I think that the Tortoise is going to win again this year.

 

Many of us desperately want the economy to pick up quickly and some of us need it to pick up quickly, but in my opinion the tortoise is going to win the race this year.

 

Global uncertainty is still deeply unsettling and last year's economic crises are still in the forefront of many government's minds as people look at austerity budgets and what may continue to unfold with what is being referred to as Arab unrest.

 

Kelowna may seem removed from many of the challenges the world faces in 2012, but there is no doubt in my mind that we are impacted subtly by every move in the global economy. 

 

One of my favourite topics is trends and there is certainty in the fact that an aging population combined with a sunny destination is going to amount to positive inbound migration of retirees to the Okanagan and that continues to be something that we can count on. It is enough to keep the engine firing on more than a few cylinders and with rumours of Alberta clients starting to look again at BC with a higher level of seriousness, we can perhaps think about relaxing our minds a little. Personally I have been busier in the past few weeks than I have been for a long time, and while it is a little confusing that some momentum should build over Christmas, I am happy to be busy!

 

The overriding consideration in my mind though is that the change will be slow. As we hear, (as we will continue to all year) on rapid upswings in the market, it would be prudent to seek the context of the statement, is it pure spin, is it related back to a particular part of the lower mainland, or has a statistician included a wild tangential area that swings our data radically here? Likely the news story will be similar in 2012 to 2011, but every day we continue to move forward is a day closer to a slightly rosier future. 

 

Happy New Year!