The Conference Board of Canada examines and measures our performance in six areas against 17 industrialized nations.
Measured are innovation, society, health, environment, economy and education.
The picture is dismal in innovation.
Myth: Canada’s standard of living is one of the highest in the world.
Reality: While Canada enjoys a standard of living that is the envy of many countries, our ranking dropped from 4th spot in 1990 to 9th now.
Myth: Canada has a highly educated population.
Reality: Over 7 million adult Canadians—or 4 in 10—do not have the literacy skills to cope with the demands of everyday life and work in modern society.
Myth: Canada is a world leader in science and technology.
Reality: The BlackBerry is the exception, not the rule. Canada has scored a “D” in innovation since the 1980s and has failed to produce any top global brands.
So what is the solution?
ReplyDeleteDeregulation?
Nice try, Pags.
ReplyDeleteI think you're referring to the financial collapse?
Innovation comes from the people; not the government.
Blaming it (the financial crisis) exclusively on deregulation is a little misleading. There's plenty of blame to go around including individual irresponsibility and the government for pushing institutions to loosen credit.
Well, no, I was thinking about public health. But you are correct that those scoundrels on Bay Street have gotten away with it.
ReplyDeleteI was, in fact, referring to the Listeria scare, and the concept that industries should police themselves, regardless of the increased public health risk.
It doesn't work!
The food industry is so massive that we don't have the human resources to monitor it. The government does the best it could with resources available.
ReplyDeleteUnless we go communist, and let's face it, European socialism is one step removed from communism, it'll be hard to create a super-watch dog. The listeria outbreak sounds like "one of those things" and I think reputable companies will learn from this. I'm sure Maple Leaf foods is a sound company and their response to the problem was swift and accountable from what I read and saw.
There's another dimension to this: Europe takes food far more serious than North America - both practically and culturally.
I know in Italy in particular has specific laws requiring certain standards be upheld (pizza, espresso, cheese etc.) in the production AND preparation of food in restaurants. So the EU as a whole is miles/kms ahead on this front.
The system is capable of evolving. You can't rid of all the bad apples.
We're probably better off educating the public, appealing to business owners at the individual level than passing off the responsibility entirely onto the government. Some form of partnership should be devised where we're all involved.