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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, S ep te m be r 16 ,2 02 1 | 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 of more than 70 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 newspaper 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/OakvilleBeav @OakvilleBeaver WHO WE ARE VP, Regional Publisher Kelly Montague Director of Content Lee Ann Waterman 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 A mute swan takes a dip at Bronte Harbour. Do you have a great local photo you'd like to share? Send it to sleblanc@metroland.com, along with a brief description. Amanda Hunt photo SNAPSHOT It's about trust. Our rela- tionship with our readers is built on transparency, hon- esty and integrity. As such, we have launched a trust initiative to tell you who we are and how and why we do what we do. This column is part of that project. Monday's federal elec- tion will happen during unprecedented times -- and that might mean some- thing else will be out of the ordinary when you open your paper next Thursday. Traditionally, in the first edition after a Mon- day election we publish the local riding results in the form of an analysis story (since the paper comes out three days after the elec- tion and the winners are al- ready widely known). However, this year, due to mail-in ballots, we may not know who the winners are by our press deadline on Tuesday. If that turns out to be the case, rest assured, all the fi- nal results as you elect the Halton members of the House of Commons to the 44th Canadian Parliament will be posted on our web- site, InsideHalton.com, as soon as they are available. Here is what we know about the counting of mail-in ballots, according to the Elections Canada website. • Returning officers can start counting mail-in bal- lots on election night as soon as they have complet- ed the required verifica- tions. • Verifications may take up to 24 hours. Depending on the volume of mail-in ballots received, returning officers may need several days after election day to finish the count. While we'll have boots on the ground covering the race as the results come in, it remains to be seen if we can call the winner of your riding on election night and publish the details in print next Thursday. It de- pends on the preliminary voting results and how many mail-in ballots are received and/or counted. Please know we will work as quickly as possible to get the information to you, both online and in print. We welcome your ques- tions and value your com- ments. Email our trust com- mittee at trust@metro- land.com. Karen Miceli is manag- ing editor of Metroland's four community newspa- pers in Halton -- the Oak- ville Beaver, Burlington Post, Milton Canadian Champion and George- town/Acton Independent and Free Press. She can be reached at 289-293-0616. WHERE ARE THE ELECTION RESULTS? YOU MIGHT NOT SEE ELECTION RESULTS IN THE PAPER NEXT WEEK, WRITES KAREN MICELI PETER WATSON Column There is a popular ex- pression used in carpentry work -- measure twice and cut once. This is just another way of saying be careful not to make a mistake. Making a mistake with your investments can be ex- pensive. A useful strategy when investing is to follow the measure-twice-cut-once idea. Develop an investment policy statement before making investment deci- sions. Plan what you want to do. Then implement that plan. There are three common mistakes that are easily made when investing with- out the foundation of an in- vestment policy statement. One: Assuming too much risk. You fall in love with one investment and consequent- ly your portfolio does not have the diversification nec- essary to manage risk. This happens often. Two: Not taking enough risk. Stocks can lose value, but investing too much in bonds will likely not provide you with a high enough re- turn. Usually, the motivation for being too risk-averse is the fear of normal stock mar- ket volatility. Volatility is a normal characteristic of long-term investing in stocks. Three: Avoiding making investment decisions. With- out the context of some sort of road map for investing, it can be an easy mistake to procrastinate and just avoid making investment deci- sions. Our recommendation: Make investing a two-part process. First develop an invest- ment policy statement. Then invest. Peter Watson is registered with Aligned Capital Part- ners Inc. (ACPI) to provide investment advice. Invest- ment products are provided by ACPI. ACPI is a member of the Investment Industry Regulatory Organization of Canada. The opinions ex- pressed are those of the author and not necessarily those of ACPI. Watson pro- vides wealth management services through Watson Investments. He can be reached at www.watsonin- vestments.com. INVESTING: MEASURE TWICE AND CUT ONCE INVESTMENT POLICY STATEMENT HELPS REDUCE COMMON MISTAKES, WRITES PETER WATSON KAREN MICELI Column SIGN UP FOR OUR WEEKLY NEWSLETTER AT INSIDEHALTON.COM