What is Canada Doing?

Climate Change Conference -Durban, South Africa

So it has come to this. China is in a position to criticize Canada for our lack of  action on climate change, and they don't look silly doing it. Virtually every other country in the world including China has a presence at the conference, showing off what they are doing to be progressive, while Canada apparently has nothing to show. We have a closed door that says clearly to the whole world "Canada doesn't care". See Globe and Mail report from Dec 7th http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/politics/low-profile-in-durban-relegates-canada-to-margins-of-climate-debate/article2262549/
This is a federal agenda  that stands at odds with what I see and hear every day as a local and regional municipal politician. Canadian municipalities and provinces are taking climate change seriously and investing  huge amounts of staff time and resources into making changes to reduce our carbon foot print. Our small town of Halton Hills alone has invested in geothermal heating for all of our new buildings constructed in the last 5 years. That includes 2 fire halls and 2 libraries, not to mention one heritage house.
How can our federal government be so disconnected from the people it governs? How can it care so little about our reputation internationally? How can it deny there is a problem?
To quote  Geoffry York in the referenced  Globe and Mail report, "While Canada remains low profile, its reputation is taking a beating. "It's incurring diplomatic damage that will take years to repair," said Radoslav Dimitrov, a Canadian professor and member of the European Union delegation at Durban.
Add to this that we are now ranked 54th out of 61 countries on an index for carbon emissions and climate policies according to a German environmental group. This is not the sort of publicity that I would like for my Country.
I can remember thinking of Canada as a LEADING country, not a laggard. The odd thing is that I still think of Halton Region and Halton Hills as leaders and innovators. I believe that people in municipalities across this country think the same way about their cities and towns. I have learned about progress across Canada via my attendance at the Canadian Federation of Municipalities annual conferences.
The performance of Canada on the world stage is a great disappointment and embarrassment to this Canadian.
Meanwhile there is an on-line petition that can be accessed at http://www.avaaz.org/.  protesting efforts to derail climate change talks. At the time of writing the petition was over 640,000 and growing by the second. As people sign up  their name comes up on a scrolling list which  includes a little nationality flag. People from around the world are signing and lots of Canadian flags are showing up too. I don't think they are too happy with the Canadian performance at Durban either.