosperity by how quickly jobs are created or how efficiently goods are manufactured ignores certains costs, such as environmental damage.

"It doesn't tell us whether we're living high today at the expense of generations to come," says the group's former chair, Stuart Smith.

A new system would reflect a bigger and more accurate picture, he says. Statistics Canada helped develop the six additional indicators, which NRTEE calls "realistic and usable."

"We would be world leaders here in Canada if we could take these suggestions and implement them," Smith told CBC Newsworld on Saturday.

Environment Minister David Anderson supports the proposal, and said he intends to urge the cabinet to endorse it as well. He hopes to see Ottawa adopt the new indicators within two years.

Former finance minister Paul Martin agrees that the old numbers don't give governments a true picture of prosperity. Martin, a front-runner in the campaign to replace retiring Prime Minister Jean Chrétien, has backed NRTEE's initiative from the start.

"The usual tools, such as the Gross Domestic Product, actually operate against sustainable development ," he said Saturday during a Liberal leadership forum in Whitehorse. "In fact, what they really do is to say, 'The more you pollute, the better the economy will be.' And you know, and I know, that's wrong."

Copyright © 2003, CBC

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