2007 National Vital Signs Report
The Canada We Believe In
What can I do?
Discussion. Debate. Action. Those are the next steps for Vital Signs Canada. If you or your organization is moved and motivated by what you’ve read in our national report or in a local Vital Signs report, please don’t stop there.
Every mountain is climbed one step at a time. Here are three simple ways you can take action. Today.
- Pass it on. Share this report, or your local Vital Signs report with your employer, your teacher, your best friend, a neighbourhood business, library or community centre, or a government representative at any level.
- Contact us. You can find your local community foundation at www.cfc fcc.ca. They know the issues and organizations in your community. If you’re looking for ways to make a difference, they can help.
- Find out more. Visit the websites of the other organizations and experts featured in this report for more information about their work and opportunities to further their efforts or make your own mark.
These Vital Signs give us an overview of how Canada is doing in key areas. They show us there are two realities in our country right now.
On the one hand, we are surrounded by opportunity and abundance, and many of us are doing very well. But we cannot let our apparent prosperity blind us to the reality faced by many Canadians. We must open our eyes and ask ourselves some difficult questions.
Can we accept a Canada where poverty is still a blight on our Aboriginal peoples and where newcomers can’t use the skills that earned them entrance to this country? Are we comfortable witnessing the widening divide between the richest and the poorest among us? And are we content to watch our greenhouse gas emissions continue to rise while other countries take action?
Canadians believe in a country that is just and equitable and responsible. We believe we can be a model for the world – but reality strains that claim on several fronts, as our Vital Signs show.
Many Canadians are convinced we can and must do better. They are stepping up to find solutions – to “level the playing field” for all, and to demand responsible stewardship of our environment.
Community foundations are part of that movement, along with many others in the voluntary sector, and stand ready with their resources and leadership to tackle issues at the local level. But our sector can’t do it alone. Canada needs our combined commitment. Governments, business, community organizations, ordinary citizens – all of us – must take up the fight against poverty, exclusion, and environmental degradation.
These issues are not too big to solve. The examples in this report show how Canadians are already taking action.
In the months ahead, community foundations will use their local Vital Signs reports to raise key issues with citizens and community leaders in their own communities. CFC plans to do the same with Vital Signs Canada. This report is the beginning of a process, not the end.
Working together, we can do better for all Canadians.
