Dear World: Sorry about that. He's really just a minority leader.

Unfortunately, the world found out two things about our Prime Minister this week.

He doesn't give a shit about the environment and he is full of himself.

These two articles about Harper's performance at the G8 basically sum it up:

Rick Salutin from the Globe here.

He's the Gunga Din of post-9/11, carrying water (and oil) to his masters, along with the white man's burden.

He was at his most smug and patronizing as he lectured those "less developed" than us about climate change - a term he and others have managed to substitute for global warming.

Those nations must snicker faster than they can bristle as they watch our PM strut among the G8 as he condescends to them. He's George Bush's poodle now that Tony Blair's moved on, and there's nothing to be gained by it.

And Les Whittington from the Star here.

And Harper, like his U.S. counterpart, has sought to keep his country's negotiated climate change commitments to a minimum.

A senior Canadian official privy to this year's closed-door G8 talks in Japan told the media that Harper succeeded in helping to convince the other participants that a joint agreement to cut greenhouse gases should stick to realistic targets and steer clear of "aspirational" goals.

That's in part why the G8, which also includes Russia, Japan, France, Germany, Britain and Italy, concocted a climate change agreement – calling for a halving of global carbon emissions by 2050 – that developing countries derided as inadequate and environmentalists called a waste of time.

Well I guess I better figure out what the Green Shift is all about. I really don't want this idiot representing me at the next G8.