Dear Mr. Baird:

You are an embarrassment to Canada and all that this country represents. Your behaviour at the Bali talks this past week has been two-faced and disgraceful.

On the one hand, after the talks finish, you claim:

But Environment Minister John Baird hailed the talks as a positive first step toward an effective global climate treaty.


"We were naturally disappointed in the language that weakened and watered down the agreement," Baird said.

"But it's better than no agreement."

He said he was disappointed that the deal was almost completely stripped of any reference to numbers and targets that could have been the starting point for the discussion.

However, this doesn't square with your actions throughout the negotiations where it was so damnably obvious that you and Harper were taking your orders from the White House instead of standing for what is right and honorable.

Senior federal officials have confirmed that Mr. Baird did not attend a lengthy negotiating session on Thursday night of the 34 countries that were chosen to resolve the thorniest issues at the Bali conference. Instead, he sent a bureaucrat to speak for Canada.

The officials said Mr. Baird gave instructions to the bureaucrat and was available just a few minutes away if the bureaucrat needed to consult him. Instead of attending the negotiating session, Mr. Baird attended a meeting of a bloc of several industrialized countries that have acted together at the talks, the officials said.

...
Canadian officials have bragged that Mr. Baird is playing an important role in "bridging" the differences between the United States and the European Union at the Bali negotiations. "Minister Baird is directly involved in trying to achieve consensus for a post-2012 agreement," one official said.

"His No. 1 priority from the beginning of this conference has been to achieve a successful outcome. … He is focused on playing a bridge-building role to try and get all parties to agree to start negotiations and put in place the building blocks for a future agreement."

What a disgusting show of sycophancy to the Bush administration. Canada's minister responsible can't be bothered to show up at negotiation sessions so that he can "bridge" with the US? What a complete crock!

Traditionally, Canada is the country at the forefront of creating compromise, not isolating itself to satisfy Washington. What Mr. Baird and Mr. Harper have done this past week is vile in the extreme, and demonstrates still further that what Canada has right now is not a government for Canadians, but a government that is acting as a vassal state to George Bush's henchmen.