As the editor of a blog that works to achieve appeal beyond the borders of Canada, I must apologize everyone else for our Canadian obsession.

Even more, however, I have to apologize for the obstructionist and embarrassing approach of the Canadian Environment Minister Jim Prentice. There was a brief respite from this action yesterday, when the Minister said that irrespective of the debatable contents of the stolen email, Canada would still struggle to take a responsible position in Copenhagen.

Overlooked, however, was the story in which Prentice said he was just kidding:

“There’s always a lot of hype and drama that gets built into this sort of international event, much of it intended to force the hand of participants,” Mr. Prentice said in a speech to Montreal business leaders on Friday. “We aren’t going to buy into that. We are not going to panic. We are confident about the actions we are taking on the domestic and the continental fronts.”