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A Little Canadian Inventiveness

While writing Top Financial Service Ideas of 2006, I took notice of the countries where ideas originated; five of the ideas were from the United States, two were from the United Kingdom, while Austria, Netherlands and Turkey accounted for one idea each. The distribution is fairly diverse, but I was a little disappointed not to see anything from Canada. I’m not suggesting that Canada lacks innovative potency – it would be ridiculous to do this on the basis of a simple editorial. Nevertheless, here I was highlighting innovations to a group of (mostly) Canadian students in a competition about the Canadian financial services landscape. It would have been nice to point to some Canadian examples.

This is precisely why a television program recently caught my attention. The Greatest Canadian Invention was a two-hour special that aired a couple of days ago on the venerable CBC. Hosted by science journalist Bob McDonald, the show was touted as a celebration of “the finest innovations and innovators our country has to offer.” Viewers from coast to coast to coast voted for their favourite Canadian inventions via the CBC website. None of the Top 50 inventions dealt with financial services, and we all know that innovation goes beyond invention, but take a look at the list anyway. I’m sure you’ll find it useful as a source of home-grown inspiration.

Top 10 Greatest Canadian Inventions

1. Insulin, Treatment for Diabetes [1921, Frederick Banting, Charles Best]
2. Telephone [1876, Alexander Graham Bell]
3. Light Bulb [1874, Henry Woodward, Matthew Evans]
4. Five Pin Bowling [1908, Thomas F. Ryan]
5. Wonderbra [1964, Louise Poirier]
6. Pacemaker [1950, John Hopps, Wilfred Bigelow, John Callaghan]
7. Robertson Screw [1908, Peter Robertson]
8. Zipper [1913, Gideon Sundback]
9. Electric Wheelchair [1952, George Klein]
10. Poutine [1957, Fernand Lachance]

As these and the remaining inventions illustrate, Canada is no slouch on the inventive front. Granted, some of the inventions listed are on the quirky side. I’ve gone bowling a few times, for instance, but have never been compelled to try the five-pin variety. The truth is I normally claim one of the ten-pin lanes before heading to the snack bar for a helping of poutine. ;-) On the other hand, some of the listed inventions are truly significant. Insulin, for example, provides a lifeline to people stricken by diabetes all over the world. Voters got it absolutely right when they granted it top honours.

Whether your taste tends toward the quirky or the serious, there’s comfort in knowing that Canada has a rich history of invention. We probably don’t celebrate often enough, so kudos to CBC for reminding us.

What do you think is the greatest Canadian invention?

Posted by Nelson T. on January 5, 2007 11:47 PM

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