Stephen Harper has celebrated the first anniversary of his majority by reminding Canadians of the moral tone he offers his country.

A week ago, Mr. Harper announced Canada would examine "all options" as the 2014 deadline for pulling our troops out of Afghanistan approached. Since Parliament had voted unanimously for that deadline and for no other options, NDP Leader Tom Mulcair asked the Prime Minister when Canadian troops would actually be brought home.

It's unlikely that Stephen Harper, John Baird, Mitt Romney or Newt Gingrich have ever heard of Tamir Pardo, Meir Dagan, Amos Yadlin, Gabi Ashkenazi or Yuval Diskin. But it would probably make no difference if they had. After all, Benjamin Netanyahu certainly knows them well and ignores them completely.

So the reckless escalation of aggression against Iran, both physical and rhetorical, continues apace. Presumably the end game is both regime change in Tehran and an end to Iran's nuclear ambitions -- admirable, if unrealistic, objectives. Far more plausible is an uncontrollable conflict that will spread throughout the Middle East and from there to, well, no one knows. But it is not wrong to fear the worst, as many knowledgeable observers do.

The Harper government is about to create a new Office of Religious Freedom, designed to champion religious freedom around the world. For those who have questioned, especially in a time of deep austerity, the need for such an office, activities within and among the world's three great monotheistic religions during the recent Holy Days -- in order of birth Judaism, Christianity and Islam -- provide a ready answer. There is much work for Canada to do.

There must be cheers all 'round tonight, not to mention a palpable sense of relief, among the senior officers of the air forces of NATO.

After all, their six-month bombing campaign to assassinate Libya's unsavoury dictator, Col. Muammar Gaddafi, was becoming an embarrassment, an advertisement for the ineffectiveness of bombs and aircraft against even the weakest of opponents.

Dear Minister Baird.

I wonder if you might entertain a few Polonius-like chestnuts about your daunting new gig from a world-weary older chap.

Of course you'd be the first to recognize that where you're concerned, one invariably thinks not of Hamlet but of the old Jekyll and Hyde tale. Can you actually transmogrify from the deranged Mr. Hyde who almost single-handedly brought Parliament into disrepute into Canada's sophisticated senior diplomat? Believe it or not, for the sake of Canada, many of us hope so.

The Canadian Government, led by returning Environment Minister John Baird, has kicked of the UN climate talks in Cancun by winning an incredible first, second and third place Fossil of the Day awards! With three consecutive Colossal Fossil of the Year awards behind them, it seems this government is continuing its reckless approach to climate change in the hopes of setting even more fossil records. Canada won its first colossal fossil in Bali under the leadership of Minister Baird. The Fossil of the Day is an award voted on and given by over 400 leading international organizations to the country who has done the most to disrupt or undermine the UN climate talks.