The following statement was issued today by Gerald Smith, minister responsible for the Strategic Social Plan. It was also read in the House of Assembly:

At a news conference earlier today Premier Grimes and myself, along with Dr. Doug May of Memorial University and Brendan Doyle, chair of the Premier�s Council on Social Development, released From the Ground Up, the province�s first-ever report that measures well-being in Newfoundland and Labrador.

From the Ground Up is part of the first-ever Social Audit for this province and for the country. It takes the vision of the Strategic Social Plan and translates it into a series of key social and economic indicators.

We want people to start thinking about the connections, for example, between education levels, health status, employment and economic prosperity. People have talked about these connections for a long time. They have told us that social and economic development go hand in hand. We are now reporting these relationships in an integrated way.

We committed to reporting back on our social progress when we launched the Strategic Social Plan in 1998. Release of From the Ground Up is an important part of that commitment. A government must have the courage to challenge itself to measure the work it is doing. This is one way we remain accountable to the people we serve and find out if we are moving in the right direction.

Indicators in From the Ground Up are used nationally and internationally to measure social and economic well-being. This makes it possible to compare our province with other places. We need this kind of information to check our progress over time.

When it come to innovative social policy development in this country, we have a number of firsts of which we can be proud. We were the first province to implement a Strategic Social Plan, the first province to create an information system called Community Accounts that measures well being, and the first to carry out a Social Audit.

The Social Audit is scheduled to be completed and released publicly by the end of 2003.

In the spirit of the SSP, development of From the Ground Up, was a consultative process that involved officials from the Strategic Social Plan, The Premier�s Council on Social Development, the Newfoundland and Labrador Statistics Agency (NLSA), Memorial University, as well as government departments.

From the Ground Up is an example of the SSP in action. Its development was a partnership effort, and it reflects the SSP�s emphasis on evidence-based decision making.

Within government and across the province there are many examples of the SSP at work, making a difference for people and communities.

The Strategic Health Plan and new Social Assistance legislation reflect SSP values of early intervention and prevention, collaboration and consultation.

In regions across the province, SSP initiatives help support volunteer development and build leadership skills, improve recruitment and retention strategies for professionals, and profile young people who are contributing to their communities.

SSP steering committees also bring partners together to support after school activities that give children access to programs such as air cadets, and bring community resources together in new and collaborative ways. Some of our schools are becoming true community centres.

I am proud of the work happening "From the Ground Up" in communities across this province. And I encourage everyone to read From the Ground Up to learn more about the social and economic life of Newfoundland and Labrador.

From the Ground Up and the background document are available through the SSP web site at www.gov.nl.ca/ssp/, or at www.communityaccounts.ca.

2003 04 02                                        11:35 a.m.