October 13, 2003
While average Canadians lament the latest largesse of Governor-General Adrienne Clarkson, on her $1 million "circumpolar" junket, the GG and Company continue to savour the wine.
Plain folk ponder the real reason behind the trip, particularly with prominent Canadians such as Ontario socialist ex-premier Bob Rae and UN poster boy Maurice Strong along for the ride.
They should be looking to San Francisco rather than Ottawa for answers to the junket puzzle. San Francisco is headquarters for Green Cross International, headed up by former Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev.
Some Canadafreepress.com regular columnists compare Gorby’s presence in San Francisco to Saddam Hussein posing for pictures with Mickey Mouse at Disney World, but there is no question that Gorby continues to rail against American imperialism from undisputed Yankee soil.
Unlikely as it may seem, Green Cross International, "an environmental group dedicated to preserving fresh water and eliminating weapons of mass destruction" can boast a U.S. affiliate, Global Green USA.
In recent comments to the New York Times, picked up by Associated Press, Gorbachev was reiterating how he believes that George Bush made a mistake in invading Iraq.
"I do believe there is some other agenda, other than weapons and Saddam Hussein, he told an environmental gathering in New York, "What kind of hidden agenda, well, that needs to be understood."
Gorbachev, it could be argued, is himself master of "hidden agendas".
He criticized both Bush and current Russian President Vladimir Putin for having rejected the Kyoto Protocol on global warming, but noted that Putin has apparently reversed his position, adding, "Moscow will ratify the pact."
Gorbachev made it clear he expects Putin "to fulfill that pledge", but added as President Ronald Regan used to say ‘trust but verify.’"
Returning to unanswered questions relating to the real reasons behind the latest junket of the Canadian GG.
Canadian Maurice Strong on the GG circumpolar junket, is the architect of the Kyoto Protocol. Russia was a stop off point for the Canadian globetrotters.
Gorbachev, along with Strong, is a co-founder of the United Nations-sanctioned Earth Charter, a sort of warm and fuzzy environmental golden rulebook, which both men describe as "a replacement for the Ten Commandments."
Is anyone still wondering about the reasons behind Adrienne Clarkson’s circumpolar junket?