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www.insideHALTON.com | OAKVILLE BEAVER | Friday, October 14, 2016 | 6 T Poverty is here Editorial "Connected to your Community" his is where it starts: sometime this month -- or maybe next -- a mid-size company in the GTA is pushed to outsource a department to stay viable. A person loses a job. At rst, he nds freelance work, then temporary manual labour gigs. Then, nothing. A single parent, he looks at starting his own business, but that would require an infusion of cash. Or retraining, but that, too, would cost money, and leave the household without an income for an extended period of time. The rst things to go are the luxuries -- TV packages, smartphones, music lessons. The SUV is traded in for a used compact car. Next come some harder choices -- running the washing machine less often to save on hydro and water, fewer trips to the grocery store supplemented with items from the local food bank. One day -- and then the next -- both kids go to school without breakfast. These are the faces of child poverty in our communities. In a four-part Metroland special investigative series, reporters from community papers across southern Ontario examine the issue of child poverty, which may at rst blush not be visible in af uent areas such as Oakville. They present research that says more than 370,000 Ontario children (or 13.8 per cent) lived in a low-income household in 2013, only slightly better than the national average of 14.3 per cent. They also found that more than 800,000 students take part in more than 4,000 school meal programs across the province. Included in the articles are interviews with educators, food bank workers and politicians. The series has been running in our Thursday edition. Its nal segment is next week (or visit oakvillebeaver.com to read them all). Food banks and breakfast programs are busy in Oakville. And we have no idea how many don't seek out assistance because of the stigma attached to poverty. Certainly, initiatives such as the recent changes to the Child Tax Bene t program will help address the problem. As well, accurate, detailed information garnered through the recently restored long-form Census will aid in creating a focused poverty plan. But it could be years before such strategies bear fruit. Other avenues that need to be explored include economic development initiatives that focus on maintaining -- and creating -- local jobs, investments in training and seeking out ways to help Ontario Works clients secure meaningful employment without worrying about clawbacks to bene ts. Most of all, students need to learn life skills and strategies that will help put them on a path to a successful future. The Oakville Community Foundation (OCF), which measured needs in Oakville in its Vital Signs report last year, will present action that's taken place in its Vital Solutions report Tuesday (Oct. 18). See today's story on p.8. We look forward to the report and its advice. Make no mistake: child poverty is family poverty, and it is a cycle we need to break. We all have a part to play. Let's get to it. The Oakville Beaver welcomes letters from its readers. Letters will be edited for clarity, length, legal considerations and grammar. In order to be published all letters must contain the name, address and phone number of the author. Letters should be addressed to: The Editor, Oakville Beaver, 5046 Mainway, Unit 2, Burlington ON L7L 5Z1 or via email to ablackburn@ oakvillebeaver.com. The Beaver reserves the right to refuse to publish a letter. 5046 Mainway, Unit 2, Burlington ON L7L 5Z1 General Inquiries: (905) 845-3824 Classi ed Advertising: (905) 632-4440 Circulation: 5300 Harvester Rd., Burlington (905) 631-6095 Volume 54 | Number 83 The Oakville Beaver is a division of Editorial and advertising content of the Oakville Beaver is protected by copyright. Unauthorized use is prohibited. Vice ­President and Group Publisher of Metroland West Regional General Manager Advertising Director NEIL OLIVER KELLY MONTAGUE DANIEL BAIRD Managing Editor ANGELA BLACKBURN RIZIERO VERTOLLI Photography Director Business Manager LORI ANN GZOVDANOVIC Director of Production MARK DILLS MANUEL GARCIA Production Manager Director of Distribution CHARLENE HALL KIM MOSSMAN Circulation Manager Letters to the Editor Proud Official Media Sponsor For: Canadian Circulations Audit Board Member Thanks, Oakville, from SuperWalk team The Oakville community once again demonstrated its heart, commitment and generosity by turning up in the rain Sept. 10, to raise funds to ght Parkinson's disease as RioCan Oakville Place hosted the third annual Oakville Parkinson SuperWalk. On behalf of the Planning Committee, I want to thank all of the walkers and volunteers and announce that through their efforts, almost $20,000 was raised to provide support services, education and advocacy for people affected by Parkinson's and for Parkinson's research into improving treatments and nding a cure. We would like to acknowledge the outstanding support provided by the business community of Oakville, which include RioCan Oakville Place, Subway, David Roberts Foods, Iovate, Sobeys Glen Abbey, Delmanor, and Film.Ca. We also want to thank John Oliver, MP for Oakville, and former president and CEO of Halton Healthcare Services, who came out on the day to support and kick off the event. People who were not able to be at the SuperWalk were still able to donate online at www. parkinsonsuperwalk.ca. Many thanks, Oakville. Nicole Medcalf, Oakville Parkinson SuperWalk co-ordinator Recognized for Excellence by Ontario Community Newspapers Association Canadian Community Newspapers Association Proud Official Media Sponsor For: The Oakville Beaver is a member of the Ontario Press Council. The council is located at 80 Gould St., Suite 206, Toronto, Ont., M5B 2M7. Phone 416-340-1981. Advertising is accepted on the condition that, in the event of a typographical error, that portion of advertising space occupied by the erroneous item, together with a reasonable allowance for signature, will not be charged for, but the balance of the advertisement will be paid for at the applicable rate. The publisher reserves the right to categorize advertisements or decline. Pud by Steve Nease · LEGO · art · PAINT · New LEGO® Make & Take · Star Wars · Minecraft · Pokemon birthday parties 905-825-9994 - 461 N. Service Rd. W Oakville specklesartstudio.com