A reset is a terrible thing to waste.
If Ottawa is the city of comfortable brown shoes, Toronto a bland tweed jacket and Montreal warm woollen slacks then Canada justly deserves the title of innovation laggard. One of my favourite blog posts from “The Road Less Travelled” a while back is “Ottawa the city of comfortable brown shoes”. I love this post because it is so indicative of the Ottawa and perhaps the Canadian craving for comfort and aversion to risk taking. This mentality has served Canada very well going into the Great Reset. However, it will also be our downfall when prosperity returns and the new world order emerges.
Apparently I am not alone in thinking along these lines. The Globe and Mail had an article yesterday entitled “Canada has everything going for it … except innovation”. Canada is #1 in spending on public innovation; however, we are #14 in terms of innovation productivity. Innovation has long been a challenge for Canada yet we continue to stay the course.
In fact there is a good article in the Ottawa Citizen recently by Richard Florida on “Why Canada needs a Great Reset”. Change seems like a good thing when you are spending like a gold medal winner but performing like an also ran. The two key points from my perspective are;
- Focus on growth industries
- Create new and better jobs
This 1st place spend coupled with a 14th place finish has me pondering Canadian innovation performance. I’ll be dong some pondering and writing of the “Innovation Series” over the summer break.
Stay tuned.
Ian Graham
Why Canada needs a great reset!
Canada has everything going for it … except innovation.
