My headline could just as easily have been, “Canada, we have an opportunity.” But I chose the glass half-empty versus half-full approach. Here’s why.

On the plus side, we have a great Prime Minister, one who is respected the world over, who is building on his global credibility, who has a vision for the country, who has the communication skills necessary to articulate that vision and the determination to implement it. And God knows we have potential. We all know about Canada’s vast mineral resources, the energy upside in green and fossil fuel developments, the academic infrastructure, the agriculture platform, the list goes on. There is no country in the world that isn’t jealous of us and all our potential. Particularly when it is coupled with the sort of political leadership I have just described.

But nothing is happening except the words. We simply cannot continue to move at 40 miles an hour when the rest of the world is moving at 100. That’s the definition of falling further behind. You want examples? Consider these…

The wars in Ukraine and the Middle East have taught military planners, defense industry experts and governments about the power of innovation and the need for risk taking. Look at how quickly this tiny nation of Ukraine has battled back against Russia’s huge military juggernaut and humiliated it. How did this happen? Because it had to. The consequences of failing to empower people, of any reluctance to take risks, of being too slow to move, to embrace unconventional thinking would have meant not failure, but subjugation—the loss of political and personal freedom, the loss of basic democratic rights and almost certain death for many.

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