Todd Van Der Heyden (Host) : “And welcome back to News channel. Norway has been named the happiest country on the planet.

“Interviewee 1 by video: “I think its the work life balance. So we have abig safety net. We get free education. Free healthcare.

Todd Van Der Heyden (Host) : “ The Norwegians were named number 1, despite slipping oil prices knocking Denmark out of the top spot, Canada by the way now ranked 7th in the world. America is in 14th place. The World Happiness Report ranked 155 countries based on health, economic, and political factors. You might also not be aware that today’s International Day of Happiness. To tell us more about that, and what is at stake here, is its founder of international day of happiness Jayme Illien, and he is coming to us today from Miami, Florida. Jayme, good to have you on the program. Thank you for this today.”

Jayme Illien: Thanks for having me. Happy international day of happiness to you.

Todd Van Der Heyden (Host) : “Absolutely. Also the first day of spring as you know. Whats behind this day?”

Jayme Illien: This day was created to promote happiness as a human right and fundamental human goal, and to mobilize the global happiness movement, around which the World Happiness Report is really based. Measuring happiness at a government level and getting governments to prioritize happiness in the lives of human beings, around the world.

Todd Van Der Heyden (Host) : “I know that this is the 5th year in a row you’ve been doing this. Do you think in that 2016 we can use even more happiness than in years past?”

Jayme Illien: “Theres no question that this is a key year, an important milestone. We need more happiness, and less misery in the world.And the International Day of Happiness, and the World Happiness Report, and the broader global happiness movement, really is, and has many of the solutions to the misery in the world embodied in it, and the international day of happiness is important in advancing that global endeavor.

Todd Van Der Heyden (Host) : “You mentioned something a moment ago that peaked my curiosity. I’m wondering if you can elaborate Jayme – the notion that you beleive happiness is a basic fundamental human right.

Jayme Illien: “Thats correct. Happiness is a human right. And Im not the first to say so. Indeed during the French revolution. They recognized happiness as a human right. And our own contry the founding fathers recognized the pursuit of happiness as an unalienable human right endowed by humanity’s creator, and so here we are over 200 years later with the rise of a populist candidate and interesting political situation, and happiness and remembering what the founding fathers said for all of America and now embodied in the UN resolution couldnt be more important than now.

Todd Van Der Heyden (Host) : “You know coming in 14th is not bad out of 155 countries. Were going to bring up the ranking here. (Ranking displayed). It is interesting though Jayme when you see that the top 5 countries are all scandinavian. Norway, Denmark, Iceland, Switzerland, Finland, then the Netherlands, Canada, New Zealand, and Australia and Sweden in 10th place. What do you think is going on there?”

Jayme Illien: “Yeah, Great question, and one of the great reasons why the World Happiness Report is so important to the International Day of Happiness, and what this movement represents for the world. What you see in the scandinavian countries is a general sense of being willing to forego personal interest for the greater good. They have a society where theres greater access to free healthcare, free education thats high quality. People leave their doors sort of unlocked and their bikes out. Theres greater attention to the broader societal wellbeing of country, whereas in other countries.. , like the United States, theres less attention to that, and as a result theres greater misery on a relative basis

Todd Van Der Heyden (Host) : “As you have been working on this initiative, international day of happiness, over the past couple of years. Have you seen it gain traction jayme? I mean more and more people talking about it. More and more people interested in trying to pursue their own personal happiness. ?”

Jayme Illien: “Great question. First of all, when we initially launched the day, it was really the kingdom of Bhutan who had led the way with the idea of gross national happiness and measuring happiness at the country level. Since then the day has gained an enormous amount of support. And helped increase awareness around happiness, and the importance of its prioritization at a country level, you have pharrell, ..pharrell williams. You have richard branson, and now you have the UAE who has launched a Ministry of Happiness position in 2016, and now today the announcement of the first World Happiness Council, so really a lot of traction and a lot of excitement in a very short period of time.

Todd Van Der Heyden (Host) : “Jayme thank you so much for coming on the program with us in Canada. Happy international day of happiness

Jayme Illien: “Thank you. Happy International Day of Happiness to you and everyone viewing at home and around the world. Thank you.”