THR BET Eyes Wide Open (Educate, Create, Eliminate) 222 EERE As I was driving along one of our County roads just before Christmas I had to slow down and move over to the oncoming vehicle lane to avoid a lady wearing a red coat and hat. She was standing in the middle of the road with arms and hands outstretched. No, she wasn't thumb- ing a lift from me as I flashed a friendly smile in her direc- tion (dream on!); she was feeding the local bird population by hand. That's right... the little birds (mainly Chicka- dees) were flying out of the bush on to her hands, and tak- ing seed. It was a sight to behold, and made me feel very humble (once I overcame the rejection!) as I drove slowly past this spectacle. Whoever you are mystery lady, I hope vou can stand to be out there doing the same thing when it is minus 20° C. The birds that so obviously trust you will really need your care then. Bird Feeder season is with us once again, and if your home is like ours there will be at least one of these 'country kitchens' hanging up above the deck at the back of your house. Often we have asked ourselves the question: "If we and others were not feeding these little creatures, how would they survive and what would they live on?" In our home we delight in their antics as they come and go throughout the day. The local Woodpeckers have scant re- gard for their cholesterol levels as they tap away at the mil- let covered suet ball, gradually wearing it down until it is hanging on by a thread of white lard. Nothing goes to waste, and while some of the local bird populations are feasting on the feeders, there is another colony beavering away beneath, picking up the crumbs that fall. The squir- rels that were present in force during the recent cold spell have retreated to their usual feeding grounds, passing up our smaller seeds in favor of acorns and the likes. The feeding hierarchy that reigns around the feeders, with the lowly Chickadee being forced to risk life and wing to get its fair share of the goodies that abound, remind me in a strange way of certain human characteristics. Sadly it is not only the local wildlife population that requires help at this time of year. Anyone reading our local newspapers would see that there was a frantic call for money and supplies by the food bank in Picton to enable the demand for food assistance to be satisfied. Is there a parallel here? Educate, Create, Eliminate! We enter the year 2004 with newly elected local and provincial government officials. I would like to ask them what their intentions are towards making our area more prosperous, so that more EERE and more people can become self-supporting, thus reducing the need for such things as food aid and EI/GWA/FBA benefit. Is their time (and resources!) going to be taken up debating, for example, the No- Smoking bye-law issue, (a dinosaur if ever I saw one) and a multi-million dollar wind- mill farm, or will it be used constructively, reaching out to the new Provincial Government with ideas for attracting new industry and jobs to compliment the existing infra- structure and ambiance of the County? What percentage of our $37 million budget will go in this direction I wonder? As concerned individuals who care about others, we cannot just leave it to our locally elected representa- tives, tempting though that might be. The $7 and $10 an hour jobs that seem, according to one councilor, to prolifer- ate here in the County, do not do much to help a family feed, house and clothe itself unless additional work is un- dertaken, also at low wages, and generally without benefits. So no "pat on the back" for having an abundance of "minimum wage" zero benefit jobs here in the county be- cause it places families below the poverty line. This under- mines family life and sets the scene for the next generation whose earning potential will be capped at $10 an hour. Not everyone can be an entrepreneur, and this places consider- able pressure on our Chamber of Tourism and Commerce to be one of the busiest council offices in the County, de- veloping new initiatives. (Create) We have a Federal Election on the near horizon and this brings new opportunities for each and every one of us to ensure that we elect someone to our riding who will be accountable; who will share our visions for the County; who will be prepared to speak out for their constituents so that we can accelerate the process of becoming a success- ful, self-sustaining, micro economy shared by all who live here. Indeed, can the Rt. Hon. Mr. Paul Martin, a tremen- dously successful and wealthy businessman, really under- stand the needs and difficulties of the fifteen to twenty per- cent of Canadians who live on or below subsistence levels? I hope so, and I hope that 'understanding,' if it exists, translates into action in 2004. We have just celebrated Christmas and all that it implies for Christians the world over. The person Jesus, whose birth many celebrated, battled for justice within his own people and government systems. He fought for im- provements in the living standards of those who were dis- enfranchised; the poor and the outcasts. He encouraged good work ethic from all, while demanding that govern- ment and religious order take less, to leave more disposable income in the hands of the artisans and peasant farmers. He tried to educate the people with whom he came into con- tact. Today we might call him a "civil rights worker," yet he Continued on page 8