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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 9, 20 21 | 16 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 article is part of that project.When we decided to gauge which is- sues are front of mind in our communities as voters head to the polls on Sept. 20, we emailed a short federal elec- tion survey to hundreds of community leaders who vol- unteer on advisory councils across Torstar. Sixteen advisory coun- cils have been established at our weekly and daily newspapers in the past year to reaffirm our connection to our communities. These councils give community leaders an opportunity to discuss issues impacting their areas of expertise and give newsroom leaders a chance to consider how best to present these issues to readers. Advisory council mem- bers bring knowledge from a cross-section of roles, in- cluding diversity, govern- ment, health care, non- profit organizations and po- licing. From the outset, we rec- ognized the limitations of seeking feedback from a subset of people and doing so during summer holidays. The survey was sent to approximately 300 advisory council members -- exclud- ing federal and provincial politicians -- with 108 or ap- proximately one-third com- pleting it. Respondents were asked to place in order of impor- tance these 11 issues -- ac- cess to housing, jobs and economic health, climate change, Indigenous Truth and Reconciliation, mental health care, universal basic income, diversity with in- clusion, broadband access, combating the deliberate spread of misinformation, long-term care and the opioid crisis. Once we received the re- sults, a value was assigned to each answer with the No. 1 spot assigned 11 points, two assigned 10, etc. When add- ed together, it gave us a total for that issue. Housing came out on top with 941 points, followed by mental health (723), jobs and economic health (718), climate change (701), Indig- enous (671), diversity (639), long-term care (526), opioids (517), universal ba- sic income (514), broadband (504) and misinformation (430). When respondents were asked to select one issue for a robust national strategy with clear targets, objec- tives and delivery dates, ac- cess to housing took the top spot, followed by climate change, with jobs and eco- nomic health in third. Our survey results offer an interesting snapshot of what community leaders say should be on the minds of our federal parties. What issue is your top priority? Lori Martin is a deputy director of content at Tor- star. We welcome your questions and value your comments. Email our trust committee at trust@met- roland.com. HOUSING NAMED TOP PRIORITY IN SURVEY OPINION ACCESS TO HOUSING KEY ISSUE FOR COMMUNITY LEADERS, SAYS LORI MARTIN LORI MARTIN Column SIGN UP FOR OUR WEEKLY NEWSLETTER AT INSIDEHALTON.COM The Oakville Beaver values the opinions of its readers, and the communi- ty at large. With that said, we wel- come your letters to the ed- itor on all matters that im- pact area residents. We ask that letters be no more than 275 words, and include the full name and town of the writer. Your address and tele- phone number must also be included for verification purposes only. We do not publish anon- ymous letters. Letters will be edited or rejected for of- fensive content, factual er- rors, legal issues or space restrictions. Send your letters to insi- dehalton@metroland.com. SEND US YOUR LETTERS TO THE EDITOR CELL 905.399.9544 OFFICE 905.844.5000 wilma@wilmafournier.com wilmafournier.com Extremely cute - massive back yard! Very pretty well maintained home in West Oakville.This raised bungalow has 3/4 beds, 2 full baths, garage and massive landscaped backyard backing onto Donovan Bailey trail. Nestled onto one of West Oakville most prestigious streets, this home is full of charm. 2471 Yarmouth Crescent,Oakville $1,199,999 TOP 1% FOR CANADA OPEN HOUSE • Friday 5 tO 7 • SatUrday & SUNday 2 tO 4 (COvid PrOCEdUrES iN PlaCE) James Stanley,B.Comm (905) 464-2640 james@remaxaboutowne.com Sales Representative 198 Chalmers Street, Oakville Wow, come check out this Tuscany styled family home with the most unique property in the neighbourhood. Hard to believe you can find a property like this... bounded 3 sides by trails and parks! Total privacy! The home and property offer both character and design bringing incredible serenity into today's stressful world. OPEN HOUSE Sat & Sun 2-4