Henry Ford is reputed to have once said: “If I’d asked people what they wanted, they would have said faster horses.” Even if Ford didn’t actually say this, it’s still a terrific quote that sums up the importance of innovative thinking. It also nicely captures the sense of urgency Alberta now faces in setting the course for its future economic development.

Energy has been king for so long that few can remember when Alberta’s economy was not at the whim of fluctuating oil and gas prices. For decades the province has been a textbook example of a boom-and-bust economy. And while the province has done very well following this pathway, hardly anyone believes the model will work forever. Domestic and world events may eventually pressure the province into restructuring its economy.

It’s therefore discouraging to hear so many voices in the province simply calling for faster horses. The concerns of the business community are habitually focused on lowering taxes/royalties and easing regulatory burdens in order to breed the “faster horses” needed to maximize shareholder value. And they are right – in the short term.

But in the long term what the Alberta economy needs is a whole new economic DNA, a massive transformation of thinking, creativity and innovation that will do for prosperity what Henry Ford’s automobile did for transportation. We may not yet be able to envision that future, but we need people to be open to the possibilities profound structural change to the socio-economic system could bring.

Arguably, the energy sector never stops rewiring its modus operandi. The advances in SAGD bitumen recovery, for example, prove that new engineering techniques can be applied to situations we would never have thought possible some decades ago. But in the big picture the energy sector is still delivering the same product – bitumen – albeit with a very different technique.

Let me reiterate that rewriting the province’s DNA by no means implies we turn our back on the energy sector. On the contrary: what we need to do is create something entirely new by building on our existing strengths. Building something new means more than simply boosting the profitability of the current system.

Ireland built something new. Tired of being the economic laughingstock of the European Union, it looked for deeper solutions to its chronic malaise. During the mid-1990s, there were great efforts to improve Ireland’s tax policies, help the disenfranchised, and build an infrastructure to support the potato industry. Those policies were certainly important contributions to the country’s economic well-being.

But, more importantly, Ireland leveraged its position as the only predominantly English-speaking country in the EU to attract American software companies seeking a foothold in the massive European market. It wasn’t a tweaking of agriculture policy that catalyzed Ireland’s economic revival. Ireland rewrote its economic DNA, thereby re-evaluating its potential and charting a radically new course for national development. Ireland still has its problems, much like any other country, regardless of its stature in the hierarchy of nations.

Pages: 1 2

Related Posts

• Oil sands proponents steel themselves for cost overruns
• China’s foreign investment strategy is rooted in resources
• Inside Saskatchewan and the art of a boom
• Why Bay Street is bullish on bitumen
• A release valve is in sight for a crippling gas glut