Fewer housing starts, reduced consumer spending, lower prices for commodities and lost jobs are all problems, but a new poll seems to indicate most Canadians think they won't last.

A new CBC poll conducted by Ekos Research suggests Canadians are not only optimistic the economy will improve, they believe the federal government will lead the way.

Fifty-nine per cent of those surveyed had some, or complete confidence that Ottawa would be able to lead Canada out of the recession.

Fifty-seven per cent thought the federal budget would be very effective or somewhat effective in stimulating the economy, and 62 per cent had some or complete confidence in the Bank of Canada’s recent economic forecast.

The governor of the bank, Mark Carney, surprised some analysts with a projection of 3.8 per cent growth for the Canadian economy in 2010.

But Carney believes that will only happen if the U.S. stimulus package actually works to pull the U.S. out of recession.

Most Canadians think he is about right with his predictions.

The Toronto Dominion Bank recently downgraded its projections for the coming years. It anticipates the Canadian economy would contract 1.4 per cent for 2009 and grow by 2.8 per cent in 2010.

Eckos conducted the poll between Feb.12-16, 2009, surveying 1,036 Canadians over the age of 18 who were selected randomly.

The survey is considered accurate with a margin of error of plus or minus 3.0 percentage points, 19 times out of 20.