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w at er lo oc hr on ic le .c a W at er lo o C hr on ic le | T hu rs da y, O ct ob er 28 ,2 02 1 | 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 editorial@waterloochronicle.ca facebook.com/waterloochronicle @wlchronicle WHO WE ARE VP, Regional Publisher Kelly Montague Director of Content Lee Ann Waterman Regional General Manager Nelson Parreira Regional Director of Media Heather Dunbar Advertising Representatives Fran Hendry, Katrina Anderson, Jan Bodanka, Matt Miller, Lisa Humphreys, Cassandra Dellow, Zaid Shahabuddin, Managing Editor Robyn Wilkinson Online Editor Loraine Centeno Reporters Bill Jackson CONTACT US Waterloo Chronicle 475 Thompson Dr., Units 1-4 Cambridge, ON N1T 2K7 Phone: 519-886-2830 Fax: 519-623-9155 Web: www.waterloochronicle.ca Letters to the editor 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 waterloochronicle.ca Delivery For all delivery inquiries, e-mail customerservice@metroland.com or call 519-894-3000. OPINION TO LEARN HOW TO SUBMIT YOUR OWN CONTENT VISIT WATERLOOCHRONICLE.CA EDITORIAL LETTERS & COMMENTARY If you just listened to the rhetoric coming from Onta- rio's labour minister, you might conclude that his govern- ment is the biggest friend the province's workers have ev- er had. In announcing badly needed protections for temporary workers, Minister Monte McNaughton said abuse is "com- pletely unacceptable." Temp agencies that mistreat work- ers must know that "their time is up." Temp agencies will have to be licensed and vetted by the province. They'll have to post a bond and if they steal wages from workers (by, among other things, not paying overtime or vacation pay) the money will come out of that. There will be higher penalties for companies that break the rules, and a specialized inspection team. All good -- but here's where the confusion comes in. Isn't this the same Progressive Conservative government that undermined temporary workers in one of its first ma- jor pieces of legislation? And won't the changes announced by McNaughton do precisely nothing to fix that? Back in 2018, not long after the government was elected, it brought in the "Making On- tario Open for Business Act," which might just as well have been labelled the "Stomping on Ontario's Most Vul- nerable Workers Act." The new law rolled back pro-worker measures passed by the previous Liberal administration. It cancelled a scheduled increase in the province's minimum wage. It did away with the right to two paid sick leave days. And it killed a requirement that companies pay equal wages to part-time and casual staff as they do to full-time employ- ees doing the same work. That gave the green light to companies to pay temp workers less than others. They earned less than they should, and it gave companies added incentive to use more temps and fewer full-time workers with decent pay and benefits. If the Ford government really wants to turn the page and live up to Minister McNaughton's pro-worker rheto- ric, it should reverse course and restore equal pay for tem- porary workers. That's not all the Ford government needs to do in this area. It should, for example, reduce the use of temporary workers in sectors over which it has more direct control. Take long-term care. At the height of the pandemic, the use of temp workers went up significantly as homes struggled to maintain staffing levels. A study for the commission studying the disaster in Ontario's care homes singled out the rise in temp workers as one reason for high mortality as they were more likely to work in different homes. We hope McNaughton's words this week herald a genu- ine change of heart by the Ford government. But until they're followed by more ambitious action, workers have every reason to remain skeptical. NEW TEMP AGENCY CHANGES ARE WELCOME, BUT WORDS ARE NOT ENOUGH Let's compare investing with sports. In both cases you want to win. It gets more complicat- ed when you consider in- vesting. For every stock trade there is a buyer and seller. The buyer wants a low price, the seller a high price. In stock trading termi- nology, there is a bid and an ask. Then the two par- ties voluntarily agree on a price to complete the trade. Unlike a sport, you com- pete with investors from around the world when you buy or sell a stock. In sports you might have a competitive advantage. In 2020, there were more than $900 billion of stock trades every day. Each buy- er and seller bring their own information and opin- ions to every trade. Investment capital around the world flows free- ly. In essence, everybody competes with everybody. Over the long term, stocks have done very well. In my opinion, you do not want to own just a few specific stocks. You have no idea of knowing in advance what stocks will do well and which will do poorly. My preference is to in- vest in an extremely well diversified portfolio hold- ing different companies in different industries in dif- ferent countries. Your in- vestment return will be based on hundreds or thou- sands of different business- es. Competition is fine on the tennis court or hockey rink, but when it comes to investing, diversification is your friend. 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 Invest- ment Industry Regulatory Organization of Canada. The opinions expressed are those of the author and not necessarily those of ACPI. Watson provides wealth management services. He can be reached through www.watsoninvestment- s.com. SCAN THIS CODE for more columns at the Waterloo Chronicle website. INVESTING AND SPORTS BOTH INCLUDE COMPETITION DIVERSIFICATION KEY TO FINANCIAL SUCCESS, WRITES PETER WATSON PETER WATSON Column