Free Republic

Judging by the rhetoric coming out of Tehran, John Bolton’s appointment as America’s National Security Advisor is the worst thing that ever happened. The Secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council labeled Bolton’s appointment “a matter of shame.”  The Chairman of the Iranian Parliament's Committee on National Security and Foreign Policy declared,  "The use of hardline elements against the Islamic Republic of Iran shows that the Americans seek to exert more pressure on Iran.”First Vice President Eshaq Jahangiri opined, “They (US officials) are wrong to assume that the Iranian nation will give in to their threats against the Islamic Republic.”  ...

Russian troop presence in Crimea compared to what Germans did in Sudetenland in 1938 Foreign Affairs Minister John Baird has compared Russia's troop presence in Ukraine's Crimean Peninsula to Hitler's invasion of Sudetenland, a part of the former Czechoslovakia, in 1938. Baird, speaking to host Evan Solomon on CBC News Network's Power & Politics, accused Russia of invading and occupying Crimea, a part of Ukraine. "If it's not war, it's akin to war," he said. At first, Baird said the situation was "right out of the Cold War." When Solomon pointed out Putin claims he is protecting Russian rights in...

Canada bluntly told the United States on Thursday to settle the fate of TransCanada Corp's proposed Keystone XL pipeline, saying the drawn-out process on whether to approve the northern leg of the project was taking too long. The hard-line comments by Foreign Minister John Baird were the clearest sign yet that Canada's Conservative government has lost patience over what it sees as U.S. foot-dragging. Baird also conceded that Washington might veto the project, the first admission of its kind by a Canadian government minister. The 1,200-mile (1,930-km) pipeline would carry 830,000 barrels a day from the Alberta tar sands in...

Canada’s foreign minister John Baird is calling Syria’s offer to begin providing information on its chemical arsenal 30 days after it signs an international convention banning such weapons “ridiculous and absurd.” Baird said Syrian President Bashar Assad could not be given extra time. Baird said: “This is a man who up until a week ago denied that they had any such weapons.” …

In characteristically straightforward terms, Canada’s Foreign Minister John Baird explains why his country is so supportive of Israel, and why others aren’t. (excerpt) But Baird is not your average Western foreign minister. And when it comes to foreign affairs, the Canadian government of Stephen Harper in which he serves is not your average Western government. The clearest recent expression of its atypical nature? While most every country on earth, including the supposedly responsible, relatively decent Western European nations, either supported Mahmoud Abbas or abstained in last November’s UN General Assembly vote upgrading the Palestinians to nonmember state, Canada stood alongside...

Foreign Affairs Minister John Baird and the Honourable Jason Kenney, Minister of Citizenship, Immigration and Multiculturalism, today issued the following statement: “We wish to extend Canada’s deepest sympathies and condolences to the families of the thousands of innocents who have fallen victim to the Iranian regime, from the first days of the Islamic Revolution to the present. Canada grieves alongside all those whose loved ones suffered on the orders of Iran’s past and present rulers. “Canada has not forgotten that the roots of today’s appalling situation extend back to the origins of this hollow regime. The persecution of dissident voices...

U.S. Vice President Joe Biden will address the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) policy conference next Monday, it has been confirmed. His speech comes just ahead of President Obama's anticipated visit to Israel later in the month and amid renewed concerns regarding Iran’s nuclear program. The 2013 conference, which will be held March 3-5, in Washington, D.C., will also feature addresses by Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu, Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak, Canadian Foreign Minister John Baird, House of Representatives, Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-VA), Senate Republican Whip John Cornyn (R-TX), House of Representatives Democratic Whip Steny Hoyer (D-MD),...

Will be speaking about Keystone XL pipeline.

OTTAWA — The Canadian government has been quietly engaging Syria’s opposition and pro-democracy movement, including facilitating several meetings with Foreign Minister John Baird and opening the doors of Canada’s embassy in Turkey to the Syrian National Council. “We have right now a very good relationship with the Canadian government,” Syrian National Council member Osama Kadi said Thursday. “We have met with the minister of foreign affairs many times and he has showed a very positive attitude toward the Syrian National Council.” In late August, Canadian Ambassador to Turkey Mark Bailey hosted a reception to honour and welcome SNC members and...

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Secretary of the Interior Dirk Kempthorne today announced that he is accepting the recommendation of U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Director Dale Hall to list the polar bear as a threatened species under the Endangered Species Act (ESA).  The listing is based on the best available science, which shows that loss of sea ice threatens and will likely continue to threaten polar bear habitat.  This loss of habitat puts polar bears at risk of becoming endangered in the foreseeable future, the standard established by the ESA for designating a threatened species. In making the announcement, Kempthorne said,...

Someone needs to take federal Environment Minister John Baird aside and tell him in plain English that he is never going to win a who's-more- environmentally-passionate contest with Al Gore. On Saturday Mr. Gore, appearing at a Toronto trade show, called the Conservative government's new plan for reducing greenhouse emissions and improving air quality a "fraud? designed to mislead the Canadian people." Mr. Baird replied that "It is difficult to accept criticism from someone who preaches about climate change, but who never submitted the Kyoto Protocol to a vote in the United States Senate? [and] who never did as much...

After four years of on-and-off negotiations, state lawmakers have sent Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger a bill to create a state conservancy for California's largest mountain range, and the governor is expected to sign it. The Assembly voted 62-14 Wednesday to create a Sierra Nevada Conservancy with a stated mission of protecting sensitive areas, reducing fire risks and improving tourism opportunities in 22 counties, including Placer and El Dorado. More than anything, the new conservancy would allow the Sierra's rural counties to tap millions of dollars in state bond funds that have gone largely to affluent coastal areas and urbanized Lake Tahoe....