There was a time – hell, there was half a century, beginning with the Nobel Prize-winning work of later-to-be-Prime Minister Lester Pearson in 1956 – when Canada could be counted upon as an honest broker on the world stage. It was a country that you wanted at the negotiating table, because it could be relied upon to take a prinicpled position and because it had the capacity to exercise a little influence in the North American sphere. Uncle Sam has never had the capcity to listen closely but when Canada spoke, at least theyย listened.
Alas, apparently no longer. Regardless that Canada can surely claim status as a fossil fuel โsuper-polluter,โ we Canada didnโt make the short list of five countries that actually negotiated the Copenhagen Accord. Canada didnโt even make the long list of 17 countries that U.S. President Barack Obama gathered around him when he first arrived at COP15.
But there was one list that Harper topped: a group of mostly second-and third tier nations whose leaders were just bursting to tell the folks back home that theyโd met the U.S. President. Admittedly, Harper and Israeli Prime Minister Shimon Peres had met Obama before. But they were reduced to rubbing shoulders with former East Block โgiantsโ like the presidents of Georgia and Montenegro.
A full listof lunch guests appears below, courtesy of U.S. Press Secretary Robert Gibbs. Prime Minister Harper must be soย proud.
Update – President Obama greeted and talked to the he following leaders during a lunch here inย Copenhagen.
Canadian Prime Minister Stephenย Harper
Israeli President Shimonย Peres
Turkish Prime Minister Tayyipย Erdogan
Greek Prime Minister Georgeย Papandreou
Ghana President Johnย Mills
Montenegro Prime Minister Miloย Dukanovi
Bulgarian Prime Minister Boykoย Borisov
Kenyan President Mwaiย Kibaki
Czech Republic Prime Minister Janย Fischer
Georgia President Mikheilย Saakashvili
Serbian President Borisย Tardic
Trinidad and Tobago Prime Minister Patrickย Manning
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