Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  You're welcome. I agree with you, it's important to have a balanced approach when one looks at data, and not just look at the dark, gloomy side. One of the ways we do it--and I've done it here, to some extent, because of time--is we look at things over time. We don't just focus on a snapshot because the snapshot will automatically focus on the differences, on the gaps.

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  Currently, our work is focusing on the impact of migration on community well-being. We are also conducting an economic analysis of supply and demand on the labour market. The Canadian population is aging, and there will be a high demand in terms of jobs. The aboriginal population is young, so it has much to offer.

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  If the indicators are improved then the result will improve and the gap will be smaller. What is missing here it how the various dimensions of wellbeing are connected.

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  The higher my level of education, the better my chances of procuring employment. The better my job the higher my income. The higher my income, the more options I have in terms of housing.

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  We're coming to the second part of our research project, that is the determinants. Why is well-being where it is? I don't want to guess. I am a researcher, so I am motivated by and obsessed with facts.

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  It could be part of it. We haven't done it thus far. As I said, we really were focused on actually producing this first index, this first measure, because it's the foundation of everything else, understanding the well-being of first nation, Inuit, and Métis communities. We could do that type of analysis, but it has been done elsewhere: the relationship between the quality of housing and health, the quality of education and health, the quality of housing and education.

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  No, but the relationship has been demonstrated. From a research perspective, I always welcome new research ideas. It would be interesting. Would it add significantly more to our knowledge than actually focusing on other aspects such as distances from major centres, or proximity or interactions with neighbouring non-first nation communities?

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  That's second. The first is more data.

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  Do you have anything in mind when you talk about sampling? Are you referring to sampling individuals or sampling communities?

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  There is the northern poll that is being worked on right now in the department. We have a few questions in there that hopefully will help shed some light on how northern people define well-being. Yes, we used the HDI methodology--which we've massaged a little bit, but it's still very close to the HDI methodology--but we did that in our ivory tower, with our own perception of what well-being is.

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  Once again, it is a matter of quality as opposed to a demographic explosion. Could the issue of quality not explain the demographic explosion in part? Regarding variations in the non-participation of some communities, I took this factor into consideration while evaluating the impact of ethnic mobility.

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  It refers to the number of people in the labour market. It also indicates the proportion of people who are employed, as well as those who are unemployed.

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  If we focused only on other Canadians, yes, the percent growth would be a little smaller.

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  All the information, yes. All the research we produce is out there and is shared with our policy colleagues.

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  We produce the numbers, and then we give a lot of importance to communicating them in an understandable, palatable way to the policy folks. But after that, yes, it's up to them.