BCBusiness

10 BCBusiness nOVEmBER 2018 pORtRait: adam BLasBERg I n late September, I went to a sold-out UBC talk by Michio Kaku, the U.S. theoretical physicist and futurist who manages to be a leader in his •eld, a best-selling author and a TV personality. While predicting which jobs will survive the rise of robotics and AI, Kaku highlighted the di€erence between intellectual capital and commodity capital. Because commodities like food and coal lose value over time, he contended, nations that rely on them for wealth will end up poor. "The coun- tries that are going to be rich are those countries that grab the link between commodity capital and intellectual capital," Kaku said, pointing to China. "They're using their commodities to cre- ate a scienti•c class in China, because they know that's where wealth is going to come from." On page 42, you'll •nd an interview with a B.C. business leader who made the same con- nection. Chip Wilson entered a commoditized industry, apparel, and reimagined it. With Lululemon Athletica, Wilson saw the opportunity to build a global cloth- ing brand that was as much about an idea—getting the most out of life—as it was about a quality product. Even if you wouldn't be caught dead in a pair of the little black stretchy pants he spun into a multibillion-dollar busi- ness, it's an amazing story. We need more entrepreneurs like Wilson: inno- vators who see what's coming, shake up entire industries and help us avoid the commodity trap. Speaking of product worth billions, those so inclined will have plenty of above-board options now that recre- ational pot is legal in Canada. In "High Stakes" (p.21), we talk to several notable •gures in the provincial cannabis scene, which promises to be a grower. The two other leaders featured in this issue hail from politics, but their decisions a€ect B.C.'s economic future. After last year's provincial election, Premier John Horgan and BC Green Party Leader Andrew Weaver struck an alliance that lets Horgan's NDP stay in power. The two friends have common goals—to a point. As Richard Littlemore, who previously pro- •led Weaver for us in 2011, shows on page 36, Nobel Peace Prize–sharing climate scientist Weaver doesn't lack intellectual capital. Horgan is no slouch, either, as Steve Burgess learned dur- ing a visit to his o¡ce in Victoria (p.30). And it turns out that the duo's partnership hinges on a commodity: lique•ed natural gas. Where Horgan backs a provincial LNG indus- try, Weaver has threatened to withdraw support for the NDP minority government if it doesn't honour B.C.'s greenhouse gas emission targets. You don't need to be a genius to see where this could be headed. Nick Rockel, Editor-in-Chief bcb@canadawide.com / @bCbusiness ( editor's desk ) Our fifth annual ranking of the Best Cities for Work in B.C. I N DE C E M B E R /JA N UA R Y smart Choices C ON T R I B U T OR S steve burgess ("Happy Horgan," p.30) is a veteran Vancouver journalist, but flying to Victoria to interview Premier John Horgan was his first-ever helicopter ride, which "felt like being inside a washing machine." Once there, he asked a security guard what the dumbest question was he'd heard from a tourist. "Where does Obama sit?" the guard replied. When Aleena Deandra moved from Indonesia to Vancouver last year to pursue a master of publishing degree at SFU, she was surprised by not only how fit residents are but also their tendency to sport activewear outside the gym. While interning at BCBusiness this summer, she looked into locally designed clothing that combines function and fashion ("Sweat Equity," p.66) and redesigned our online newsletter.

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