The following text may have been generated by Optical Character Recognition, with varying degrees of accuracy. Reader beware!

in si de ha lto n. co m O ak vi lle B ea ve r | T hu rs da y, A pr il 28 ,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 Director Creative Services Katherine Porcheron 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 raccoon searches for food in a backyard in the Bronte Road and Richview Boulevard area. Do you have a great local photo you'd like to share? Send it to sleblanc@metroland.com, along with a brief description. Umit Tiric 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. The last couple of years have taken a toll on nearly every aspect of life as we know it. Through our coverage, we've tried to document the many ways in which our community has been af- fected. Last year, we also embarked on a journey to check in with members of our community in a much more intentional and spe- cific way. I've written be- fore about the 16 communi- ty advisory councils formed by Torstar that saw our editorial leadership teams across the province meet with community rep- resentatives. In those council meet- ings that engaged nearly 400 community leaders across the province throughout 2021, a specific concern was heard: local charities and non-profits are in need of support. To address the growing need, Torstar has launched a special program to pro- vide local charities and non-profits with $2,022,000 in free advertising in the next calendar year. You may have seen the ads in our publications. "This is a massive un- dertaking and commit- ment for us, but we heard from every advisory coun- cil the challenge that small- and medium-size charities have in reaching the people who need their services. We're hoping to help change that," Jordan Bitove, co-owner of Torstar and publisher of the Toron- to Star, shared in a newslet- ter to community advisory members. Local organizations are encouraged to apply for funds by sending an email to TorstarGivesBack@tor- star.com, indicating in which newspaper(s) they would like promotion. Ap- plications will be re- viewed, and once a selected organization has been ap- proved, they will be allot- ted a nominal budget and will work directly with the advertising department to book ads. This is an exciting pro- gram that we believe will make a difference in our communities. We welcome your ques- tions and value your com- ments. Email our trust committee at trust@met- roland.com. Karen Miceli is manag- ing editor of Metroland's community newspapers in Halton. She can be reached at kmiceli@metro- land.com. WE'RE SUPPORTING OUR COMMUNITY CHARITIES IN 2022 LET US KNOW IF WE CAN HELP, WRITES KAREN MICELI KAREN MICELI Column PETER WATSON Column We can learn a lot about the emotional side effects of the real estate market by connecting the dots be- tween real estate and per- sonal finances. Many people are new to home ownership, the same way some investors are rel- atively new to investing significant amounts. Those investment funds may have originated from an employ- ment severance pay or an inheritance. Suddenly these people have a large investment portfolio, similar to the way a new homeowner sud- denly owns an asset valued at significantly more than they could have imagined only a few years ago. My observation is rela- tively that new investors who have significant assets are much more aware -- and often nervous -- about their investments, particu- larly when the market is volatile. It is normal after some- one makes a large pur- chase to have post pur- chase doubt. The two main risks, from a financial perspec- tive, of home ownership have been highlighted in the news. The Bank of Canada has warned us that interest rates will increase due to the need to control infla- tion. Rising interest rates have already occurred, and will likely continue. At some point, mortgag- es come due and have to be renegotiated at the current interest rate. If you think mortgage payments are daunting now, imagine what they will be in several years. Recently, the Ontario government announced plans to stimulate new house construction. The new supply could have a downward pressure on prices. New homeowners have two potential areas of con- cern. Rising interest rates and the value of their house. Peter Watson, of Watson Investments MBA, CFP®, R.F.P., CIM®, FCSI offers a weekly financial plan- ning column, Dollars & Sense. He can be contacted through www.watsonin- vestments.com. FINANCIAL STRESS FOR FIRST TIME HOMEOWNERS SIGN UP FOR OUR WEEKLY NEWSLETTER AT INSIDEHALTON.COM