Last year, when the economic recovery was at its earlier uncertain stages, I was discussing economic policies with a friend of mine. During the conversation, we discussed whether economic indicators are the most important measures to evaluate the progress of any country. He reminded me that “quality of life” indicators are more important than just measuring economic indicators in a vacuum.

He is absolutely right!

The ultimate objective of any government should be the pursuit of improving the quality of life of its citizens. Undoubtedly, economic prosperity and success are essential for enhancing the quality of life but the goal should be to ensure that citizens have a decent quality of life.

It’s true that the quality of life and economic prosperity are co-dependent. You can’t improve quality of life without economic success and you won’t able to achieve economic gains if the quality of life of the labour force is poor. However, we should not confuse which is the eventual objective. It is the citizens’ well being.

That’s exactly why we as Canadians recognize the importance of our accessible healthcare, pension plan, maternity leave pay, children tax allowance, and public facilities like community centres to name a few examples. Those are initiatives that citizens expect their government(s) to maintain a standard of living. We want good education and good careers to maintain a certain standard of living. Everything we do as individuals or families is to improve our quality of life.

So when Stephen Harper says that it’s only the economy that matters and all other aspects of public policy are just noise, he is wrong. What about our aging population? Mounting household debt? Increasing healthcare costs? Retirement security? Integrating new immigrants? Protecting our environment? After all, our economic success depends on all of them.

While it’s crucial that governments promote policies that nurture economic success, let’s not forget why. The pursuit of enhancing the quality of life of our citizens must remain the ultimate objective.