There is a missing ingredient in the impressive and appetizing Open Canada recipe, a needed flavouring for our cross-border relationship, an essential binding agent for the Prosperity agenda and a key component of our trade initiatives. This "secret ingredient" is IP (intellectual property). We need to stir some into the mix.

Open Canada has put its finger on a number of issues that must be addressed if Canada is to live up to its true potential and play an international role at all commensurate with the assets we have been blessed with, either through good fortune or the foresight of past nation-builders. We should not squander that legacy nor can we afford to continue to let it atrophy.

The authors rightly point out the over-riding importance of our relationship with the US, and particularly the role of a border that has thickened over the past decade. And why has this happened? A key factor is our neighbours' loss of trust in us, especially the US law enforcement agencies, elements of Congress, and the American public and corporate community. Rightly or wrongly, Canada is seen by many in the US as North America's soft underbelly. This is both myth and reality. It's a myth that Canada was somehow implicated in the entry of the 9/11 hijackers to the US (they were all legally admitted US residents); it's a fact that our side of the border is not well tended and if we won't do it, the Americans will do it for us.

Even with myths, perception becomes reality. While it may be unfair, Canada has acquired an unfortunate image of a neighbour that harbours boiler-room phone scams that target vulnerable (and gullible) US consumers, dodgy internet pharmacies, grow-ops producing cannabis for US users, and pirate websites offering free downloads of the latest Hollywood productions and music offerings. It doesn't help Canada's image in Washington when the US Trade Representative lists Canada on its Priority Watch List for lax enforcement of IP laws, in a category that includes China, Russia, Pakistan, Algeria, and India among others. Not good company to be in and no other developed country is on this list. It is not just that Canada has become a haven for internet pirates but is also seen as a preferred route into the US for fake goods coming from China and elsewhere. Canada is seen as weak in will, legal structure and resources dedicated to protection of IP.

The Canadian Chamber of Commerce has called on Ottawa to make counterfeiting and piracy a government-wide priority and act on appropriate legislative reforms now. This means providing resources and legal authority, such as amending the Customs Act, to enable search and seizure of suspected counterfeit goods at our gateways, defining counterfeiting for commercial purposes as a criminal offence, and updating our copyright laws.

To be fair, a start is being made with regard to IP legislation. This is long overdue and is critical to another Open Canada theme, Prosperity. The paper highlights the Conference Board of Canada's rating of Canada at 14 out of 17 developed countries for innovation and identifies various reasons to explain this sorry state of affairs, all of which are valid. But there is an additional factor - Canada's traditional foot-dragging and passive attitude toward IP. Instead of standing out from the pack, Canada is a laggard. We have often been ambivalent on IP. Contrast this to the United States which is both a leader in IP protection and, not coincidentally, in innovation, research and creative industries. Of course the US supports a robust international IP regime out of economic self-interest, but why shouldn't Canada aspire to the same league? While tax incentives, an open investment regime, and a well educated and tech-savvy workforce are important, without respect for IP we are missing the catalyst that provides innovators, creators and investors with the incentive that drives innovation.

Valuing IP means policy leadership backed by a suitable allocation of resources. Currently, Canada does not send the signal that it wants to attract innovators and creators; it has not even passed legislation to enable ratification of the WIPO internet treaties that it signed back in 1997, even though these treaties have been ratified and implemented by virtually all of our major partners and competitors.

However, there is a glimmer of hope. The current government has just introduced the Copyright Modernization Act (Bill C-32). If the final legislation meets its stated goals, this will help Canada play catch up, although this is the third attempt since 2005 to update Canada's copyright laws. Meanwhile our copyright laws remain rooted in the last century (how long ago that seems in internet years) as we enter the second decade of the digital era. A fractious Parliament and minority governments may be among the reasons why copyright reform has languished, but inability to pass legislation to meet treaty obligations not to mention national needs does nothing to enhance Canada's global reputation.

IP is also central to our trade policy ambitions in Asia, where Canada is missing in action. No trade agreements have been signed with a single Asian economy. Canada has been locked out of the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) negotiations even though it was Canada's APEC Business Advisory Council (ABAC) delegation that gave the TPP a boost by advocating that APEC embrace the goal of reaching a Free Trade Area of the Asia Pacific (FTAAP). This was endorsed by the full ABAC representing business leaders from all 21 Asia Pacific economies. If Canada ever gets to the TPP table (and our supply management policies may keep us out), we will have to face up to the IP agenda. The US is pushing to make the TPP a gold standard agreement, building on the existing FTAs that it already has with Chile, Australia and Singapore. If Canada wants to play, we will need some serious updating of our positions on IP from the days of the Canada-US FTA and NAFTA. As for the recommended Economic Bridge Agreements with India and China, without good IP provisions, they will not serve our interests over the longer term.

Putting Canada back to the centre of the networks will require a mix of public policy initiatives and private sector actions. Among these should be a much greater focus on the importance of IP. It is a critical ingredient for Canada's international credibility, for our public persona in the US and most important, for the future prosperity of the next generation of Canada's leaders.

Hugh Stephens is Senior Advisor, Public Policy (Asia Pacific and Canada) for Time Warner Inc. He is a former Canadian diplomat and Assistant Deputy Minister of the Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade, and is a member of the Victoria chapter of the CIC.