Nova Scotia Premier Stephen McNeil yesterday unveiled an economic planning panel that is rich with talent from the startup community.

The 17-member panel, to be chaired by the premier, will take a year and a half to devise a 10-year economic plan in keeping with the report of the recent Ivany Commission on the Nova Scotian economy. The panel is being greeted with some skepticism, but there are a few things I really like about it.

First, it’s remarkably similar in structure to Premier David Alward’s New Brunswick Research and Innovation Council, announced last year. Both bodies include opposition leaders, a broad range of community leaders and a steep concentration of knowledge economy entrepreneurs. It would be great if these two panels sat down together to discuss harmonized policies that would benefit the whole region. It would be better still if representatives from Newfoundland and Labrador and Prince Edward Island joined them.  

Second, it’s great that both premiers brought in opposition members to these panels. It highlights the importance of their work and builds hope that it will continue if governments change.

Third, and possibly most important, the Nova Scotia panel has a lot of talent from the startup community – people who understand the economic necessity of local companies selling technology to the global market. They include: J.P. Deveau, president, Acadian Seaplants Ltd.; Saeed El-Darahali, president and CEO, SimplyCast.com; and Jevon MacDonald, GoInstant.com. These are not just people who’ve worked in the private sector. They are people who have built up successful companies by commercializing proprietary technology.

Other members of the group, such as Dalhousie University vice-president of research Martha Crago and Engage Nova Scotia head Danny Graham, understand the power of startups in galvanizing the economy.

The startup community is becoming more and more a pillar of the business community, which is a healthy development.