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~ 1B OPINION Milton Canadian Champion | Thursday, September 26, 2019 | » : ! 1B EDITORIAL MUNICIPAL REFORM STUDY SHOULD BE MADE PUBLIC Well, this doesn't sound good. Earlier this year, the prov- ince appointed a team to study the way Halton and seven other regions around Ontario are governed. It's still ongo- ing and not expected to be completed until later this fall. Locally, it could end with municipal maps being re- drawn. Halton might or might not retain its regional gov- ernment, and the four local municipalities could be amal- gamated in some way to end up with a smaller number. Or not. It's all in the mix, we are told. However, a report published last week by our sister paper The Brampton Guardian says the studies' results might never be made public. For Queen's Park to impose charfges on Halton without revealing the findings from the months of study would be absolutely wrong. Brampton Mayor Patrick Brown - a former leader of the Progressive Conservative party now led by Premier Doug Ford - and Peel regional Coun. Michael Palleschi say they got the word straight from Steve Clark, Ontario's minister of municipal affairs and housing. Palleschi provided the newspaper with a video clip from last month's Association of Municipalities of Ontario con- vention. In it, Clark is asked whether the findings of the study would be released publicly before or after the provincial cabinet chooses what to do. "I want to take my time. The recommendations will be presented as confidential advice to cabinet," Clark says on the recording. "I'm going to take my time, as I've said many times in the past, to review it with my cabinet colleagues." As Clark describes it, this sounds like absolutely the wrong way to go. Leaders of the studies - former deputy minister Michael Fenn and ex-Waterloo Region chairman Ken Seiling, both highly respected in municipal affairs - toured the province, hearing comments from the public and local peliticians.s, The proper way to go about this is to allow Fenn and Seiling to have time to put together a full, fair report. Don't rush. But in the end, it needs to be made public before cabinet decides what to do. df it's presented first as a cabinet document, though, it might never see the light of day as a matter of cabinet confidentiality. It's unclear what part of its contents would need to be protected from public viewing. But surely if there are some, those could be redacted while the rest of the report is released. It's our right to see the results of a study we paid for and were invited to take part in. We might not like the out- come, but if it is fair and well thought out, we can live with * What we can't accept is our community being rein- vented via decisions imposed on us from behind locked doors. TO LEARN HOW TO SUBMIT YOUR OWN CONTENT VISIT INSIDEHALTON.COM ABOUT US SNAPSHOT Adrian Miller photo A young swallow prepares to take flight in Campbellville, Got a great local photo'you'd like to share? Send it to sleblanc@metroland.com. E THE IMPORTANCE OF MONEY CONVERSATIONS COMMUNICATION THE "KEY. WRITES PETER WATSON PETER WATSON Column Do you find it difficult to talk about money? If so, you are not alone. Research by Wells Far- go found that 44 per cent of Americans consider per- sonal finance the most challenging topic to dis- cuss. That seems strange when there are so many other difficult subjects, such as politics and reli- gion. Financial issues are es- sential to our lives. Finan- cial decisions are how we allocate wealth to provide a desired standard of liv- ing. So, talking about fi- nance isn't just money, it's about our lives. Why is something that about affects entire lives such a sensitive subject? Time magazine report- ed that 40 per cent of cou- ples do not discuss money issues before getting mar- ried. Marriage is often about shared values. Without a constructive conversation about values and how to prioritize major decisions in my opinion - that union doesn't' have a strong foundation. If lack of communica- tion on money issues is the problem then the solu- tion is to start having fi- nancial conversations. Friends and family can be a good starting point. According to Scientific American, a study done in 2009 found adults are less likely to have financial 'problems, such as high debt and impulsive spend- ing, if they were raised in a household that spoke freely about financial is- sues. Money conversations can have a positive effect when attempting to save. According to a 2011 study, Under-Savers Anony- mous, those who publicly declared their savings goal, and monitored it weekly, saved almost four times more than the gen- eral population. One possible justifica- tion of not discussing fi- nancial issues with your spouse is that one of you doesn't have any interest or ability in this area. A study by Bateman and Munro, "An Experiment on Risky Choice Amongst _Households," found that »couples who discussed fi- nance together were less likely to have financial risks. Discussions about money are important and can lead to positive finan- cial outcomes. I encour- age everyone to open up and talk about their finan- cial issues. Peter Watson, of Peter Watson Investments MBA, CFP® RFP, CIM®, FCSI offers a weekly fi nancial planning column, Dollars & Sense. He can be contacted through ww. peterwatsontnvest ments.com. ~ ~~ 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 80 community publications across Ontario. This newspaper is a member of the National NewsMedia Council. Complainants are urged to bring their concems to the attention of the news- paper and, if not satisfied, write The National News Media Council, Suite 200, 890 Yonge St., Toronto, ON M4W 2H2. Phone: 416-340-1981 Web: www.mediacouncil.ca nnNc jocna Nations ia Council editor@miltoncanadianchampion.com MiltonCanadianChampion @Milton_Champion WHO WE ARE VP, Regional Publisher Kelly Montague Regional Managing Editor Catherine O'Hara Managing Editor Karen Miceli Director Distribution Charlene Hall Circulation Manager Kim Mossman Director of Production " Mark Dills Regional Production Manager Manny Garcia Regional General Manager Steve Foreman Halton Media General Manager Vicki Dillane Regional Director of Media Holly Chriss CONTACT US Milton Canadian Champion 901 Guelph Line Burlington, ON L7R 3N8 Phone: 289-293-0615 Classifieds: 1-800-263-6480 Digital/Flyer/ Retail: 289-293-0624 Letters to the editor ~ All letters must be fewer than 320 words and include your narhe and telephone number for verification purposes. We reserve the right to edit, condense or reject letters. 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