Harper's Minister of Natural Resources, Joe Oliver, continues to make a fool of himself as he jets around fighting to get pipelines approved. While in Washington he launched an attack on noted climatologist James Hansen and was appropriately ridiculed for doing so. This week while in Europe he announced that Canada would fight the EU in the WTO  if the EU proceeds with a fuel-quality directive that singles out crude from Canada’s oil sands as the most harmful to the planet’s climate. And this at a time when the Harper govt is anxiously trying to conclude a free trade deal with the EU. The following day Oliver was forced to issue a retraction by the denizens of PMO. There aren't too bright lights in the current Harper cabinet. Oliver is certainly not one of those few. There are recurring rumours of a cabinet shuffle soon to revive the Harper govt's flagging fortunes. Let's hope that Oliver is kicked off the bus when that happened.

TAGS: sustainable fisheries, climate change, Joe Oliver, pipelines