In Atlantic Canada, the standard of living isn't measured by material comforts alone.

Let's travel to Australia for a minute. A survey of the country's 150 electorates reveals that the saddest voters live in the richest city, Sydney, but the happiest whoop it up in a riding that's as close to being impoverished as any on the continent. In previous surveys, which compared income, education, employment and economic strength, the remote and sparsely settled Wide Bay in Queensland ranked last. It seemed that your typical banana bender (Queenslander) from Wide Bay had scarcely a zack (sixpence) to his or her name. This latest study, however, investigated the health, standard of living and sense of safety of the people in each constituency, and also their feelings about their achievements, personal relationships and connections to their community. And holy dooley! Wide Bay won the gold medal.

"Perhaps this shows you don't need to be rich to be happy," says local MP Warren Truss. "I have always said our part of the country was a great place to live." Ocean beaches, rural living and "a real sense of neighbourliness" all contributed to his constituents' well-being. Indeed, eight of the nine happiest electorates in Australia are rural, isolated and relatively poor. The saddest are in the richer cities. The happy ridings had a smaller population than the sad ones, less income inequality and more women, married couples and people older than 55.

If this all sounds familiar, it's because the Atlantic Provinces are to Canada what Wide Bay is to Australia. Believe me, this comparison is fair dinkum. Neighbourliness? Isolation? Country habits? Ocean beaches? No fabulous wealth or grinding poverty? Lots of married and older folks? Room to breathe? Wide Bay sounds like Burgeo, Rustico, Richibucto or Parrsboro.

Sponsored by Health Canada, a survey of 35,000 Canadians about "work-life conflict" reveals that Atlantic Canada leads the nation in the percentage of workers who live in rural communities; the number of hours per week (44.5) that they spend on the job; the amount of work they take home with them; and, despite working harder for less money than other Canadians, in their levels of satisfaction with both their jobs and pay. Moreover, they give more of their spare time to volunteer activities and their families. Atlantic Canadian workers are also "more likely to report high positive parenting and family satisfaction."

These results puzzle the authors of the study. What exactly is it that makes Atlantic Canadians the happiest folks in the nation? Could it possibly be "that there are real benefits to employees and employers alike from living in smaller communities where work, family and community are more easily integrated?"

Whatever the reasons, the report on work-life conflict was one reason why columnist Jim Meek told readers of Halifax's The Chronicle Herald, "In Atlantic Canada, we're so darned joyful it's a wonder we can stand ourselves." Another was research showing that more than 90 per cent of Atlantic Canadians were satisfied with their work and, "an astounding proportion, 98 per cent, seem to like their co-workers."

If Atlantic Canadians are as happy as clams at high water, they're also Canada's best lovers. That, at least, was the conclusion of K-Y-a company that makes a product that, ahem, "helps couples enhance intimacy"-after it hired Leger Marketing to poll 1,085 Canadians for a report card on love. Only those who said they deserved an A+ for lovemaking could "claim the title of God or Goddess of Love," and Atlantic Canadians had "twice as many self-proclaimed Love Gods and Goddesses (25 per cent) compared to the national average (12 per cent). They are also more likely to seek love advice from their best teachers-their partners."

If it's being happy that turns a fellow into a Love God, a certain "Roger R" must be having a swell time since he came back to Saint John from somewhere far away. "Just moved home, and I could not be happier," he declares on a New Brunswick website. "Unfortunately, it took leaving to appreciate this. I'm back for good… I'd rather be poor by an ocean than rich by a lake."

Welcome home, Roger.