There’s nothing like a crisis to sharpen the survival instincts of businesses and governments.
It is also unsurpassed in exposing fundamental weaknesses in infrastructure and processes.
COVID-19’s current inventory of take-away instruction for B.C. and the rest of Canada provides a primer in the need for proactive redeployment of resources and focus if the country is to graduate from being a land of slow learners dependent on stronger and more agile neighbours to become the master of its own economic destiny.
The dividends generated by that graduation will be long-term economic and political resilience.
As it stands now, the sudden shutdown of world economies and the widespread institution of border closures and travel bans have exposed the vulnerabilities in Canadian security on several fundamental fronts.
In short, the country has a dependence problem.
A Stikeman Elliott LLP essay on major post-COVID-19 business changes argues that government will likely intensify its focus on improving national security.
For example, the global health crisis has reinforced the need for Canada to ramp up its domestic manufacturing capacity so that it is not entirely reliant on offshore sources for vital goods production.
National security concerns have also been raised over food, energy, finance, transportation and communication technology infrastructure.
However, as the essay also notes, intensified national security measures will inevitably complicate and potentially constrict the vital flow of investment capital into Canada from foreign sources, especially those in mainland China.
But Canada cannot afford to waste the clarity of focus demanded by COVID-19 when it comes to dealing with those challenges and complications.
If that focus is applied strategically, the country’s leverage in the international marketplace and its preparedness for subsequent health crises and other threats to national security will increase dramatically.
