Overview
In order to set our new path, we need a shared vision of what is valuable, what is desirable, and what we are willing to work for. In the next few years we must manage COVID-19, the inequities laid bare by its economic fallout, and the climate emergency with the same set of policy measures, working from the same pool of common resources. Humanity has never faced a bigger task.
Yet this time of anxiety and dislocation also brings opportunity. Like a complex LEGO structure sent flying by a sprinting toddler, our world has been disrupted, and now we get to put it back together–better.
It is a moment to consciously define what we consider to be success as a country. We believe that an overarching vision of a society based on optimizing health and wellbeing, where each of our decisions is designed to take us a step closer to thriving now and into the future, answers our shared desire for hope and healing.
Recommendations
Create a Made In Canada vision of a Wellbeing Dashboard.
Ask the Parliamentary Budget Officer to include estimates of the health and social costs and benefits of all proposals in their reports.
We envision an economy where Gross Domestic Product is viewed as one number on a dashboard of outcomes that includes the 4 capitals, Natural Capital, Social Capital, Human Capital, and Financial Capital, as well as various components of physical health, mental health, financial health, equity, and political voice. The New Zealand treasury has successfully created such a dashboard, and uses it to inform budget decisions.
This overarching societal vision of wellbeing will then be brought to life through evidence-based policy measures which build strong ecological foundations and support a home for thriving people whose wellbeing is enhanced through equitable social systems, a sustainable economy, financially healthy households, and care for physical and mental health, while respecting the wellbeing of all people, and the planet we share.
The future won’t look like the past. But if we focus on clean air, clean water, good food, and each other—it can be vibrant.
Join us—for a healthy future. We can do this.
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