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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, Ju ne 17 ,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 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/OakvilleBeav @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 Businesses have be- come increasingly desper- ate during the ongoing pandemic. Many small businesses have exhausted their cash reserves and reached their debt limits. Governments will need to work alongside the busi- ness community to re- bound from the devastat- ing economic scarring of COVID-19. This means developing an economic recovery plan that focuses on major economic growth to un- lock economic capacity, fuel job creation and pro- mote new business invest- ment. Recently on the Oak- ville Chamber's Conversa- tions series, Perrin Beatty, president of the Canadian Chamber of Commerce (CCC), emphasized the chamber's eagerness to re- open our economy as quickly as possible once we get to a threshold of Cana- dians vaccinated. The CCC will encourage the government to develop a plan setting out clear and data-driven policies as well as a strategy to catch up, economically, and as a trad- ing nation, to the competi- tion. COVID has taught us costly, but important les- sons. This period of intense transformation has offered the opportunity to vault Canada to where we need to be, not back to where we were when the pandemic began. For example, we have adopted nearly a decade's worth of digital change in less than a year, dramati- cally changing the nature of work and how business- es reach and interact with customers. We will need to build on that transforma- tion. The only path to a sus- tainable long-term recov- ery will be through Cana- da's job creators and busi- ness investors. With our enormous national debt, we can't afford to be meek or tentative about address- ing Canada's lagging com- petitiveness. Long-term growth is closely tied to getting Can- ada's finances back under control as we begin to shift away from subsidies to eco- nomic growth. Budget initiatives on long-term competitiveness issues like interprovincial trade barriers, productivi- ty, and reducing the regula- tory burden in Canada will need to be a priority, as well as a focus on competing in the global economy. The Oakville Chamber looks forward to working with our federal partners as we move out of shut- downs toward a plan to help shape the recovery. Faye Lyons is the vice- president of government relations and advocacy for the Oakville Chamber of Commerce. She can be reached at faye@oakvil- lechamber.com. THE NEXT STEPS TO ECONOMIC RECOVERY PARTNERSHIPS VITAL TO REBOUNDING FROM THE TOLL OF COVID, WRITES FAYE LYONS The downside of invest- ing is the underlying risk. Losing money is diffi- cult to tolerate. There is a well-known strategy that can assist. Rebalancing your portfolio. Start by determining your expected rate of re- turn and the level of risk you are willing to accept. This is done by deciding your asset allocation. The expected return on stocks is higher than bonds but the volatility, uncertainty and potential for loss is greater. We will assume an in- vestor will invest in what is often referred to as a 60/40 -- 60 per cent stocks and 40 per cent bonds. Over time, these two as- sets will likely perform dif- ferently. Assume the stock market posted significant gains, which shifted the as- set allocation from 60/40 to 80/20. Now, the investor is too heavily weighted in stocks and outside their targeted level of risk and asset allo- cation. The solution is to rebalance. Rebalance to 60/40 by selling some stocks and buying some bonds. Rebalancing can be to your advantage during a declining market. After stock values have declined, you sell some bonds to buy more stocks. The stocks you pur- chase are trading at a dis- count. When stock values appreciate, you again will rebalance by selling stocks and buying bonds. Rebalancing is a good way to continually manage your investment risk. Peter Watson is regis- tered with Aligned Capital Partners Inc. (ACPI) to provide investment advice. Investment products are provided by ACPI. ACPI is a member of the Invest- ment Industry Regulatory Organization of Canada. The opinions expressed are those of the author and not necessarily those of ACPI. Watson provides wealth management services through Watson Invest- ments. He can be reached at www.watsoninvestment- s.com. MANAGING YOUR INVESTMENT RISK REBALANCING YOUR PORTFOLIO AN EFFECTIVE STRATEGY, WRITES PETER WATSON PETER WATSON Column A mother duck watches over her babies at Shell Park. Do you have a great local photo you'd like to share? Send it to sleblanc@metroland.com, along with brief description. Donna Sheppard photo SNAPSHOT FAYE LYONS Column SIGN UP FOR OUR WEEKLY NEWSLETTER AT INSIDEHALTON.COM