Todd Hirsch is a Calgary-based economist, author and public speaker. He is also the director of the Energy Transition Centre and the former chief economist of ATB Financial.
The word entrepôt describes an economic port city where global trade and commerce bring steady prosperity. In places like Venice, Amsterdam and Hong Kong, the entrepôt city has attracted money, power and influence throughout history.
Could Canada become the global entrepôt in the 21st-century economy? Not a warehouse or clearinghouse of physical goods, but an entrepôt of ideas.
The world of ideas – and by this I mean the exchange of research, theories and concepts – is big business. Conferences, academic symposiums and art and culture festivals bring enormous dollars, both to the traditional tourism industries (like food and accommodation) as well as to peripheral industries such as transportation, logistics, event organizers, and conference and meeting facilities. Ask any municipal economic development office: Landing a large, global conference is a major coup.
Today, we’re seeing the global economy morphing in some unsettling ways. Climate change, the challenges and opportunities of artificial intelligence, the role of arts and culture, the promises of life sciences and medicine, the future of democracy – there is no end to the issues that need addressing and solving. Bringing people together to discuss, debate and learn from one another is essential if we have any chance at all.
By now, some readers of this column will be rolling their eyes. Do we need more gab-fests that go nowhere? Do the billionaires need more parties to go to (think Davos and the World Economic Forum)? Does filling a conference centre with more political hot air solve anything?
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The answer to all these questions is no. But conferences and symposiums don’t have to be thought of as simply hot air. The act of bringing people together to learn, exchange ideas and expand our perspectives has value. It generates enormous economic activity, as well.
Why Canada?
Despite the fact that our global reputation has been slipping (the topic of another column altogether), we are still generally viewed favourably: safe, progressive, stable. We’re considered friendly. And we might as well face it: We’re viewed as a bit dull. Vanilla. (This is actually our ace card. Vanilla ice cream is the ultimate accompaniment to any cake or pie.)
We’re reasonably neutral. For sure, we are solidly on Team G7, captained by the United States. Still, we’re not the United States. We’ve shown a high degree of political stability while democracies around the world wobble. We are bucking the trend of closing borders to migration, proving that multiculturalism – while not without challenges – can work.
We already have world-class universities, air transportation, physical infrastructure, modern and progressive cities, and a geographic position that is more or less central between Asia, the Americas and Europe.
How do we get there? Unlike other industrial strategies, becoming an entrepôt of ideas shouldn’t require government involvement. No disrespect for the good work that governments can do to stimulate industry. But almost by its very nature, the economics of ideas should be more organic, happening simply through the intention and efforts of those players already in the game.
Those include universities, think-tanks, not-for-profits, industry associations, regional economic developers, arts organizations and conference organizers. In a lot of ways, we’re doing this already. Canada is home to TED Talks, The Art Of, C2 Montreal, the Banff Global Business Forum, and dozens of other conferences and symposiums attracting attendees from around the world. We just need to “10x” this.
With more focus and intention, all of these conferences (and many we haven’t imagined yet) have the potential to position Canada as the entrepôt of great ideas. If every conference organizer started with the ambition to make their event global in scale and scope, we could build Canada’s reputation as the country with the best, largest and most impactful thought events.
Seems too pie in the sky? That’s our default mentality in Canada. We’re often not global leaders because we don’t think of ourselves as global leaders. If we’re going to succeed at anything as a country, we need to drop the mentality of being not quite good enough.
The world isn’t short of oil. It’s not short of food. It’s certainly not short of war, conflict or racism. What it is short of are good ideas and conversations about how to use energy responsibly, how to distribute food equitably, and how to stem the anger and violence that plagues virtually every corner of the world.
We need conversations as bridges to understanding and relationships. Canada is perfectly positioned to hold these in-person exchanges. We can be the global entrepôt of ideas if we set that as our goal. Our economy – and the rest of the world – will thank us.