With having a fully packed week it would seem like the obvious thing to do would be to relax on the weekend to allow for some time to reflect on the busy week since returning to Canada, but that would not actually be possible with the largest Canadian youth gathering happening in Ottawa, Ontario. Power Shift Canada will begin today and run until Monday bringing over 1,000 youth from all of the provinces and territories in Canada providing workshops, flash mobs, entertainment and of course the 350.org International Day of Action on October 24th.

There will be many opportunities for Canadian youth to learn more about the issue of climate change, how the UNFCCC process works, what Canada’s current position means for creating an ambitious, fair and legally binding outcome in Copenhagen and or course just a lot of general fun. Be sure to keep your eyes open online for all the content that will be created this this weekends event in Ottawa.

Shortly after arriving at the United Nations Conference Centre someone commented on the small Canadian flag pin that I was wearing and then had to inquire what the other pin was beside it. The second pin I explained was from my province Prince Edward Island and  I had explained clearly that I am an Islander first before being a Canadian as I always do which created a smile from the fellow delegate. I had also explained that even though I am not proud of how Canada’s position here in Bangkok is not advancing the UNFCC process and that they are hiding behind other countries I wanted it to be to know that there are manyCanadian’s who want more action in throughout the meetings.

With the recent Tsunami hitting the Pacific region with major impacts on the Island of Samoa, American Samoa and Tonga to the flooding in the Philippines which highlights the urgency to address the issue of climate change I found myself more and more searching for climate leadership from the country that I was so proud of as a child. While I have always personally been concerned of the fate of my small northern Island home I became more worried about that impacts of the southern Islands where I have made many friends and the question of would the current actions of the Canadian delegation want the same to happen to the small Island where the Confederation of Canada was born.

While walking from sessions and looking for some of my fellow tracers I had noticed Canada’s Chief Negotiator and Ambassador for Climate Change Michael Martin, this would be the first opportunity to reintroduce myself. While it was a slightly crowded area I was surprised to noticed that it was slightly as if I was avoided from being acknowledged let alone approached. While I would normally brush this off as blending in with the crowd that could not be the case since I was wearing the famed “Negotiator Tracker” t-shirt while everyone around me is in business suits and that Mr. Martin did mention in an email remember meeting me with the Canadian Youth Delegation at COP 14 in Poznan Poland. Maybe it was my shorter hair which caused the confusion or maybe it was a busy day of meetings for Canada’s lead negotiator but one thing was clear it did make me feel like I had a little bit less of a voice in the whole process here in Bangkok.

Feeling slightly overwhelmed with the less than stellar advancements that had happened in the first two days here in Bangkok I decided to email the Environment Minister back in Canada to express some of the concerns that I had with the position Canada has had so far. Here is the message that I had sent to Minister Jim Prentice explaining my concern about nothing being mentioned about the Bangkok meetings nor the UN Climate Summit on his website while their was information on Prime Minister Harpers Tim Horton’s announcement. I urge and Canadian readers to also contact your MP to also express your concern over the UNFCCC Bangkok meeting and what the role Canada take will have on COP 15 in Copenhagen, the political will is not there so we need the pressure from citizens back home to ensure that the little time left to negotiate is not wasted.

While I am not sure of when or if there will be a response from the Environment Minister I do know that what is needed to help change Canada’s role here in Bangkok is a good reminder to the elected officials of who votes them into their positons and that if there is there is no action on climate change they might want to start looking for a new employment opportunity.

Last week’s activities of the Canadian Prime Minister have created some confusion on how serious Canada is on helping to create a post-Kyoto Protocol but one thing is for sure: The importance of a donut has never put the international community in such a position.

On September 23, Prime Minister Harper showed that he chose donuts and tax policies over a meeting of global leaders at the largest ever United Nations Climate Summit, called by UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon in New York.

The purpose of the Summit was to build the driving force needed to ensure that the final 75 days left until the United Nations Conference in Copenhagen would put the planet on the correct path to address climate change. The international leaders who attended included U.S. President Barack Obama, British Prime Minister Gordon Brown, French President Nicolas Sarkozy and Chinese President Hu Jintao; but Canada’s Prime Minister Stephen Harper was not in attendance and sent Environment Minister Jim Prentice instead.

It may be understandable that being in the position of being Prime Minister does cause for some conflicting scheduling but upon visiting the Canadian Environment Ministers website the apparent conflict of schedule does showcase the need to address our domestic donut issue and allow the rest of the world to worry about the international ones.

Tim Hortons Inc. is a Canadian fast food restaurant founded in 1964 in Hamilton, Ontario by Canadian hockey player Tim Horton and Jim Charade. The first stores only offered two products – coffee and donuts which combined with the popularity of a hockey player turned businessman launched it into its Canadian icon status.  In March 2006,  Tim Hortons completed an  public offering, becoming a separate company as of September 29, 2006. Tim Hortons began trading on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) as well as the Toronto Stock Exchange (TSX) which caused a drastic loss creating a timbit sized recession in Canada’s economy and removing Canada’s monopoly on the first Coffee Donut Mechanism (CDM).

While there could be much detailed information provided around the less than stellar ethics of Tim Horton’s since it does not sell organic coffee, nor do they sell Fair trade coffee the only previous direct linkage to attributing to climate change would be the emissions from the many drive-throughs across Canada. While the issue of Canada’s loss in the CDM market was an issue on many Canadians’ minds, there also has been many citizens urging for international leadership from Canada in the UNFCCC process.

Watch The PM Harper Puts Donuts Before Planet Video

The first day of the your typical UNFCCC meeting beings in a very usual form with an opening plenary but with the importance of and limited amount of time before the Copenhagen Conference Of Parties (COP 15) I had opportunity to attend a rather unique start to the sessions in Bangkok the conclusion of the Chang(e) Caravan, a 15-day journey which has taken Greenpeace activists, communities and five Asian elephants across the climate change-impacted central plains of Thailand. The exchange of the Greenpeace collected voices of Southeast Asia’s most vulnerable populations were presented to UNFCCC chief  Yvo de Boe outside of the United Nations Conference Centre (UNCC). Read more about the Chang[e] Caravan and see the images of their 15 day trek which began in the outskirts of Khao Yai National Park in Nakhon Ratchasima province 250 kilometers North of Bangkok.

While the first day will be a good chance to become more familiar with the UNFCCC process and also attend many meetings and hopefully have an reintroduction to Mr. Michael Martin, Canada’s Chief Negotiator and Ambassador for Climate Change who I will be tracking for the following two weeks.

While Mr.Martin might not be as familiar in the public image as the Honourable Jim Prentice, Minister of the Environment,they both will be representing Canada at COP 15. Here is a quote from the Environment Canada’s website which would be the main result you would find when trying to search online for information on Canada’s role at the conference in Copenhagen.

The goal of this year’s conference in Copenhagen is to reach a new global agreement for fighting climate change. Canada intends to play an active and constructive role

If you are like many Canadians would like to know more on Canada’s position and their climate policy heading into COP 15 make sure that you call or email your local MP and the Minister of the Environment as well to show your concern on the issue.