Will An Election Help The Economic Recovery?

As I was pondering this Tuesday’s first anniversary of GNN amid all the noise about another federal election, I got to thinking that the 364 days that we’ve been in business to this point is actually longer than the life expectancy of a minority government, which is now the norm in this country, these days.

The fourth election in five years could be triggered soon and if a party leader really wanted spice up the boring rhetoric of previous campaigns, why not take the roughly $300-million that it would take to stage an election and just divvy it up among Canadians?

Now, that would be stimulus spending that we could all enjoy. The economy would suddenly improve as people started spending again and the unemployment that followed would be most acceptable because it would be self-imposed instead of forced upon us. Imagine the discretionary income for golf?

Once again, your grizzled correspondent has gone over the top with silliness, but isn’t that what’s happening with a federal election that is rapidly becoming likely?

Just as the economy appears to be showing signs of recovery, the government goes on hiatus and bills get put on hold as the tall foreheads that are supposed to have Canadians’ best interests in mind duke it out for power for the second time in about a year and chances are good that we’ll end up with more of the same.

It makes you wish that these folks who like to spout off about what Canadians want would actually listen to what Canadians wanted by looking at their decision in the last federal election.

That last election, by the way, indicated that voter fatigue is prevalent as a record low turnout of 59 per cent took place. That could drop even lower this time around, especially if the H1N1 virus hits with the impact that is being predicted and affects both voters and the candidates themselves.

The golf industry, like any other business, is hoping for the economy to turn around sooner rather than later, especially with its reliance on discretionary income, so the latest GNN Poll now up on the home page may not be golf-specific, but it does deal with an issue that affects the industry and other businesses.

In the current economy, is a federal election a good or bad thing?

A vote in the GNN Poll doesn’t cost Canadians anything, so head on over to the home page to register your opinion. As always, GNN readers are welcomed to extend their thoughts in the GNN Forum.

MAKING DO WITH LESS: In our last GNN Poll, we asked readers if they plan to spend more, less or the same on pro shop inventory for next year than they did for 2009.

The poll indicates that economic stimulus spending is not going on yet in the golf industry as 69 per cent said they will spend less, while 19 per cent said they will spend the same as this year. Only 12 per cent admitted they will spend more.

We will keep that GNN Poll active in the archives if you would still like to make your opinion known.

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• Where Will Golf Be In 20 Years?
• Is HST Battle Just Heating Up?