David Miller is ranting against the Conservative government's piss-poor environmental record.

One of the political luxuries of announcing retirement a year in advance is the freedom to comment on a wide array of issues without consequences, as evidenced here.

Fresh with a fossil award in hand, Miller said the following:

“I think I speak on behalf of all Canadians when I say it’s an embarrassment to us that our government’s being singled out as one that’s not acting on the most important issue the planet is facing.”

Miller speaks with much more authority in consideration of the fact that he is the current chair of a climate change association made up of the world’s 40 largest cities, known as the C40.

Meanwhile, the humble Mayor from Vancouver only walks into Copenhagen with North America’s most impressive performance on controlling emissions.  Now while that might be golden in terms of his status within the climate change talks and in his ability to attract business interest in Vancouver (an objective that I am told the Mayor is also aggressively pursuing in his efforts over in Europe), it also represents constraints when it comes to making a political statement with regards to Canada’s environmental record.

Unlike Miller, or former Mayor Larry Campbell, whose utterance about the Conservatives in the midst of an election campaign secured his exit from municipal politics, Gregor is going to be around for a while and going to have to work with his federal counterparts for some time to come.

On the other hand, the contrast between Vancouver’s record on emissions when compared to the country as a whole is quite compelling, meaning that maybe Gregor doesn’t have to say a thing to emphasize the city’s attractiveness to foreign audiences.

Still, I would have loved to have seen the diplomatic, mild-mannered Robertson turn into a political beast for one moment, if for nothing else but to castigate this clueless bunch of neanderthals we currently have in Ottawa on his favourite public policy issue.