CALGARY — In what officials are describing as the cornerstone of the province's long-promised economic diversification, the Government of Alberta confirmed Monday that residents of the Calgary region had once again left their homes over the weekend and attended a number of events, several of which were photographed.

"For too long, this province has been over-reliant on a single volatile commodity," said a finance ministry spokesperson, gesturing at a corkboard of Postmedia photos depicting a Team Canada World Cup watch party, a youth soccer tournament, and a charity side-by-side ride for ALS. "Today I can report that our economy is now diversified across soccer, more soccer, rodeo, and at least one off-road vehicle going somewhere for a good cause."

The province's new flagship metric, Gross Domestic Vibes, replaces traditional indicators such as employment and capital investment with the total number of Albertans visibly enjoying themselves in a photograph. Officials confirmed the index hit a record high over the weekend, narrowly edging out the previous record, which was also a weekend.

"We've stopped measuring GDP and started measuring whether anyone was photographed enjoying themselves outdoors, and the early numbers are extremely encouraging," the spokesperson added, declining to take questions about the unemployment rate, the deficit, or what specifically would happen on Tuesday.

Economists were cautiously skeptical. "A photograph of a First Nations rodeo is a genuine community celebration, and it is good that it happened," said one University of Calgary analyst. "It is not, however, an industrial policy. You cannot heat a home with a photo essay." The government dismissed the criticism as "the kind of thing a person says before being photographed having a worse weekend."

At press time, the ministry had announced its second-quarter forecast, which consisted entirely of the word "hopefully" and a reminder that the weather is expected to be nice again on Saturday.