Here’s my piece on that great city in the Montreal Gazette. Incidentally, we were there on Thursday evening en route to a delightful event with a terrific group of faculty, students, and alumnae at Bishop’s University in Sherbrooke, Quebec. Point is, Montreal has an energy which is just infectious…

We are living through a great turning point in world history. In just a few short months, our economy and our society are on their way to being transformed.

The U.S. and Canadian stock exchanges have lost as much as a third of their value. Gone are the days when regions will grow wealthy from ephemeral finance capital. Only those that build their real economy from the only true capital we possess – the creative energy of our people – will enjoy sustainable prosperity.

Gone, too, are the days when one’s identity can be purchased literally off the shelf through designer brands and a Sex and the City lifestyle. Times are tight, credit is no longer freely available, and the house is no longer an infinite piggy bank that can be used to finance luxury consumption. The regions that will succeed and be attractive are those that offer history, authenticity, and realism – and where the price tag is more affordable.

Montreal is well-positioned not just to weather the economic storm but to flourish in the long run. The city and its surrounding region have underlying economic and social capacities which, if properly harnessed, will position them to develop a truly sustainable prosperity and perhaps to serve as a model for other regions in Canada.

By no means am I trying to pooh-pooh the problems facing Montreal. Some of them stem from external economic forces, while others are self-inflicted – and I’ll get to them in a moment. But Montreal has not just the opportunity but the obligation – to itself, Canada, and the world – to lead the way out of the current financial crisis.

With credit tight and in some cases unavailable, the real economy, real people, and real creativity replace finance capital as the new coin of the realm. …

The rest is here.