Chances are, many Canadians haven’t heard of those companies.
Meanwhile, everyone has heard about the struggles of The Bay, Zellers, Blackberry, and others.
Yet, the four companies listed at the outset will be far more consequential for our future prosperity, security, and sovereignty than any bygone firm.
NordSpace is working to provide Canada with an independent rocket launch capability, in addition to advancing our development of hypersonics.
Maritime Launch Services is building Spaceport Nova Scotia, Canada’s first commercial spaceport.
Roshel produces high-quality armoured vehicles, creating good jobs for Canadians and establishing our nation as an innovative and reliable military producer, including by outfitting armoured vehicles with counter-unmanned aerial systems capabilities.
Xanadu is making breakthroughs in quantum computing, giving Canada a chance to be a leader in a technology with immense implications for our prosperity, our national security, and our national defence.
Imagine what success looks like
Take a moment to imagine what Canada would be like if all four companies continue to succeed and grow.
We would have the independent capability to launch our own satellites.
We could develop hypersonic aircraft and weapons to speed travel and enhance our national defence.
We would have a rapidly growing commercial space industry helping advance our prosperity.
Our defence industry would be trusted by allies, deeply integrated with key partners.
And we would possess a robust quantum computing sector, creating untold economic spinoff benefits and protecting our national security and national defence information from foreign adversaries.
That is a future worth pursuing, and NordSpace, Maritime Launch Services, Roshel, and Xanadu are pursuing it.
So why aren’t those companies household names?
Why aren’t their founders and board members, and employees held up as Canadian innovators to emulate?
Our country does a poor job of promoting our most ambitious and innovative people.
We spend a lot of time focused on what isn’t being done, or what supposedly ‘can’t be done’ (even though those limitations are often self-imposed). This holds us back and often leaves ambitious Canadians without the necessary level of support.
We have also overlearned the importance of humility. While humility matters, it can become counterproductive when we don’t acknowledge things we should be proud of.
When a product, service, or technology is truly innovative and helpful, promotion is beneficial rather than exploitative.
And because we live in a world where so many people are competing for our attention, a better product or service can be defeated in the market by an inferior product if that inferior product is promoted more aggressively and effectively.
This is a challenge we face as Canadians, particularly vis-à-vis the United States. The U.S. is so heavy on promoting its citizens and its companies that it’s easy for Canadian innovators to get lost in the noise.
Even worse, our lack of promotion here in Canada often leads to ambitious Canadians struggling to build here at home, and they are then scooped up to become part of American firms, often taking their best ideas and innovations with them.
Defending our sovereignty requires innovation
In areas like quantum computing and artificial intelligence, leaders often accrue benefits in an exponential, rather than linear fashion.
Being 4th best in quantum computing will likely be orders of magnitude better than being 8th best, instead of just being twice as beneficial.
The first few countries that dominate quantum computing will establish immense advantages in national security and national defence, while those who fall behind will struggle to catch up and will face serious security risks.
And for a country like Canada, with our land and resources being hungrily eyed by autocrats around the world, falling behind could put our sovereignty in even more danger than it’s already in.
Thus, we need to champion innovative Canadian companies, promote those companies, support those companies, and uphold their founders and workers as exemplars for young Canadians to draw inspiration from.
This will create a positive feedback loop, as Canadians increasingly see themselves as ambitious innovators, leading more to chase their dreams and ideas, leading to more success for ambitious Canadian companies, leading to more Canadians seeing themselves as ambitious innovators, and so on. And that positive feedback loop is exactly what we need to survive and thrive in a more competitive world.
Spencer Fernando
Image – YouTube (NordSpace)