Wednesday's Federal Government Throne Speech contained a few paragraphs of 'social innovation' language for the first time.  This is a welcome political blessing to the social entrepreneurs inside and outside government.

As I read the text I note an acknowledgment of: Canadian communities as incubators of creativity; the importance of working across sectors and boundaries; reducing red tape so that government can support local creativity; and providing expertise to scale up good ideas. Finally, the Throne Speech ends with a commitment to partner with innovative charities and forward thinking businesses to tackle social problems.

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For many of you who read this blog, the Social Capital Partners story will be familiar to you. On Wednesday, I had the opportunity to hear Bill Young speak, and once again I was inspired, and I thought - this is a story worth repeating.

Bill Young came into a lot of money at the time of the technology stock frenzy, and he used it to found Social Capital Partners in 2001. He wanted to figure out the answer to the question “is there a way to harness market forces to do social good?”

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MaRS has recently launched a White Paper on Legislative Innovation that is proposing that Ontario create a new legal form to hold activities that would be undertaken by what we would call a social enterprise or perhaps a social purpose business. They are using the term Community Enterprise. This is builds on Stacey Corriveau and Richard Bridge's piece on Legislative Innovation for Canada.

These are both important contributions to a conversation that continues to emerge in this country. However, before we come up with a new legal form, I think that it is worth looking at the forces at play that would make one want to put so much time into this space. I guess that there is a part of me that would love to see all of this energy actually put into creating social enterprises. Perhaps this is an enabling condition. I guess that this is the question.

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It’s true what they say; new projects are daunting, anxiety-provoking and pull-your-hair-out-exhausting. But here’s another truism: they’re as thrilling as it comes. Each new initiative involves the setting of fresh expectations, self-prescribed milestones and goals. And let’s not forget those dreams. Launching an enterprise is any dreamcatcher’s inspirational fodder.

As founders of Canada’s first publication for and about social enterprise and entrepreneurship, we’re not unlike any other social entrepreneur in that we’re dreaming big. And we hope you are too.

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About 18 months ago after winding up activities with a technology venture capital fund, I had that “AH-HA!” moment that so many of my friends and colleagues have described, but I had yet to experience. What was it?

I met the SiG@MaRS team and a number of the passionate and talented social entrepreneurs they support. I learned about the challenges entrepreneurs in this field face and was intrigued by fact that while most social ventures require less capital than technology businesses and generally have a lower risk profile, capital is in very short supply. This is particularly true in Canada where most of us, including me before I was enlightened, assume that the government or charitable donors provide adequate funding for this sector.

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