By SIPP CEO Aaron Stone
For too long, Greater Victoria has been a “bystander region”, a collection of brilliant, but too often isolated pieces spread across the table, waiting for permission to be prosperous. We’ve watched the global horizon, waiting for markets to stabilize or governments to lead the way.
But as South Island Prosperity Partnership CEO Aaron Stone made clear at Rising Economy 2026, the “pleasant fiction” of a predictable world is dead. In an era of global rupture and fragmenting power blocs, the waiting game isn’t just slow, it’s dangerous.
The real opportunity for our region lies in a shift of identity. We are moving away from being a “secondary” city and toward our true potential as a Middle Power Region: an agile, unified force capable of navigating the storm.
The following notes from Aaron’s speeches on Day 1 and Day 2 capture the roadmap for this transformation. This is the moment Greater Victoria stops admiring the puzzle and starts locking the pieces together to claim our collective economic sovereignty.
Made-in-Victoria “Pickle Boat Wood Jigsaw Puzzle” by artist Diane Adoph from puzzlelab.com.
Day 1: The Rise of the Middle Power Region
Not long ago at Davos, Prime Minister Mark Carney stood before a world still in shock and diagnosed our current era not as a “transition” but as a rupture. He spoke about the death of “pleasant fiction,” that comfortable lie we’ve lived in for decades: the idea that the world would stay open, the rules would be followed. As we all now know, that fiction is indeed dead.
We are seeing a global order that is fragmenting into “Great Power” blocs. We are seeing AI move from a curious tool to an autonomous force. And for many regions, the response has been a paralyzing “waiting game.” Waiting for government. Waiting for the markets. Waiting for permission to be prosperous.
I am here to tell you that permission is not coming.
And we don’t need it.
Carney’s core message was for the Middle Powers. He argued that nations like Canada are currently “unorganized power.” We have the resources, the intellect, and the geography, but we lack the collective will to assert our own sovereignty.
Look at us. Greater Victoria. The 16th largest city region in this country.
In the old world, being 16th meant being “secondary.” In the new world, this world of the rupture, being 16th is a great strategic asset. We are a Middle Power Region.
South Island Prosperity Partnership CEO Aaron Stone at Rising Economy 2026 in Victoria, B.C. The letters RISE stand for: Resilience, Innovation, Sustainability and Entrepreneurship.
We are large enough to command global attention in tech and tourism, and growing attention in ocean innovation and life sciences, yet we are small enough to be agile. The “Great Powers”, the massive, bloated metropolises, are tied up in their own bureaucracy. They are tankers that take 10 miles to turn.
We must be the strike craft. We have the ability to coordinate, pivot and act fast. But that only works if we stop being “unorganized power” and start being a truly unified force.
Our Rising Economy Conference is not just another “networking event.” The next two days follow a specific arc moving us toward a place of collective economic sovereignty. It is the assembly of a powerful regional machine. Each session is a gear; each speaker is a catalyst toward becoming the leading Middle Power Region we are capable of being.
At the South Island Prosperity Partnership, the Possibility Charter is one of our key contributions to this effort. It is a call to action. It is a signal of our shared commitment to build a region that is fully activating the tremendous, and still largely untapped, potential of Greater Victoria. You should definitely sign up!
Taking back control doesn’t mean ignoring the global storm. It means building a foundation, a force, that the storm cannot push down. It means building a RISE economy — Resilient, Inclusive, Sustainable and Entrepreneurial — that is fueled by South Island talent, South Island grit and South Island determination.
Perseverance is often described as “hanging on.” I disagree. Perseverance is the act of refusing to let the external chaos dictate our internal ambition… or maybe more importantly, our actions.
It is the refusal to remain a “bystander region.” We are the 16th largest region in one of the most stable, resource-rich countries on earth. If we aren’t the ones finding the “Power of Possibility,” then who is?
Prime Minister Carney closed his speech with a call to “live in the truth.”
The truth for us is this: The “waiting game” is over. The “What ifs” are exhausting. …but the “What’s Next” is exhilarating, and that’s why we’re all here.
Don’t just sit through these sessions. Activate them. Find your partners, build your coalitions and sign The Possibility Charter with the intent to lead.
We are not victims of the rupture. We are not on the menu. We are the architects of Canada’s next great Middle Power Region.
Let’s set the table.
Day 2: To Activate Possibility, Start Here
Yesterday, I spoke about the end of the “pleasant fiction,” and over the last two days of the Rising Economy 2026 conference, we’ve seen so much evidence of what Greater Victoria is capable of. But knowing our potential is not the same as harnessing it. We see the opportunities on the horizon. We have done the heavy lifting to get to the starting line.
As you saw in the Possibility Charter video, a puzzle is the perfect metaphor for where we stand. Right now, Greater Victoria is a collection of brilliant, but still too often, isolated pieces.
Individual pieces, no matter how brilliant, are just clutter on the table until they connect.
We only move from ‘unorganized power’ to true economic sovereignty when those pieces finally click into place. We have all of the assets of a formidable Middle Power Region, small enough to be agile and fast enough to outmaneuver the giants, but all of this only happens when the pieces lock together. Only then does our ‘potential’ become the unified force that the rest of Canada and the world can no longer ignore.
The “waiting game” must end today, the only missing piece is EVERY ONE OF US.
I am asking you to sign the Possibility Charter, not because it’s a nice gesture, but because you are ready to be an architect of the future Greater Victoria. We need Activating Possibility to become a daily habit. not just a conference theme.
Greater Victoria is ready to lead. However, we only win if we work as one. The puzzle is on the table, the pieces in our hands, and the power of possibility is ours to activate.
The Rising Economy… is up to us.
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Sign The Greater Victoria Possibility Charter
Find out more about the Rising Economy Conference
