in si de ha lto n. co m O ak vi lle B ea ve r | T hu rs da y, A ug us t 19 ,2 02 1 | 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 Director of Content Lee Ann Waterman 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 In the 2021-2022 fiscal year, the Town of Oakville will receive $12,057,092.88 from the Canada Commu- nity-Building Fund. Formerly known as the Gas Tax Fund, the Canada Community-Building Fund is a permanent, in- dexed fund provided di- rectly to municipalities, flowing through provinces and territories to support strategic infrastructure in- vestments. We typically use the fed- eral gas tax for road and storm water projects. This year, there are top-up funds that more than double the amount of money commu- nities across Ontario re- ceived in the previous fis- cal year. In 2021, we are using the funds for road resurfacing, bridge and culvert rehabil- itation and storm water projects, such as the Ma- plehurst Storm Sewer and the Munn's Creek work. We, at the municipal level, get to decide where our greatest needs are and use the money there with this fund. That is very helpful to municipalities, and it would be nice if more fund- ing was provided this way moving forward. As we finalize the 2022 capital budget, we will de- termine the best use of the additional $5.9 million re- ceived as a top-up to our an- nual allocation to carry our infrastructure projects that support the well-being of our residents and keep people and goods moving. We have just started our 2022 Budget process. Staff are currently pre- paring a proposed 2022 op- erating and capital budget in accordance with coun- cil's direction to keep the overall tax increase in line with inflation. In November, the budget committee will review the plans and make recom- mendations to council on the proposed budget to en- sure appropriate funds are allocated for program and service delivery. Public input is a critical part of our budget plan- ning process, and residents are encouraged to be en- gaged in the process. We appreciate our part- nership with the federal government, which pro- vides these types of initi- ates for the benefit of our residents and I look for- ward to continuing to work with Oakville North-Bur- lington MP Pam Damoff and Oakville MP Anita Anand on behalf of Oak- ville residents. Rob Burton is the May- or of Oakville. He can be reached at mayor@oak- ville.ca. BONUS FUNDS A BIG BOOST TO COMMUNITY MONEY WILL HELP KEEP BUDGET IN LINE WITH INFLATION, WRITES ROB BURTON A red-necked grebe adjusts its eggs in the Bronte area. Do you have a great local photo you'd like to share? Send it to sleblanc@metroland.com, along with a brief description. Marilyn Jarrett photo SNAPSHOT The natural flow to an investment conversation often starts with someone saying they made a deci- sion to buy a specific in- vestment. Happily, the investment appreciated in value. Their conclusion is, "I made a good decision." Not necessarily. The danger of that conclusion is they might continue making those types of deci- sions which, in fact, are poor decisions. For example, your child will start their post-sec- ondary education. In a few years, you have saved mon- ey in hope of them continu- ing with their studies. You hear of an excellent investment opportunity. So, you invest all the mon- ey in the one stock. A few years later, you sell it for three times what it cost. You had a good out- come, but the actual deci- sion was far from good. You gambled the finan- cial stability of your child's education on one stock. Stocks can go up and fortunately, the one you purchased did. But stocks also can go down. Plus, there was not am- ple diversification. Putting all your eggs in one basket for something so impor- tant as a child's education is not a good decision. A good decision is logi- cal and well-thought-out, based on information avail- able to you at that time. It is not just the investment out- come. 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 Investment Industry Regulatory Orga- nization of Canada. The opinions expressed are those of the author and not neces- sarily those of ACPI. Wat- son provides wealth man- agement services through Watson Investments. He can be reached at www.peter- watsoninvestments.com. DON'T JUDGE AN INVESTMENT DECISION BY THE OUTCOME A SUCCESSFUL INVESTMENT OUTCOME DOESN'T AUTOMATICALLY MEAN YOU MADE A GOOD DECISION, WRITES PETER WATSON PETER WATSON Column ROB BURTON Column SIGN UP FOR OUR WEEKLY NEWSLETTER AT INSIDEHALTON.COM