Canada and Global enterprise

[btiffin]

While working tonight I had TVO's, the Agenda playing in the background. The show was about Canada and it's mediocre standing in world affairs. Steve was interviewing a lady that wrote a book "Why Mexicans don't drink Molson". She had some very good points about how we as Canadians do a poor job at being world leaders ... in just about everything. We have never had a brand in the top 100, ever. We are the "No logo" logo nation.

I, being old, am relying on you younger up and comers to change all that. When you start your computer companies, aim high. Aim at being such a global force that the purchase of MS would be pocket change. Don't let our system or middling comfort stop you from opening up branches in Europe, Asia ... Space.

The one that got me, HSBC could buy all of Canada's banks. In one go. So get out there and make us proud. Make plans to buy an island off Dubai ... then buy Dubai.

Cheers

[Dan]

I don't think Canada's "poor job at being world leaders" as you call it is necessarily a bad thing. Canada is not as capalastic as the united states and has allways been more socialist.

I would rather have a country look after it's peoleop first and then worry about making moeny and being "world leaders" 2nd.

Life is not about making money :p

[md]

Why be first when you can be second in everything? Being first means that everyone is out to get you, being second allows you much more latitude

Also, there are a whole lot of world leaders in Canada, they happen to mostly be smallish companies that aren't well known outside their respective areas of expertise (oil industry for example).

[btiffin]

Dan; Yeah, I guess I emphasized the money part a little too strongly. I'm all for not making money.

This really isn't about money per-say, (but a global leader would of course have to have some pretty deep pockets).

md; That was part of the point. Even with Stelco, Defasco, Algoma, et al. We still have yet to break into the top 100 brands (in anything). Stelco and Defasco could have easily been global conglomerates, instead we (I'm not sure who we is) let them be assimilated by other internationals. Same with Macmillan-Bloedel. I think we now have more foreign ownership of BC trees than Canadian ownership. Hudson's Bay company, same deal.

During the interview the author of the book mentioned that there are individual Canadians that move and shake, but not on the world stage in the mode of conglomerates. India is opening up huge markets in Russia, why not Canadians? We at least understand what it is like to be cold. Why aren't we supporting our largish Asian population to get over to China and outbid Walmart? Etc, etc, etc. We have what it takes I think, but we don't actually do it. Lee-Valley tools here in Ottawa could probably take a good run at any other tool manufacturer given the right environment. (Not saying that that family wants to, but you know what I mean).

It's not all completely our fault though. We are quite comfortable manufacturing American, Japanese and Korean cars, but why not a Canadian car? We have the ZEN and then the Canadian (and provincial) governments put up barriers so that it is illegal on most Canadian roads.

I'll reiterate. Get out there; invent a whole new computing paradigm and then go buy MS and IBM. Dan, if it's you, well, be nice to the rest of us with your trillions.

Even if someone started the world's best and biggest Hockey Stick brand. We could at least say we have a "logo".

Cheers

[Dan]

What about RIM and black barry or the canadian space arm, thos are deftaly in the top 100 of there spefic market (PDA Phones and space arms :p).


Also why do we want to be "world leaders"? I just don't get why being one is such a great thing and i think trying to be in the top what ever just for the sake of being at the top is a horiable idea. I would rather canada not be in the top 100 but have companys that make good products, are envermently respoable, socialy resposable and are honsonest to there custmers.

Also i much rather have canadian companys keep work in canada at the cost of masive profits and have stricker relgulations and more taxs on them rather then being "world leaders".

Supper powerfull, supper ritch companys and indudals do not realy help the average person in the country. This is even more ture when the companys start playing with golbalsiation and outsorce all the work to other countrys to make slightly more money.

[apomb]

I think having too much patriotism is a terrible thing, hell its a dangerous thing. Believing that "just because it came from Canada it has to be the best thing" is a poisonous attitude. Sure, some of the best prducts (RIM, Canadarm) came from Canada, but who cares if Canada doesnt produce the best "Global Enterprise" all that would do is attract hostility towards our otherwise peaceful country.

[btiffin]

Dan and apomb; Good points, I think I might be starting to sway. Dan; now you make me disbelieve the TVO interview re Blackberry. Hmm. But it was on TV ... doesn't that make it true?

The CanadArm firm was recently at risk of a takeover bid. That pressure won't stop, even with the current government intervention. There was intervention for Macmillan-Bloedel, HBC ... that eventually "went away".

One of the fears pointed out in the interview was that if we don't play the conglomerate game, we will be left behind unable to defend ourselves from predators. It isn't solely an attack stance, but also putting up a good defence.

And yes, I prefer living in a not overly patriotic society. Flag waving can be dangerous. But I also want to retire in a first-world country, and perhaps not one where my only choice of shopping is WalMart. CanMart? May not be any better, except that our government would at least get to keep some of the bigger monies.

Keep up the good points gentlemen, I may rethink my rah rah bis boom bah, but I'll still cheer on anyone that hangs out here to build a company that can buy Microsoft.

Cheers

[rizzix]

apomb @ Sun May 11, 2008 11:54 pm wrote:

I think having too much patriotism is a terrible thing, hell its a dangerous thing. Believing that "just because it came from Canada it has to be the best thing" is a poisonous attitude.

It's not so much as "just because it came from Canada it has to be the best thing" but more of, "being Canadians we can do better!" We are not incompetent and if we want to, we can be one of the best. And we should try and prove this point once-in-a-while.

[btiffin]

And, let me clarify my own position, both to myself and to others. I'm not suggesting we go out and build an insurance company that is so good at denying people's claims that it makes so much money that it can't help but become a global leader in "stealing cash" from the down trodden and unfortunate. More like, go and build an operating system that is so much better than Windows that you are in a position to unseat the monopoly.

We are in a fairly tenuous position. We have 80% of the world's fresh water. A resource that could well become very critical in the not so distant future. We also have a fair chunk of the world's uranium. I'm not saying we should start building bombs, but we live in a country that not only can't defend it's borders, we live in a country that can't even PATROL it's borders. So let's get to a point were we get to share our water with those that need it at our discretion (and being Canadian - I can only hope that would be a benevolent discretion), not a point where we can't stop the most aggressive from just coming and taking it.

Is that sounding any clearer? I'm not sure. But regardless; go build a better computing paradigm. We are more than capable; reiterating rizzix's sentiment.

Cheers

[Dan]

I don't think it is as much as we can't patrol our borders as there is litte point in patroling the hole thing. From the south it is the USA witch to some level we do patrol, mostly to stop smugling of drugs and other items and avoiding customs. The rest (other then alsaka) faces ocean and we have the cost garud for that. Rarely do illgeal alines come from the ocean but if they do rader does a good job of seeing there boats and the cost graud can get them. As for the north there is litte fear of attack or alines as even if they did come they would have no where to go (long way to walk to a city or town).

I do think we should protect our resources in the north that are under dispoite but i don't think any other country is going to try to forcely take our resources in any other place (even in the north it would be more of geting the UN to say where the border realy is then attacking us).

It's just not partical to attack canada in such a way you could take over it's natraual resources. Sure there are countrys that could nuke it or bomb it but that is not going to get them the resources of the country. Think how badly the USA is doing in iraq a country many many times smaller then canada in area and with much less thecnogly.

As for water, the only amount of it that is at risk from take over by other conutrys in my option is the great lakes as they are partly the USA's witch complicates things. But with the way things are going we are more at risk of the USA puloting them to an unusable state then stealing the water.

Now if you mean coperat take overs and aggresion in that matter you might have a point, however this can easly be controled threw goverment regulation (simpley not leting companys sell x amount of y resource to other countrys or by placing restrictions on who they can sell to).

Afterall the last time the USA tride anything we burned down there white house

[md]

Another thing to consider is that (dan might have covered it... I didn't read all of his post) is that Canada is a rather small economy. By the time companies are doing well here they start looking very tempting to multi-nationals and are quite often bought out. Now it's no longer a Canadian company and yet could very well be a world leader.