Gore claims Baird misrepresented his comments on Canada

Last Updated: Monday, February 12, 2007 | 6:01 PM ET

CBC News

Environment Minister John Baird learned an inconvenient truth Monday — that former U.S. vice-president Al Gore has not endorsed the Tories' performance on climate change.

"I understand that last week Canada's minister of the environment, John Baird, mischaracterized comments I made last summer as praise for the Harper government's actions on global warming," Gore wrote in a statement released from his Tennessee office Monday.

"The comments I made were designed to encourage the Harper government not to abandon Canada's tradition of fighting above its weight class on the world stage as part of the Kyoto process."

During question period in the House of Commons last week, Baird read a statement by Gore that appeared to praise the Conservative policies regarding global warming.

"Canada [is] once again providing leadership in the world, fighting above its weight class and showing moral authority to the rest of the world. That's what Canada's known for," Baird read.

"Do we know who said that yesterday? Al Gore."

Gore, a noted environmentalist who narrated the film An Inconvenient Truth — a documentary about the effects of global warming — added that the comments were made last summer, not last week.

"It is my experience that other nations do look to Canada for moral leadership," Gore said in his statement Monday … Nothing less than the future habitability of the planet is at stake. I urge the Harper government to do the right thing."

The Tories have said that Canada has no chance of meeting its emissions targets under the Kyoto accord and must set more realistic goals for reducing greenhouse gases.