Shooting Down the Avro Arrow

Avro Arrow was innovation ahead of its time. Nortel is a disaster.

If the Arrow lived on with Avro refining the technology and design, Canada would be forefront in jet fighters. It would be on the stage with the US, Russia and France producing some of the best of breed.

Importantly, Canada would also be self-reliant for its defense. How many billions are we paying to Boeing, Lockheed and others today. And what percentage of those billions come back in the form of jobs to Canada? What is the state of the aerospace industry in Canada?

If the US and Russia had axed their space programs due to failures, would we ever have the technologies we use today.

This is the analogy that some of us are tryng to bring up. Agree Nortel is a disaster. But at least the Government can be smart enough to impose restrictions and requirements putting the Canadian economy, innovation and jobs at the very top of any agenda.

If not 10, 20, 30 years down the road Canada like its defense will not be self-reliant. It will spend billions on foreign manufcaturers with a small negligible percentage of jobs in Canada. Which will not be top line jobs but more on the lines of call centers, support etc.

The difference between Canada and other technology developed countries is culture. In other countries such as the US, it is ok to fail as long as you pick yourself up and move to the next thing, as long as you learnt from the mistake and becoming successful. In Canada, failure means pack up and go home. Here taking risk is taboo, no matter what you do, whether you are an entrepreneur or an executive requiring to make critical discussions.

You're wrong, and to prove it we will continue to kick your ass at hockey!

The Avro Arrow didn't have a bonus happy management creating the largest fraud in Canada that was followed by endless laughable hype to endless contradictions and zero credibility.

But hey… we still have the Canada Space Arm, the Blackberry, world class talent, colorful money, health care, high taxes, great beer, etc., and a wonderful sense of humor. =)

Dude, you're making us look bad with that comeback, especially considering that we haven't won the Stanley Cup since 1993 (won by the Habs, barely Canadian)!

Health care anyone?

You make a good point about Canadians being afraid of failure, even though you are generalizing. If everyone was like that, I'd be painting on my cave walls this afternoon.

It is human nature to be afraid of nature, which is why the vast majority of people are afraid of failure, not just hosers to the north. As for painting your cave walls, it is likely those who lived in them that gave us of our fear of failure today in our instincts since failure to them meant being eaten alive.

Can anyone see RIM's statements – whoever made them – as anything other than self-serving trite?

It`s just a case of their Canadians beat our Canadians. Is it 50% (or more) of the players are from Canada? Gotta be proud of that! Having said that, a good hockey player is a good hockey player, no matter where they are from. But collectively, as a country, we are the BEST!

Here's a story that may help clarify things …

There was this man who walked into a sea food store in Maine one day and noticed two baskets of lobsters set out. The odd thing was that one of the baskets had a lid on top of it while the other didn't.

Curious, the fellow asked the proprietor why the difference in the baskets. “Oh, the lobsters in the basket with the lid are American lobsters,” he says.

Scratching his head, the customer asked why the other basket didn't have a lid. “Well, those are Canadian lobsters. Whenever one of 'em trys to climb out of the basket all the others reach up and pull 'im back down.”

Touched a nerve, did I?

It's just an example of the Canadian sense of humour.

A persons got to know his limitations. Mike knew his, but he bluffed his way through by playing the hawk, with the doves all a-flutter, letting him clear The Path for them.

Now he's gone all lovey-dovey by tuning out, turning off and dropping out with his head held high (something obviously musta got lost in translation there)

Oh, ya. The point.

The point is that Nortel's the basket without the lid.

“You make a good point about Canadians being afraid of failure”? More like afraid of winning: At least our Gov. afraid of rub the wrong side of our “partners/neighbors”?