Data Management Project
Why Is Canada Not The Best Country In The World?

Introduction & investigation highlights

By Linden Head, Kingston Collegiate and Vocational Institute, Limestone District School Board
Teacher: Mrs. T. Berkok

Introduction

Every nation in the world has defining characteristics that make it and its citizens unique. Although many of the things that distinguish countries from one another are difficult to quantify, there is a universal recognition of an acceptable standard of living and human rights, which can be measured quantitatively. Every country has statistically measurable aspects such as health, education, demographics, and economics. Each year the United Nations compiles data regarding several of these indicators for 175 nations from around the world. Analyzing every indicator and creating indices, the United Nations releases the Human Development Report, which ranks all of the nations with respect to their maintenance of a high standard of living and commitment to human rights. Making the top ten on this list is very important for any first world country, and becoming number one offers a great source of pride and patriotism. Canada has topped the list on several occasions, but currently it is far from it. If you talk to almost any Canadian where the best place in the world is to live, as a result of patriotism, experience, or lack of education the answer will likely be quite emphatically, Canada! However, experience and patriotism aside, the statistics tell a much different story, which is that although Canada is a great country, it is slipping off the top ten list very quickly and for fairly astonishing but justifiable reasons. This project analyzes where Canada stands amongst the top ten nations and addresses why it is not the best country in the world.

When the United Nations examines the 175 different countries there are several aspects that must be considered. To most accurately address how Canada compares to the other top ten nations, the eleven most important indicators were selected to be analyzed and discussed; the indicators that were examined are listed in the table below. In order to illustrate Canada's performance, for each indicator Canada is given a ranking from one to ten depending on where it stands with respect to the other top ten nations.

Investigation highlights

The broken line graph below illustrates how Canada's ranking has changed over the last 25 years. Although Canada was ranked first for ten years, in the 2003 Human Development Report Canada was ranked eighth behind the seventh ranked United States, and ahead of the ninth ranked Japan. The top three ranked countries were Norway, Iceland and Sweden respectively.

The objective of this project was to determine why Canada is no longer the best country in the world to live in and where it stands with respect to the other top ten ranked nations. The examination of the eleven most significant indicators clearly reflected why Canada is not the best country in the world. In two of the most important indicators, unemployment and availability of physicians, Canada was tenth with respect to both. Furthermore, in none of the categories was Canada ever in the top five, and its best result was a sixth place finish, only once, with respect to life expectancy; the results for each indicator are shown in the table below. Overall, Canada faired no better than sixth and as low as tenth, yielding a median value of eighth, a mode of eighth and a mean of 8.09. It is evident that the United Nations ranking of eighth was a disappointing but accurate representation of Canada's standpoint amongst the top ten nations.

Canada's poor performance in the eleven most significant indicators resulted in Canada's lowest Human Development Ranking in thirty years. Being ranked as the best country is in the world is a great honor and is associated with an enormous amount of pride, but similarly, not being ranked as the top nation, or even within the top five should be a source of great disgrace. Furthermore, these poor results are not just statistics to Canada's population, they are a reality. The Human development ranking needs to be a wake up call for the Canadian government. For example, a low availability of doctors, high prevalence of HIV, and high infant mortality rate means a poor health care system and increased sickness; a high crime rate means unsafe streets and homes; a high percentage of the population lacking functional literacy skills means a poor education system and possible economic problems in the future; low gross domestic product and high unemployment indicate a poor economic situation and a generally low standard of living; high carbon dioxide emissions means a alack of concern for the country's environment and the well being of the its citizens. When these statistics manifest themselves into reality it results in a relatively low standard of living and economic situation for Canadians, compared to the other top ten nations. Canada's concern should not be in any particular statistic, but moreover how all of these statistics collectively impact the nation's citizens. It is imperative that Canada takes action to solve some of the significant problems facing the country to ensure the happiness, safety and well being of Canadian citizens. If these issues are left unattended they will only continue to grow and cause detrimental repercussions in Canada's overall standard of living, economic situation and life expectancy, which will inevitably cause Canada 's ranking to fall even further in future Human Development Reports.