"OWN THE PODIUM"

                WHAT CANADIAN MANUFACTURERS CAN LEARN FROM OUR WINTER OLYMPIC SUCCESS STORY

     Arguably, the overwhelming success of the Vancouver Winter Olympics and our Canadian athletes should be a shining example of what it takes for Canadian manufacturers to compete on a global scale.  After winning the Olympic bid, an audacious(some would say unCanadian) plan was put in place called "Own the Podium," whose goal was to provide sufficient resources, training, and support to our athletes so they could achieve unparalleled success.  This plan translated into a multi pronged public/private partnership between business, government and our universities that identified our top athletes and then provided them world class coaching, training facilities, and high tech equipment and techniques.  And perhaps most importantly,  Own the Podium provided our athletes an unaccustomed shot of swagger and confidence. 

     We all know the results.  They won 26 medals including 14 golds, our best ever performance by a mile,  placing third behind only the U.S. and Germany.  Names like Bilodeau, Rochette, Heil, Crosby, and Montgomery rocketed around our country and the world.  Our national anthem became a world hit overnight.  Hudson Bay Company couldn't supply enough Bob and Doug McKenzie red toques and mitts to meet the demand and the everyone hailed our winter games, from opening to closing ceremonies, as the best ever; evidenced by the record global T.V. viewership and the number of glamour stars who made it to this must see event.(Lets forget about Steven Colbert's comments about Canada for the moment.)  Who can forget the oft repeated commercial about British Columbia, featuring the likes of Steve Nash, Michael J. Fox, and Sara MacGlauglin, boasting about their home province and its many gifts. 

     The Vancouver Olympic experience confirmed for me that this same public/private partnership model could be used to transform our secondary manufacturing sector into a  world class export giant.  Just take a look at Germany, who ironically came second in the medal count, as our role model.  As a nation, exports account for fully 35% of their overall Gross National Product, an astounding figure when one considers that almost none of these exports consist of commodities but rather advanced manufactured consumer products and machinery.  Unbelievably, China, with all its export manufacturing prowess and much lower wages, just this year surpassed Germany as the world's number one exporter by volume.    Some of the reasons for Germany's success are very similar to what made our Olympians shine in February including:

         -An Emphasis on Technical Education and Vocational Training   i.e. less business school graduates and more engineers and technicians.  

         -Government support of "industries of the future".i.e. solar/wind power, rapid transit, pollution control, advanced manufacturing.

         - An "own the podium" outlook by German industry that says notwithstanding our higher cost base, we will design and efficiently manufacture technologically advanced products and market them around the world.  For example, just look at companies like BMW, Volkswagan, Bosch, Siemens, Miele, Bayer, and Festo.

           -Less emphasis on consumer spending(only 55% of GDP versus 70% in Canada)which translates into more public funding of health care, education, and R&D from tax revenues, and more private capital investment through higher saving rates.

      While Canada does have some world class manufacturers including recognizable names like Rim, Comdev, Linamar, Magna, and Bombardier, we should have many more of these "Gold Medal" companies that believe like our Olympic athletes that we have what it takes to own the global podium.  It can't be done overnight but if we were to put the right public/private plan in place like "Own the Podium", and more of our manufacturers had the confidence to build their global markets,   I believe Alexander Bilodeau and his brother Frederic would say it can be done.