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vefwskendryft5 swx opinion send your letters to the editor to 59 albert st oxbridge lsp1e5 or lax them to 8524355 would you vote to become a global citizen right now we are focused on the upcoming federal budget wondering or worrying about the expected cuts in social programs and changes to tax laws uptight as we may feel about our personal finances were still among the 20 per cent of people in the world using 80 per cent of the worlds resources so the question being posed in a united nations summit for social development today is is there the will to share sam bowman a local volun teer is attending the sessions in new york this week and says its easy to become despondent when meeting eye to eye with some of the dele gates from third world coun tries the statistics are daunting jo ann stevenson one in every five people worldwide live below the poverty level and if current economic and demographic trends continue those suffer ing extreme poverty will quadruple within one life time but rather than feel despon dent our delegate cites an upbeat feeling this confer ence is being attended by many people committed to finding a global strategy there is some will to alter the mindset of the developed nations their preliminary initia tives will progress to copenhagen for the world summit in march the slogan on that road to copenhagen is successful societies are those which focus on people lets suppose that at that conference the real issues of food distribution health care provision and widescale edu cation were taken as direc tives proposals to make us world citizens and world taxpayers would begin to make then- way to our governments beforelong wed be asked to- choose between candidates holding fast to status quo or for those of the new world order but when we vote we wont actually be staring eyetoeye into the face of a third world adam by brian basset jvegottodo 9 5dmattisrxrr iwkicwrikci ftjwevah 3 ffi jjbysi v7 vuvcirvrmr delegate as is sam bowman this week if this summit is anything like the un earth summit well become more aware of the solutions to deteriorating conditions around the world poverty unemployment and social disintegration the way we became aware of sus tainable development these two summits are par allel and complimentary the second building on the momentum of the first how will you vote markham economist and sun stouffville tribune uxbridge tribune weekender edition ameewiaad patricia paffaspubushea jo ann 8tevens0k editorinehw aunhjadletohedk andeewmuheditor dkbeawhuffi director adnitttbtf bffibxgoodyea hncfarof dfcjflaum vmanffnkh bntlmit manager pamela nichols opentiao kantftr mrhm 1941100 eatee to878u daaauled 1m4s11x stoudmue moiloo f4 m44 ilctribntlon and artmititgrraftrtn htrltjn bd maiulb up 1m1 fax mnttnlmm3 stoutrvble m77 udiidaehmsu the m tmmm and ban btonffrflle tribune and utbridge tribune puhliihed cm wedneeoer and saturday b w of the mccrokad printing publithlng and dirtributfaj roup or suburban newspapers which includes ajex pickering nowi 1 titer borrio advance brampton guardian burlington foilcoavwooj connection etobicoke guardian too liberal georgetown independentacton free press kingston this ween lindsay tilt week milton scarborough ifirror content not to be reproduced without written perraiasion from the publisher the mclntyres are going south the pole well here we are icebound in the black hole of the annual canadian weather experience which is to say right smack in the frosted bullseye of yet another winter and do you know what well both be thinking about today the only thing that really really matters to any canuck who finds him or herself up to the axles in white stuff- escape we will be thinking meteoerotic thoughts of acapulco vera cruz and tampico bay we will muse indecently of swaying palms white beach sand hot enough to toast ones tootsies and tangy mar- garitas served with love in long- stemmed glasses as big as bird- baths we will entertain uncharitable thoughts about the bloated pluto crats among us who are rich enough to turn the canadian mid winter fantasy into reality the ones who can actually afford to hop aboard those southbound chartered 747sleaving the rest of us stranded in the drifts in our galoshes and earmuffs growling muffled curses into our scarves and shaking our snowshovels sky ward canadians will generate a great lakes worth of envy today but one southbound couple we will not be wishing to exchange places with is the mclntyres don and margie mclntyre i mean they too are heading south and theyre not doing it on the cheap theyve got two count em two boats full of supplies enough to keep them in grub and spare clothes for a couple of years by the time its over the mclntyres will spend almost half a million bucks on this little vaca tion what with the satellite com munication links the solar and windturbine power generators and what not but you have to spend money if you really want to get away from it all right and the mclntyres figure they really will be getting away from it all they dont expect to see anoth er human for the next year thats because the southern resort spa theyre heading for is on the shores of commonwealth bay antarctica population nada theyll be living in a fibreglass hut especially reinforced to with- standwinds of 20 miles an hour which is what they can expect on the shores of commonwealthbay- arthur black a destination designated as king dom of blizzards by those tourists luckless or witless enough to have stayed overnight before the most famous visitors would have to be the 18man exploration team led by australian geologist douglas mawson back before the first world war in the spring of 1912 starving members of the mawson expedition were reduced to eating their own sled dogs two men perished one went bonkers and mawson himself staggered back- to base camp just in time to see his rescue ship steaming out to sea none of which deters the mclntyres who have cheerily dubbed their adventure together alone expedition icebound the prospect of sitting out a 365day long winter storm doesnt phase them in fact theyre toting ah extra years worth of vittles just in case the pack ice prevents their scheduled rendezvous with a sup ply ship next december well okay but what do you you know do when you find yourself virtually snowed in for an entire calendar year in antarctica of all tropical vacation spots its not like you can count on wandering mariachi bands or occasional busloads of parly- hearty dentists from the midwest hey antarcticas so remote it doesnt even have a team in the canadian football league don and margie figure theyll handle the solitude okay he plans to work on a three foot model of captain cooks famous ship endeavor as for margie she says she intends to stitch and stuff 50 teddy bears to sell at an australian charity auction later and don mclntyres got experi ence hes considered one of australias toughest sailors margie wellshe says shes never actually skied or snowshoed as a matter of fact shes scarcely gvgr s6g snow do i think theyll make it why not helhthey sound almost wacky ehoughtb be canadians e i r