Globe and Mail columnist Jane Taber discusses a new report published by the Institute and authored by its former Director of Research Ian Munro, which analyzes PEI's golf tourism strategy and argues that it was a wasteful use of taxpayer dollars.
PEI Minister of Tourism Robert Henderson agrees with a new report published by the Institute arguing that the province made a mistake in getting into the golf game as an owner and operator.
NB reporter Adam Huras discusses a new development in Atlantic Canada, wherein the four provinces have begun inquiring into whether standardized public sector wage scales could help rationalize public spending in the region and he cites figures outlined in an AIMS report from 2014.
Ian Munro, an independent economic and public policy analyst and AIMS author, discusses the results of his most recent study looking into PEI's golf tourism strategy: "After the turn of the millennium, the golf boom crashed, tourism traffic dropped and the provincially owned courses began to bleed red ink."
Roughly 25 years ago, the province took a real shine to golf as a tool to draw tourists to P.E.I. With the sport booming across North America in the 1990s, the government decided to make golf development a centerpiece of its tourism and economic development strategies. A new research report from the Atlantic Institute for Market Studies (AIMS) concludes the efforts were largely a flop — and quite a costly one at that. The paper, called Short of the Green: Golf as an Economic Development tool on Prince Edward Island, states that the Crown corporation created specifically to operate provincially owned courses has lost money in 10 of the last 14 years.
At one point in the early to mid-1990s on P.E.I., building a golf course was considered a licence to print money. A popular story that regularly made the rounds in those heady days was that a farmer went to the bank looking for a loan to expand his agricultural operation and was turned down. The farmer then asked about possible financing to build a golf course instead and the bank asked, “How much do you want?” The golf boom was in full bloom and nothing could stop it. A report released Tuesday by the Atlantic Institute for Market Studies provides a harsh assessment of our provincial government’s involvement over the years in P.E.I.’s golf industry, suggesting it was a poor investment which ended up costing the province millions. The study doesn’t mention the revenue generated by golf nor what our tourism industry would be without our courses. The study is both narrow in scope and often too critical.
I don’t normally spend a lot of time taking reports from the Atlantic Institute for Market Studies (AIMS) as gospel. The think-tank — a registered charity — describes itself as providing “a distinctive Atlantic Canadian perspective on economic, political and social issues.” I mean, I read AIMS reports — I read everything — but it often seems to me that while the scholarship is fine, the choice of what’s to be studied seems to suit a particular business-based world view. Which probably isn’t surprising, given its funders. (Those same funders get income tax receipts, even in this world where charities that try to affect public policy — at least the ones whose work doesn’t dovetail with the federal Conservatives — seem to get quickly and mysteriously selected for audits by tax authorities). But more on that another day. This week, AIMS released a report on golf courses in P.E.I., and the thrust of the research essentially proves a bit of a truism about government investment in bu
A new report says P.E.I. taxpayers have lost millions of dollars because of the provincial government's investment in the golf industry. Tourism and Culture Minister Robert Henderson says the provincial government will continue to promote and market the golf industry on P.E.I. (CBC) The Atlantic Institute of Market Studies report released today said the investment in golf made in the 1990s did not have the expected economic impact. Public policy consultant Ian Munro prepared the report for AIMS. He said the provincial government is still deeply in debt 25 years after spending millions of dollars to build and operate golf courses. "The strategy may have seemed compelling but a combination of bad luck and strategic missteps resulted in a policy failure," said Munro.
In an interview with News 95.7 host Sheldon MacLeod, AIMS author and independent economic and public policy consultant Ian Munro discusses his most recent study, “Short of the Green,” which analyzes PEI’s golf tourism strategy and argues that it left provincial taxpayers on the hook unnecessarily.
The Atlantic Institute for Market Studies hosted a panel discussion on Wednesday, February 11 at the World Trade and Convention Centre, which looked into issues that the OneNS commission identified and debated whether Nova Scotia’s economy was headed in the right direction. Panelist and AIMS board member Don Mills appeared on Global TV with AIMS President and CEO Marco Navarro-Genie to discuss the event.