Bairdfaced in Bali

It's difficult to articulate how I feel about what is going on in Bali. Ashamed and embarrassed are descriptors that come to mind but the anger I feel seems to trump those two.

The transparent game being played by Baird and this government is almost too bizarre to believe, but believe it we must.

I imagine that Baird glommed on to the concept of pushing all countries to sign on to binding targets in order to make a difference, with absolute juvenile glee. I imagine him saying, Finally a way to do nothing while looking principled! We can sell this! Canadians will buy this! Ladies and gentleman, we now have our talking point!

How the bureaucrats get behind this stuff is beyond me. The problem of course is that it makes no sense. Their strategy is obvious. It is meant to sabotage the meetings. That's it, that's all. There can be no doubt that they knew the US would never sign on as long as Bush was in power. In fact, I suspect that the US was alerted to this strategy clearing the way for Canada to proceed with it, while not doing any damage to the relationship along the way. After all, their end game is the same isn't it?

If we had actually gone there with some sincerity, wouldn't our Finance Minister and Trade Minister have gone as well? 30 countries sent their respective ministers. Surely the meetings for these ministers are an integral part of the process? I may be wrong, but I do not believe that either Flaherty or Emerson are attending. If I'm wrong, feel free to correct me. Both of their websites are more concerned with attacking Dion than the Climate Change Meeting.

The meeting does not end until the 14th of December. What is the view of Canada so far?

Canada's lack of credibility was reinforced this week when Rajendra K. Pachauri - chair of the Nobel-Prize winning Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change - said that Canada has “a government of skeptics” that “do not want to do anything on climate change.” Also this week, Canada was ranked 53rd out of 56 in a comparison of the climate change performance of the world's top emitting countries.

Of course there is the fact that we won, 1st, 2nd and 3rd place on day six of the conference. The leaked memo made us look idiotic. The Con's don't seem to register that though and so they plod along.

In the end, I think that they have played this very badly. We remember Ambrose in Nairobi. We know that they have no intention of doing anything. Baird hasn't changed one word of what they intend not to do, he just speaks louder, screams in QP for that matter. For some reason he has been able to dupe some of Canada. He gets himself on the news often. He's usually re-gifting or putting out Liberal plan.

I think they have played this badly because not only will Canadians react, but we will react to how the world is reacting to us. When is the last time you saw the world view Canada as a pariah?

In this, the year that we should be celebrating Pearson's accomplishments, we are instead taking action that would have him roll in his grave.

The Con's are out there and obvious. They continue to see the protocol of Kyoto as nonsense. That is the crucial point of course, not the Kyoto Protocol, but the protocol itself.

To my NDP readers, I ask only this. The Liberals indeed did not prioritise, rather the PM of the day did not. Dion did, but he had to fight for that recognition. That will never be articulated properly in general media. What I say to you is this. I know come the next election you see a way to gain more seats, but you will not be government. What's the risk of pushing that? A Harper majority.

To my Con readers, I say keep on doing what you are doing. You are now doing what most of the world rejects and what the majority of Canadians reject. Kindly spare me the Dion, 13 years nonsense. You have been in power longer now than Dion was Minister of the Environment. He actually accomplished important projects in 17 months and all you have done is cherry pick what you can deal with.

We, or more aptly, the Government of Canada is going about this in all the wrong way. We are willing to hurt people and the planet in the name of ideology.

"Wake up Canada!"