| Statement in the B.C. Legislature May 9, 2011 Social Entrepreneurs VICTORIA - Through recorded history, families, communities and societies have looked after each other, have cared for each other and have provided support and social programs for each other. The primary providers of this care and this support have been family and friends, philanthropists and governments. The development of physical capital, of physical wealth, has been the purview of the marketplace, of business, and there has been little sharing of the strategies between these two domains. In today's international climate of fiscal challenges, funding has become more challenging, be it for social determinants of health or for social programs more generally. As societies we continue to face many intractable social challenges. Worldwide, in Denmark, in England, in the United States, in Australia, in New Zealand, and even in Canada, social entrepreneurs are finding new ways to approach these challenges, finding sustainable methods for funding social programs. And some of the world's leaders in social innovation live right here in British Columbia. The Lower Mainland was recently called by the Ottawa Citizen: "The Silicon Valley of social innovation in Canada." Many new models have been designed to ensure the development of sustainable social networks and programs. Increasingly, the world's leading social providers and service providers are melding marketplace practices with social programs to maximize the efficiency and effectiveness of their impact. The social entrepreneurs of British Columbia are world leaders, and they provide services, and the people of our province are the beneficiaries. They need and they deserve our support and our thanks. | |
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