TORONTO - What was intended as a feel-good gathering of prominent Liberals celebrating the legacy of one of their most illustrious leaders took a divisive turn Tuesday as Jean Chretien again took aim at his successor Paul Martin's track record as prime minister, this time for failing to meet Canada's obligations to stop climate change.
The duelling former prime ministers, whose bitter leadership rift seems to have spilled over into their retirement years, were among the Liberal heavyweights headlining the conference lauding Lester B. Pearson's contributions to global peace, which earned him a Nobel Peace Prize 50 years ago.
Chretien's speech to the conference, hosted by Liberal foreign affairs critic Bob Rae, included harsh words for the Conservatives' stance on the Kyoto Protocol to cut greenhouse gas emissions.
"I am not very pleased today to read what people are saying about Canada in Bali at this moment about the environment,'' he told the conference.
"I think it is an urgent problem and we should have been at the forefront. When we signed Kyoto, we knew very well when I was there what we were doing, and it should have been implemented. But now we will not meet the target because we lost four years.''
But outside the hall, Chretien was quick to point the finger at Martin's government for dropping the ball on Kyoto after he left office.
"I don't know what happened, I was not there,'' he said. "I know that I was negotiating with the oil industry, and the oil industry pulled back from the table.''
When asked why it took so long for Canada to get somewhere on Kyoto, Chretien replied, "Sometimes, when you lose four years, you lose four years. There's nothing I can do about it.''
But Chretien said he doesn't blame current Liberal Leader Stephane Dion, who was environment minister under Martin, for the failure to meet Canada's obligations under Kyoto, an international treaty that Chretien's government signed 10 years ago.
Dion had to cancel his scheduled appearance at the conference to attend an international climate change summit in Bali, Indonesia.
Martin, who delivered his speech two hours after Chretien left the building, defended his record on climate change, saying his government's policy was regarded as "the most comprehensive attack on climate change that we've ever seen in Canada.''
"This is a great day for Canadians, but it's also a great day for Liberals to be here to honour Lester Pearson,'' Martin said following his speech.
"And I just don't think anybody wants to see the reopening of old divisions that just gets in the way, really, what I believe, is this tribute to Mr. Pearson.''
It's not the first time Chretien has criticized Martin's track record as prime minister.
In his recently published memoirs, Chretien slammed Martin's indecision over whether to extend Canada's presence in Afghanistan, saying it allowed other NATO countries to take up the less dangerous missions and forced Canada into "the killing fields around Kandahar.''
Martin supporters say experts have contradicted Chretien's claims about Afghanistan, and also point out that greenhouse gas emissions actually dropped under Martin's watch.
The conference, which also attracted former prime minister John Turner as a speaker, was open to all parties but meant to bring Liberals together to discuss Canadian foreign policy 50 years after Pearson won the Nobel.
Pearson, who is perhaps best known as the father of peacekeeping, was awarded the prize for his role in establishing a UN emergency force in 1956 to help defuse the Suez crisis. He is still the only Canadian to have won the prize.
Holding a cane, Turner spoke of how Pearson's skilful diplomacy during often tense and emotionally charged negotiations helped secure the resolution that would establish the UN emergency force.
The concept was so innovative at the time that the UN had to improvise to get the force equipped to go to Egypt, including ripping the lining out of helmets and dipping them in blue paint to supply enough blue berets, the conference heard during a short film about Pearson's role in the crisis.
Canada now needs new leadership that will take bold action to reduce the twin threats of environmental degradation and poverty, because the current Conservative government won't take action to reduce greenhouse gas emissions through Kyoto, former environment minister Christine Stewart said.
