Only Norway, Sweden, Australia rank higher in poll


CANADIAN PRESS

OTTAWA - Canada is moving up in the world — to No. 4 — according to the United Nations' wide-ranging annual survey on human development.

Having fallen in recent years from its long-held top ranking to eighth place in 2003, Canada regained some lost ground in the 2004 UN Human Development Index, released today.

Three countries placed higher on this year's survey — Norway, followed by Sweden and Australia — while Canada was ranked just ahead of the Netherlands, Belgium Iceland and the United States.
The UN has consistently warned national governments to avoid using the rankings as a political tool, arguing it doesn’t offer a complete portrait of life in any given nation.

“While the concept of human development is much broader than any single composite index can measure, the HDI offers a powerful alternative to income as a summary measure of human well-being,” the UN said in a statement.

The war-ravaged west African country of Sierra Leone remains at the bottom of the index, ranked 176th.

To former prime minister Jean Chrétien, Canada’s erstwhile No. 1 ranking was a staple of stump speeches where he hammered Quebec separatists and other political opponents with the argument that they were complaining about “the best country in the world.”

The UN index first placed Canada at the top of its rankings in 1992.

Canada maintained the No. 1 spot for almost a decade before dropping to third in 2001, behind Norway and Sweden.

Canada fell another five rankings in 2002, dropping back of Australia and the United States.

The UN ranking includes a variety of criteria, including health, education, life expectancy, income, poverty levels and environmental quality.

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