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in si de ha lto n. co m O ak vi lle B ea ve r | T hu rs da y, M ay 28 ,2 02 0 | 6 ABOUT US This newspaper, published every Thursday, is a division of the Metroland Media Group Ltd., a wholly-owned subsidiary of Torstar Corporation. The Metroland family of newspapers is comprised family of newspapers is comprised f of more than 80 community publications across Ontario. This newspaper is a member of the National NewsMedia Council. Complainants are urged to bring their concerns to the attention of the news- paper and, if not satisfied, write The National NewsMedia Council, Suite 200, 890 Yonge St., Toronto, ON M4W 2H2. Phone: 416-340-1981 Web: www.mediacouncil.ca insidehalton@metroland.com facebook.com/OakvilleBeavfacebook.com/OakvilleBeavf @OakvilleBeaver WHO WE ARE VP, Regional Publisher Kelly Montague Regional General Manager Jason Pehora Regional Managing Editor Catherine O'Hara Managing Editor Karen Miceli Director of Distribution Charlene Hall Circulation Manager Kim Mossman Director of Production Mark Dills Regional Production Manager Manny Garcia Directors of Advertising Cindi Campbell and Ryan Maraj CONTACT US Oakville Beaver 901 Guelph Line Burlington, ON L7R 3N8 Phone: 905-845-3824 Classifieds: 1-800-263-6480 Advertising: 289-293-0620 Delivery For all delivery inquiries, please e-mail kmossman@metroland.com or call 905-631-6095. Letters to the editor Send letters to insidehalton@metroland.com. All letters must be fewer than 320 words and include your name and telephone number for verification purposes. We reserve the right to edit, condense or reject letters. Published letters will appear in print and/or online at insidehalton.com OPINION TO LEARN HOW TO SUBMIT YOUR OWN CONTENT VISIT INSIDEHALTON.COM Our government has an- nounced a wide range of critical supports for Cana- dians during the COVID-19 crisis, all aimed at keeping businesses afloat, workers employed, families fed and our communities safe. We are working hard to make sure that those who need help the most, get it. Many students were counting on jobs this sum- mer to help them pay for school in the fall. Unfortu- nately, many of those jobs have disappeared or been put on hold. Students and recent graduates can now apply for the Canada Emergency Student Benefit (CESB). Students should set up a MyAccount on the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) website before applying for the CESB to make the next steps go even quicker. The CESB provides $1,250 per month to stu- dents who qualify, or $2,000 per month for eligible stu- dents with dependents or disabilities. The Canada Summer Jobs program is now open, offering thousands of jobs for young Canadians aged 15-30 across the country. New job postings are added as they are approved for funding, so check back often as jobs are being post- ed daily. Visit jobbank.gc- .ca to see available jobs. We have also introduced significant new measures to provide seniors with greater financial security during this crisis. Our gov- ernment announced $2.5 billion to provide funds to seniors to help with any ad- ditional costs associated with COVID-19, like in- creased dispensing fees and food delivery. Seniors currently receiving Old Age Security (OAS) will get an additional $300 and those who are eligible for the Guaranteed Income Supplement (GIS) will re- ceive an extra $200. These are one-time pay- ments calculated on in- creased costs for seniors similar to the increase in the Canada Child Benefit (CCB) for families. That means if you are receiving both OAS and GIS, you will get a total of an additional $500 tax-free to help you. If you are already receiving OAS or GIS, you will auto- matically get this one-time increase without having to apply for it. Our government is working hard to ensure comprehensive supports are in place to help all Ca- nadians weather the CO- VID-19 crisis. Pam Damoff is the member of Parliament for Oakville North-Burlington She can be reached at Pam.damoff@parl.gc.ca or www.mpdamoff.ca. HELPING CANADIANS WEATHER THE STORM FINANCIAL SUPPORT SERVICES IN PLACE TO HELP EVERYONE GET THROUGH THE PANDEMIC, WRITES PAM DAMOFF When supporting peo- ple who are struggling, we are often more likely to tell, not ask. Wanting to be helpful, we may think that we are just making it easy for oth- ers when we tell them what to do or who to call. But when we do that, we make many assumptions: what others are comfort- able with, what will work for them, and -- most basi- cally -- that they even want help. If we're off in what we're assuming, others may feel disrespected or bossed around and just end the conversation. So, what can we do to ask, not tell, and involve others in supportive con- versations? Here are some tips to consider: • If someone appears to be in distress, ask if they would like to talk -- some- thing like "I've noticed that you seem down lately. Is there something you'd like to talk about?" This gives the person a choice to share or pass if they aren't willing or ready. • Ask permission before talking about next steps or sharing an experience. We may be so eager to help that we jump in with a solution or talk about a time we went through the same thing, which can make someone feel like their ex- perience and perspective don't matter. • Ask what they have tried, or what they feel would be helpful. Don't as- sume that you have all the answers or they haven't thought of ideas for moving forward. • If you do have an idea of something that might be helpful, use questions to see how the person feels about it. Instead of "You need to call your doctor," try "Have you thought about talking to your doc- tor about this?" In short, having all the answers should not be our focus -- helping people find their own answers should. Melanie McGregor is the communications and advancement specialist at the Canadian Mental Health Association Halton Region Branch, which provides mental health/ addiction community sup- port and education. Visit www.halton.cmha.ca for more information and follow @cmhahalton on Twitter. ASK, DON'T TELL DON'T ASSUME YOU HAVE ALL THE ANSWERS WHEN TRYING TO HELP SOMEONE IN NEED, WRITES MELANIE MCGREGOR SNAPSHOT A downy woodpecker visits the Glen Abbey area. Do you have a great local photo you'd like to share? Send it to sleblanc@metroland.com, along with a brief description. Donna Sheppard photo PAM DAMOFF Column SIGN UP FOR OUR WEEKLY NEWSLETTER AT INSIDEHALTON.COM MELANIE MCGREGOR Column