Human development: still too slow

The authors of the 2005 Economic Outlook say the people of Nunavut will not benefit from the economic growth that’s forecast for the next five years unless there are big improvements in education, health and social conditions.

The quality of Nunavut’s “human capital” – defined as “the overall capacity in terms of health, knowledge, education and skills of people to be productive” – has shown “some signs of progress” but the process has been slow, the report says.

“The pace of these improvements will disappoint Nunavummiut and other observers, but this should not deter anyone’s resolve on this front. Serious issues exist with the health status and education of Nunavummiut, in particular for women and children.”

In education, they say that Nunavut must do more than just pump up the numbers of high school graduates, but also improve the quality of education.

“Nunavut has a long way to go before its education levels equal the performance of other regions of the country.”

They also say that even though it’s not all bad, health conditions among Nunavummiut are still poor when compared to people living in the rest of Canada.

And they point out that much of Nunavut’s poor health is preventable, and can be overcome by focusing on personal health practices, education and literacy, healthy childhood development and social supports.

They warn that Nunavut “does not have the economic strength” to continue expanding its health budgets, and should focus on low-cost measures, such as prevention programs, telehealth, and alternative health care providers such as nurse practitioners.