Several months ago in a speech to the Economic Club of Canada, Industry Minister Christian Paradis promised to unveil a Canadian digital economy strategy by the end of the year. Unless there is a late December surprise, however, 2012 will end in the same manner as every other year – with Canada as one of the only developed economies without a clear plan for success in the online environment.

The digital economy strategy file – dubbed the Penske file due to years of “work” with no results – now stands an unequivocal failure. Despite a public consultation on the issue and numerous models to emulate, the government has puzzlingly been unable to develop a coherent vision for Canada’s digital future.

The government could have pointed to any number of developments – copyright reform, anti-spam legislation, research tax credit changes, a pro-consumer approach at the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission, the forthcoming spectrum auction, and reversal of the hated Internet billing dispute – as evidence that it has been active on the issue. Yet without a clear map for the future, the efforts are understandably perceived to be a policy mish-mash without a clear target.

How to fix the digital economy strategy mess in a fiscal environment where there is little, if any, money available to pay for it?  My weekly technology law column (Toronto Star version, homepage version) points to a tax-free digital economy strategy that would have six components.

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