Shuffling the numbers game

Hawkesbury’s claim to fame as one of the worst places to live seems hinged on money, of course. It ranks 179 out of 179 on the MoneySense website, which ranks Hawkesbury lowest in terms of household income.
True perhaps, but many of you called when this story appeared first in one of our competitor newspapers. Were we going to report it in the same negative way, you wanted to know? Ultimately, we said the town had problems, but was not the worst place to live.
One reader this past week called to say that he had taken a look at the statistics and that the root of Hawkesbury’s problem (if we can call low household income a problem) may be the lack of education. He also pointed out that better news is that Hawkesbury ranked 64th overall on the full 10 measures of best places to live, adding that this is better than almost two thirds of the other towns and cities in Canada.
Only towns and cities with populations of more than 10,000 were part of the Moneysense analysis.
We all know that there are many ways to play the numbers, but a brief comparison of Hawkesbury with Lachute (population 11,832); Pembroke (population 13,930); and Smiths Falls (population 8,777) shows that 59 per cent of the male work force aged 15 years of age and over are employed in Lachute, 57.6 in Pembroke and 57.8 in Smiths Falls. In Hawkesbury the male employment rate is 59.6 per cent.  For women, 48.9 per cent of women aged 15 years and over are employed in Lachute, 45.2 per cent are employed in Pembroke, 46.6 per cent are employed in Smiths Falls and 45.4 per cent are employed in Hawkesbury.
It is interesting to note that 44 per cent of Hawkesbury’s population aged 15 years of age and over, is not in the labour force. The provincial average is 33 per cent. But before you come down on Hawkesbury, note that Lachute weighs in at 43 per cent, Pembroke weighs in at 45 per cent and Smiths Falls weighs in at 42 per cent. While Hawkesbury’s median household income at $34,893 was well below the $60,455 average for Ontario in 2005 while Champlain at $53,527 and East Hawkesbury at $50,230 were only somewhat below average, let’s take a look at the education statistics.
Of the total population aged 15 to 64, 30 per cent, or almost one third of Hawkesbury’s population does not have a high school certificate or any kind of diploma. Similarly, in Lachute, the figure stands at 30 per cent. In Pembroke, that figure is at 22 per cent and in Smiths Falls, 20 per cent of the population aged 35 to 64 does not have a high school certificate or any kind of diploma or degree. In Ontario, an average of 15 per cent of the population aged 15 to 64 has not obtained a high school diploma. In Quebec, that figure is 18 per cent.
Indeed, it may be more difficult to attain a high level of household income when one lives in a small town. But maybe that is because it is also more difficult to graduate from high school, even though we have a myriad of choices: four school boards and adult alternative education.
In the weeks to come, we will be asking some questions and we will be reporting back to you with answers and some numbers, or we will be telling you what we are waiting for. 
Let us consider this a challenge to our four school boards: tell us the challenges you face to keep our young people in school and motivated to complete their education. What are the drop-out rates? Tell us some success stories about adult students returning to complete their high school education. (We attended the official opening of the Eastern Ontario Adult Education Centre in Hawkesbury recently and believe this: there are success stories happening there.)
Finally: this isn’t just about money. It is about quality of life, finding fruitful and satisfying employment and revitalizing our region with citizens empowered to make good things happen. Stay tuned.               L.S.