in si de ha lto n. co m O ak vi lle B ea ve r | T hu rs da y, N ov em be r 26 ,2 02 0 | 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 Since the beginning of the pandemic, our govern- ment has invested billions of dollars in supports for provinces and territories across Canada. We know municipali- ties need help. Along with my colleagues, I have been advocating for additional funding to support Bur- lington and Oakville. Our government creat- ed a $19-billion Safe Restart Agreement to help people get back to work safely, and prepare for a second CO- VID-19 wave focused on seven priority areas like increasing testing and con- tact tracing, securing more personal protective equip- ment, and more support for the most vulnerable, in- cluding seniors in long- term care facilities and nursing homes. The Safe Restart Agree- ment allocated specific funding of up to $2 billion to help municipalities with COVID-19 operating costs and managing public spac- es and critical services. Ontario received over $5 billion in federal dollars, including $1 billion in tran- sit funding. COVID-19 forced many workplaces to change the way they do business. Some Canadians lost jobs or saw their work hours re- duced. To tackle these chal- lenges, Canadians need ac- cess to training and em- ployment supports to de- velop new skills and find good jobs. Our government invested $1.5 billion through the Workforce De- velopment Agreements to help Canadians quickly ac- cess supports to re-enter the workforce. We also created the CO- VID-19 Resilience Infra- structure Stream to allow provinces and territories to transfer up to 10 per cent of their total investment in Canada Infrastructure Program funding to cover projects that will get our communities back on their feet. The federal government covers 80 per cent of the costs of this program. To- gether, Oakville and Bur- lington are eligible for $3.1 million to support econom- ic stability in our commu- nities and fund programs like retrofits, repairs and upgrades to health infra- structure and schools, im- proving businesses' sup- ports for physical distanc- ing, improving active transportation infrastruc- ture and disaster mitiga- tion infrastructure. Our government contin- ues to support communi- ties and Canadians through the pandemic to ensure we are resilient and ready to get back to busi- ness. Pam Damoff is the MP for Oakville North-Bur- lington and parliamentary secretary to the Minister of Indigenous Services. She can be reached at Pam.da- moff@parl.gc.ca or www.mpdamoff.ca. HELPING ENSURE A SAFE RESTART AGREEMENT SETS OUT PRIORITIES TO HELP CANADIANS THROUGH COVID-19'S SECOND WAVE, WRITES PAM DAMOFF Investing in FAANG stocks produced extraordi- narily high returns during the last decade. A return was expected; the extraor- dinary high return was un- expected. Over the last decade FAANG stocks did excep- tionally well. FAANG repre- sents Facebook, Amazon, Apple, Netflix and Google's parent company, Alphabet. If you owned those five stocks in proportion to their market capitaliza- tion, the average annual re- turn would have been 34 per cent for the 10 years ending Aug. 2020. This in- formation was provided by Prof. Kenneth French. Investors of FAANG stocks expected a return. The extraordinarily high return of 34 per cent was unexpected. Otherwise, ev- eryone you know would have bought those stocks, while no owner of those stocks during that decade would want to sell. Will the FAANG stocks perform that well in the fu- ture? If everyone thought that, then there would be very few sellers and there- fore it would be virtually impossible for you to buy those stocks. The decision-making process for buying and sell- ing investments is no dif- ferent than most other de- cisions you make in your life. You have a specific ob- jective, you weigh the facts, and then make a decision. Second guess your deci- sion all you want. A correct decision is based on your understanding of the pros and cons at the time you made the decision. You do not have the lux- ury of knowing what unex- pected events might occur in the future and how those events might affect your in- vesting outcome. You control the infor- mation you have when an investment decision is made. Peter Watson, MBA, CFP®, R.F.P., CIM®, FCSI, of Watson Invest- ments offers a weekly fi- nancial planning column, 'Dollars & Sense'. He can be contacted through www.watsoninvestment- s.com. FUNDAMENTALS OF INVESTING LOGICAL INVESTMENT RETURNS BASED ON EXPECTED AND UNEXPECTED FACTORS, WRITES PETER WATSON PETER WATSONColumn A mink looks for its next meal at Arkendo Park in Joshua Creek. Do you have a great local photo you'd like to share? Send it to sleblanc@metroland.com, along with a brief description. Andrew Parkin photo SNAPSHOT PAM DAMOFF Column