Jeff Burgar
A friend of many years once told us, “Summer is when you get out and work hard to make things happen. Hard work and hard fun. Winter is when you put away your camping tents, or your working tools, shut every thing down, and go to sleep until spring.”
This makes a lot of sense to many. Canada might seem very much a summer kind of business place. Construction is one business that takes off in spring. Things might slack off a bit in summer, but when fall rolls around, everybody is going flat out to get the projects finished. Or at least, get the buildings “closed in” so the inside finishing work can continue through the winter months.
Despite my friends thinking, in reality, industry goes year round. Freeze-up makes it a whole lot easier to work in the bush areas. School is back in session after summer breaks. Moms and dads are able to spend more time in the work force, even if one is working from home. The ‘at the lake’ types are back at work when summer is over. Also, the fact is there are just as many ‘gone skiing, cruising or hot spot vacationers; in the cold months as those who take summer off.
Lots of us don’t hibernate during winter like my friend. We dig in. The summer naps in the hammock (where in fact, some of us do our best thinking) are over with. We’re hitting the boards. Pedal to the metal. Let’s rock n roll. Such dreams there used to be. But you might have noticed, business is not quite as usual.
In fact, right across Canada, experts are saying things are not good, not good at all.
One columnist, Andrew Richter, last week said “Problems have been recognized for some time.” Mentioned in his National Post story are “terrible productivity, low levels of innovation, near invisibility in global tech markets, too much government, a bloated public sector, enormous budget deficits and accumulated debt.”
Looking around many of our small communities, people are noticing change. Lineups of people where the online packages are picked up. The fastest growing businesses in many communities aren’t businesses at all. They are government offices and services.
Every community across North America has at some point had objections to the big box stores. They said “Walmart (Canadian Tire, McDonalds, Loblaws etc) will decimate our town.” It turned out to be very true. Yet, along the way, people reacted. In some places, new, different types of businesses opened. In some places, those government services grew to fill gaps. In other places, people made (and still make) excuses why they are happy driving an hour or two for all kinds of services. All the way from a “nice dinner after we talked to a contractor” to “I was already there getting groceries so I bought a new truck.” It’s all very interesting. Even if it is concerning at the same time.
Some put this down to whether winter or summer is the best time to hunker down and work. Others say Canada is losing, or has lost for many reasons, it’s ‘can do’ entrepreneurial spirit.
As summer comes to an end, maybe the guy snoozing in the hammock, or sipping at the coffee shop, has some answers.