By Denzil Doyle
It was encouraging to see the emphasis that was placed on innovation in the recent budget and in subsequent discussions with the federal finance minister, Jim Flaherty. On the other hand, it was discouraging to read the cover of Maclean’s Magazine that appeared shortly afterward. It read, “Your kids are angrier than you think.” What was equally discouraging was that neither party made the connection between innovation in the Canadian economy (or lack thereof) and youth unrest.
The connection is that although our youth are better educated than they have ever been in the past, they are entering the workforce with unprecedented debt, and the job opportunities are nothing like what they were for previous generations. The mismatch between supply and demand is most pronounced in the manufacturing sector where whole segments of the industry are missing. We assemble automobiles in Canada but we do not design them here. We sell and service computer hardware and software here but we have very little involvement in strategic activities like research and development and product management. We have what is often referred to as a “truncated” industry and it is due to the forces of globalization that have been sweeping the world.
Whether it is measured in terms of sales or assets, Canada’s manufacturing sector is more than 50 percent foreign-owned and in the high-technology component of that sector, the figure goes to more than 70 percent. Decisions regarding strategic activities like R&D and marketing are made in head offices and not in branch plants. If Canada is to share in that decision making, it will need to have more head offices. That will require a focus on innovation and the building of a financing industry that understands the requirements of innovative companies.
As for what our youth can do to help themselves, the first step is to get back to the polling booths. They should work with our politicians to solve our voter turnout problem because that problem is slowly but surely wrecking Canadian democracy. For example, they should insist that no individual be allowed to participate in a demonstration or any protest unless he or she can prove that they voted in the most recent federal and provincial elections. Every voter would be issued with a voter’s card and it might be used to control all kinds of privileges that we now take for granted. Letters to the editor come to mind.
Our youth should take the time to understand the factors that are affecting them and force every political candidate to state how they plan to deal with them. Simple answers like “More R&D” or “More foreign investment” would get them a failing grade. (In fact, it would disqualify at least 90 percent of our existing politicians.) What is needed are answers like “We must use flow-through shares to finance early stage high-tech companies in much the same way we have used them in our resource industries.” Or ”We need legislation that will allow (force ?) innovation companies to recruit highly qualified boards of directors.”
Steps such as the above will not solve all of the country’s socio-economic problems but they could make the discussion more meaningful and constructive.
Image: Toronto workforce innovation group
Denzil Doyle’s involvement in Ottawa’s high technology industry goes back to the early 1960s when he established a sales office for Digital Equipment Corporation, a Boston-based firm that had just developed the world’s first minicomputer. The Canadian operation quickly evolved into a multi-faceted subsidiary. When he left the company in 1981, Canadian sales exceeded $160 million and its employment exceeded 1,500. In his next career, Doyle built a consulting and investment company, Doyletech Corporation, that not only helped emerging companies, but built companies of its own. In recognition of his contributions to Canada’s high technology industry, he was awarded an honourary Doctorate of Engineering by Carleton University in 1981 and a membership in the Order of Canada in 1995.
