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7 | O akville B eaver | T hursday,January 13,2022 insidehalton.com A FINANCIAL PORTRAIT THAT REFLECTS WHO YOU ARE AND WHAT YOU VALUE Your wealth and aspirations are unique and require a personalized approach. At CIBC Private Wealth, we take a comprehensive approach to managing, building and protecting your wealth. Call me to find out how we can work together to achieve your wealth aspirations. CIBC PrivateWealth consists of services provided by CIBC and certain of its subsidiaries, including CIBCWood Gundy, a division of CIBC World Markets Inc. The CIBC logo and "CIBC Private Wealth" are trademarks of CIBC, used under license. "Wood Gundy" is a registered trademark of CIBCWorldMarkets Inc. E. Jeanette Power, EPC Senior Wealth Advisor The Power Investment Team Mississauga Office 905 804-2240 #CanadaTopAdvisors With the year coming to a close, councillors are re- flecting on their accom- plishments and ongoing projects of 2021. The Oakville Beaver asked councillors, and the mayor, about what they wished had turned out dif- ferently in 2021 and what they hope for in 2022. Here is what they said: MAYOR ROB BURTON The mayor would like to "help people get comfort- able with getting vaccinat- ed." "I want everyone to keep well, stay safe and enjoy our future together." In his State of the Town address in October, Burton called vaccines "lifesavers" and said "they help us stay alive." Council unani- mously voted in September to mandate vaccines for municipal workers. That move received pushback from two municipal work- ers unions. A group of citizens pro- tested vaccine mandates as well in front of Town Hall later that same month. COUNCILLORS SEAN O'MEARA AND BETH ROB- ERTSON The Ward 1 councillors feel like "there is nothing we feel we didn't accom- plish that we wanted to," given the pandemic and the inability to host communi- ty events. The exception being the "opportunity to bring residents together." They "miss the opportu- nities to personally con- nect with residents. It is the best part of the job!" COUNCILLORS JEFF KNOLL AND MARC GRANT Ward 5 Councillor Jeff Knoll had a similar answer to that of O'Meara and Rob- ertson. He feels that virtual meetings created a discon- nect between him, staff and the public. "One of my favourite aspects of being a councillor is attending and organizing community events," he said in a state- ment to the Beaver. The Oak Park Fair and the North Oakville Food Drive "happened but in such a scaled-down way, it was not what the commu- nity expected or what I wanted to deliver." Grant, on the other hand, laments the hamper- ing of communication dur- ing the pandemic. "I should have created a form of cost- effective communication tool to let people know the issues we are facing and created a place for people-- especially newer resi- dents-- to discuss common issues on an area-by-area basis." Reduced staff also ham- pered Grant's ability to help residents and he feels he "should have been bet- ter at reminding" them that the "town might have longer response times." ALLAN ELGAR AND PETER LONGO The representatives for Ward 4 acknowledge that "this past year has seen the ongoing challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic." We want to reinforce the importance of residents following public health guidelines of the province of Ontario and Halton Pub- lic Health." They add that this will "continue to be an important priority for" the two of them. NATALIA LYSHCHYNA AND TOM ADAMS The pair for Ward 6 ech- oed their other colleagues in the need to "continue to work together to support our public health response to the pandemic and mini- mize its impact on all of us." "Both of us have worked to support the best avail- able advice from health professionals and we will continue to do so into 2022 at both the Town of Oak- ville and Halton Region." CATHY DUDDECK The Ward 2 councillor wishes she "had a crystal ball to know that the pan- demic was going to contin- ue to affect our day-to-day lives and the businesses in our community." Much like Grant of Ward 5, she says that "we can always improve" com- munication "no matter how many changes we make at a given time." Councillors Parmar, Sandhu, Chisholm, Git- tings and Haslett-Theall were unavailable to pro- vide a comment. MAYOR, COUNCILLORS REFLECT ON 2021 AND LOOK AHEAD Oakville council offers its thoughts on the year that just passed, and what's in store for 2022. Graham Paine/Metroland MANSOOR TANWEER mtanweer@metroland.com NEWS