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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, F eb ru ar y 10 ,2 02 2 | 8 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 Regional General Manager Jason Pehora Director of Content Lee Ann Waterman Regional Managing Editor Catherine O'Hara Managing Editor Karen Miceli Director of Distribution Charlene Hall Circulation Manager Kim Mossman Directors of Advertising Cindi Campbell and Graeme MacIntosh 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 As we reach the two- year mark of the pandem- ic, I would like to thank all Halton residents for your patience, kindness and commitment to fol- lowing public health measures as we continue to respond to COVID-19. Our Halton Region team has continued to work around the clock to deliver essential services and provide public health response and guidance for residents. Halton Region Public Health and our local health-care partners have made an incredible effort to roll out vaccines and help residents get vaccinated as quickly as possible over the past year. Our health-care pro- fessionals have shown an incredible amount of re- siliency and dedication throughout the pandem- ic to provide high quality care and protect our com- munity. I would like to thank every one of you for the work you do every day. The past two years have been a challenging time for all of us. I'd like to remind you that Hal- ton Region has support to help you and your family get through the pandem- ic. Visit halton.ca to learn about available supports, including: • support with finding meaningful employment; • financial, social and community supports; • information on how to access local mental health resources and ser- vices; and • resources and sup- ports to assist business owners. As the situation con- tinues to change, please remember to get COVID information from reli- able sources: • For information about vaccines, includ- ing where to get vaccinat- ed in Halton, vaccine safety, frequently asked questions and more, visit halton.ca/COVIDvac- cines. • For up-to-date CO- VID-19 information, in- cluding what to do if you test positive, have symp- toms or have been ex- posed, please visit hal- ton.ca/COVID19 or onta- rio.ca/exposed. Thank you for con- tinuing to do your part to protect our community by following public health measures and get- ting vaccinated. Our col- lective actions to slow the spread of COVID-19 and protect each other will ensure Halton re- mains a great place to live, work, raise a family and retire. Gary Carr is the re- gional chair of Halton Region. To contact him, email gary.carr@hal- ton.ca. SUPPORTS IN PLACE FOR ALL HALTON RESIDENTS THANKS TO ALL FOR YOUR EFFORTS IN FIGHTING COVID, WRITES GARY CARR The Bank of Canada continues to sound the alarm that higher interest rates are just around the corner. There are two signifi- cant reasons why. One. Inflation, as mea- sured by the consumer price index, had an annu- al increase of 4.8 per cent in December. This is the highest level in three de- cades. The target inflation rate is between one and three per cent. Two. Real estate prices continue to soar. Houses in Canada has appreciated 43 per cent in the last two years. It's time for the Bank of Canada to do its job, and that is to slow down eco- nomic activity and return to a more stable and sus- tainable growth rate. This will happen, and the focus of our attention will immediately shift to the many who are overex- tended and find higher in- terest rates unaffordable. This is necessary for the economy, but painful for many individuals. The next scheduled date that interest rates could change is March 2. The consensus is that there will be several rate increases over a short pe- riod of time. Our suggestion is to spend a little time looking at your personal finances. Can your cash flow ab- sorb higher interest rates? What changes will you have to make when inter- est rates rise? Interest rates will rise. The time to address this reality is now. Peter Watson is regis- tered with Aligned Cap- ital Partners Inc. (ACPI) to provide investment advice. Investment prod- ucts are provided by AC- PI. ACPI is a member of the Investment Industry Regulatory Organization of Canada. The opinions expressed are those of the author and not necessari- ly those of ACPI. Watson provides wealth manage- ment services through Watson Investments. He can be reached at www.watsoninvestment- s.com. RISING INTEREST RATES AHEAD TIME TO ADDRESS THIS REALITY IS NOW, WRITES PETER WATSON A picturesque sky hangs over Bronte Heritage Waterfront Park. Do you have a great local photo you'd like to share? Send it to sleblanc@metroland.com, along with a brief description. David McCleary photo SNAPSHOT GARY CARR Column PETER WATSON Column