| Canadian
Public Policy
June
2005
Jim
de Wilde
jim_dewilde@yahoo.ca
Strategic thinking doesn't guarantee success.
The absence of strategic thinking insures failure.
This is a good time for some strategic thinking about
the renewal of national politics in Canada.
The strategic plan for the renewal of the great concept
called
Canada
requires three things so we can assure
Canada
's
uniqueness and sovereignty. In 2005, sovereignty
means the capacity to finance and protect the things
we cherish, a social liberalism that comes to northern
climates where communities are built on trust of neighbours,
a distinctness of culture which makes Canada one of
the few societies in the world where we have the potential
to renew core democratic values with a diversity imported
from the whole planet, and a commitment to education
and innovation which underlies the value systems of
upward mobility and excellence which attracted generations
to build their families in Canada in history.
For
this to happen, there are at least three groups
of Canadians who need to be mobilized into a national
coalition for the purpose of rebuilding national
politics in Canada:
(i) The business culture of western Canada
,
with its global knowledge based on energy and resource
expertise and its entrepreneurial ethos. It knows
how to convert natural resource riches into sustainable
value and new industries and that is a prerequisite
for success in the 21st Century. Its core presence in national economic strategy
is underrepresented and missed to the detriment of
all Canadians.
(ii) The
knowledge-driven entrepreneurialism of second and
third-generation Canadians whose parents were by definition
the greatest of entrepreneurs, leaving for a country
they had never seen in pursuit of freedom and opportunity.
The unique value-system and commitment to
Canada
in these communities is well-understood by all those
active in Canadian society over the last thirty years.
It needs to be visibly represented in the national
leadership of the country and will increase the significance
of Canada in the world to the benefit of all Canadians.
(iii)
The global
perspective of a Quebec
that has moved beyond the sovereignty debate and
which now needs to be given a reason to buy back into
national institutions and national projects.
Quebec
remains one of the most globally-oriented societies
in the world and if that perspective is
channelled into national politics, this new group
will be one of the fundamental building blocks of
the new Canadian spirit to the benefit of all Canadians.
The Quebec-Canada discussion is an
attempt to provide a framework for people outside
of
Quebec
trying to understand what is driving the
Quebec
political process and to create a common language
for a genuinely national politics.
The New Agenda op-ed style pieces
are an attempt to put some themes into discussion
which provide for a post-logjam politics for the late
2000s and early 2010s in
Canada
.
The Canadian Politics memos are
an attempt to put forward issues of relevance to the
"new Canadian agenda" which may not necessarily be
on the front pages of the news but have longer term
implications. These memos are focused on the three
strategic themes above.
In
the memos section:
LIBERALISM, RESULTS-ORIENTED
STRATEGIES AND EARLY CHILDHOOD EDUCATION: THE
SEARCH FOR TARGETED POLICIES was added in June 2006.
CANADA
AND ASIA RISING: Thinking About New Strategies
for Sustainable Prosperity was written in May 2006.
INVESTING IN CANADIAN
CAPITAL MARKETS: The Post-Petroleum Global
Economy and Alberta's Unique Competitive
Advantage was written in March 2006.
Two
earlier notes from 2005:
Roger Gibbins and Canada and Canada-China Energy relations are
also included in the memos section.
|
