While the world met in Bali these last few weeks to try to come to an agreement over what to do about what is now almost universally accepted as human made global climate change, our so called elected representatives let us all down, and significantly harmed our reputation as a moral leader world wide.

There was a time I was proud of the accomplishments our leaders. Canada was instrumental in the creation of the UN, Canada was instrumental in the development of Peace Keeping initiatives in troubled areas of the world. We used to have the gratitude of many embattled nations for our efforts to help those in need. It was known for its bravery and willingness to stand up for what we all knew was right. There was a time when we could wear our Canadian Flag as a badge of honor and a Canadian could go almost anywhere in this world and be welcomed with open arms.

But these last few weeks have made a mockery of those efforts. Our own right wing government, lead by Prime Minister Stephen Harper, has undermined all of the good will Canada fought so hard to earn. He and his minister's actions have embarrassed us, humiliated us, slapped our people in the face with their unthinking acquiescence to the George Bush led Neo-Con Republican based American government. They even went so far as to publicly state that they did not want to sign on if the Americans did not. Since when do we allow our ethics to be dictated by the USA?

The worst part of all, is our "august" representatives (led by Environment Minister John Baird) did not even manage to make it to all the meetings, some of which were key. I am guessing he was more concerned about working on his tan in sunny Indonesia while Canadians were digging out of some of the worst winter weather seen in decades.

Canada was criticized at the talks for its lack of sincerity. Thanks to our representatives we were awarded the dubious honour of being the worst hold-out nation, winning the "Fossils of the Week Award". Did Baird even try to explain his actions? No. Baird snuck out the back door to avoid being confronted by the boos and jeers of the disappointed world.

Shameful.

As corrupt as ex-Prime Minister Jean Chretien may have been, at least he had the guts to stand up to the Republican US Government's continual harassment of our culture and heritage. Not so for Harper and his ministers. They sold us down the river for a few lousy bucks.

I am one person who is saddened and ashamed to call myself a Canadian today.

(note: This is not a reflection on the American people, who very much seem to want to be Global Citizens like the rest of us, and are on the whole a fine bunch of people. It is a commentary of our current respective governments; governments which I am no longer sure were actually legally elected).