Maybe we're just too lazy to invent things

Are Canadians unimaginative?

According to the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, there have been a total of 4,065,671 patents since that office began tracking them. The majority of those patents (nearly 2.4 million) were granted to Americans. Based on the general "one-tenth" rule of thumb, Canada should have been granted about 240,000 patents (that is, about 10 per cent of the U.S. number).

The reality? Only 77,594 patents have ever been granted to Canadians - fewer than 2 per cent of the total patents granted, and only 3 per cent of the number granted to Americans. True, one can argue it is the usefulness and value of the patents that count, not the number granted. But still - 3 per cent?

What's the problem here? Are Canadians too lazy to invent things? Don't we have any good ideas?

Perhaps Canadians with great product ideas first seek a patent in Canada. The federal government's Canadian Intellectual Property Office grants patents in this country. But for the product to be marketed (and hence succeed commercially) in the United States, it needs an American patent as well.

Maybe Canadians have the right idea. Perhaps we save energy by sitting back, letting others (the Americans) do all the heavy lifting, and adopting the new application. Because we are an economy of branch offices - with not much of the research and development actually taking place here - this explanation works.

While the "sit back and adopt" strategy makes sense on the surface, it's a losing proposition. Wealth is generated by good ideas. The hard work and perseverance of those researchers and inventors are rewarded, often handsomely.

In typical Canadian style, we blame the government for the low number of patents. More research and development cash, lower taxes and less regulatory burden on the inventor - that would solve the problem.

But all of these actions do not really get at the heart of the issue. Sure, they may help simplify the process and make inventing somewhat more economical. But, ultimately, R&D subsidies and tax cuts do not generate new ideas.

An idea is what sparks the inventor to get up off the couch and into the garage. An idea is what prompts the chemical engineer to try it another way. An idea is what pushes the writer, the artist and the designer late into the night creating something amazing. It's the epiphany, the aha!, the bulb lighting up above your head.

Canada has been blessed beyond imagination with natural resources of almost every description, and it is resources that have been driving strong economic growth lately. But have abundant resources masked our need to come up with new ideas? Are we resting on the laurels of $90-a-barrel oil? Are nickel and wheat and potash making us complacent?

Of all the provinces, Alberta is particularly well advised to pay attention. Resources have been, and will always be, a driver of the provincial economy. And, without doubt, new ideas and innovations in oil-sands extraction techniques have driven the sector to new heights. But sooner or later, the world will move past hydrocarbons. Alberta needs to be ready for that.

This is where creativity comes into play. To guarantee a prosperous future for Alberta, we need to foster great ideas. It needs to start with our educators. Math, sciences and technical skills are critical. But we do our young people an injustice if we rob them of the arts, music and languages that help stimulate creativity. Spreadsheets and test tubes are valuable research tools, but they alone cannot generate one single new idea. It is the well-rounded thinker who arrives at the epiphany.

Hydrocarbons may come out of the ground, but creative and innovative ideas don't. If we focus on the former while ignoring the latter, Alberta's economy is in trouble in the long run.

The opinions expressed are Todd Hirsch's own.