3 · OAKVILLE BEAVER Wednesday, October 7, 2009 Oakville has `possibilities' Continued from page 1 However, there were also a few areas needing work, with D's assigned to some of the overall 11 major categories, like Gap Between Rich and Poor, Getting Around and Getting Started (D+). This is the second year the OCF has participated in Vital Signs. This year's report for Oakville is titled Possibilities. "We are showcasing the possibilities we have in Oakville," said June Cockwell, OCF board chair. "Oakville is an interesting town. It is a very rich area, but we have a lot of poverty that people don't know about. I think it is our job to highlight the assets and celebrate the good things about Oakville, as well draw attention to the things that are not as great." Grades are based on data collected from such places as the Town of Oakville, Halton Region and Statistics Canada, as well as from surveys filled out by approximately 500 community members and interviews with 100 residents. Rusty Baillie, OCF chair, said it is difficult to compare this year's Vital Signs report to last year's, due to the short time period between reports and the fact that there were different factors examined. He said some of the report's findings surprised him. "There were a few things that stand out, one being the extent of poverty in what is essentially a wealthy community. Also, that there was, over a five-year period, a 10-per-cent decrease in the number of people giving to charity and it is standing now at only 31 per cent. There is a tremendous Rusty Baillie juxtaposition of the need and the ability to give." This year, Arts and Culture received an overall grade of B. Library use, as circulations per capita, received a B, as the number of books, CDs and DVDs per capita in the Oakville Public Library System was 12.41, which was a 9.3 per cent decrease in circulations per capita in 2005. Five-year-olds participating in arts programs (B) dropped from 45 per cent in 2003 to 41 per cent in 2006. Attendance at Oakville Galleries (B) rose 0.3 per cent from 2007. Belonging and Leadership also received a B. The report gave an A to five-year growth in youths, as the number of youths aged 13 to 19 increased by 23 per cent between 2001 and 2006. The change in proportion of visible minorities was assigned a B, with 18 per cent of Oakville's population consisting of visible minorities in 2006. The largest minority groups are South Asian and Chinese. This section also showed that in 2007, 31.2 per cent of Oakville's tax filers reported giving charitable donations, a drop of 9.6 per cent since 2000. Oakville's Environment earned C+. Trails per capita (A) shone in this category, with the suspended sediment concentration (B) in 16 Mile Creek decreasing 15.3 per cent between 2006 and 2007. Chloride levels (D), however, in that same body of water increased 57 per cent to 157mg/L -- still below Ontario's guideline of 250 mg/L. Gap Between the Rich and the Poor was one of the lowestscoring categories for the town, with an overall D and D's across all subsections. The report shows in 2006, 10 per cent of Oakville's lowest income residents made $28,400 or less, with 10 per cent of the highest income residents bringing in $259,400. This is the third highest gap between the rich and poor among 16 Canadian communities taking part in Vital Signs, after Toronto and Vancouver. The report also showed 9.4 per cent of Oakville seniors lived below the poverty line in 2006. That same year, it is reported that 13.7 per cent of Oakville immigrants lived below the poverty line, compared to 9.7 per cent of the total population. Getting Around also earned an overall D and straight D's in its subsections. 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