Just as money can’t buy happiness, gross domestic product doesn’t tell us how well we’re doing as a nation. Gross domestic product is the overall measure of our nation’s economic activity.
Protests across Canada Jan. 23 against the lengthy shut-down of Parliament are one sign things aren’t well. That’s no surprise to Canada’s Institute of Wellbeing. This week the institute released its report on democratic engagement, the first report of its kind done in Canada. It follows reports on living standards, healthy populations and community vitality.
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The report notes Canada is facing “a huge democratic deficit, with trust in Canadian government and public institutions on a steep decline.” That’s seen in the fact that fewer people are voting or participating in formal political activities.
Likewise, about half of Canadians aren’t satisfied with their democracy, while few believe federal government policies have improved their lives.
This democratic deficit didn’t surprise me. During our last federal election, only three out of five eligible voters cast ballots. Stephen Harper was returned as prime minister with the support of merely 23 percent of voters.
That number highlighted for me the increasing malaise I’ve seen among urban and rural citizens, a kind of resigned indifference or feeling that government doesn’t work for them or represent their concerns. Their response, to paraphrase Shakespeare: “A plague on all your political parties and governments.”
Lenore Swystun and Kelley Moore of Saskatoon’s Prairie Wild Consulting saw that and a lot more. Together with Holder and Associates, they developed the report for the institute. Their work was based on historic studies of Canadian attitudes, plus their own research with Canadians from coast to coast to coast, and international studies.
They considered voter turnout plus interest and participation in political activities, as well as representation of woman and minorities in Parliament, and Canada’s commitment to international development.
We’ve promised to put 0.7 percent of our GDP into official development assistance. We spend about half of that in most years, putting us in 16th place among 22 countries in the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development. Our government is behind Sweden, Denmark and the Netherlands, though it is twice as generous as Japan and the United States.
That doesn’t fit my perception of Canadians’ overall caring and generosity. Consider how much we’ve raised for relief in earthquake-ravaged Haiti, and you can see how generous Canadians are.
I think many see the mismatch between what they do and what our government does. The report reflects that visible mismatch.
How can we build a moral economy that reflects the needs, concerns and values of Canadians, and to which political parties and governments align themselves?
The report has recommendations. It calls for more research and closer monitoring. Perhaps ordinary citizens will repeat the events of Jan. 23. Maybe they will become the democratic engagement that the report anticipates.
Rob Brown is an ethics student in Saskatoon.
