The foreign minister, Mr. Baird, has made a plain-spoken speech in Washington telling the U.S. to build the Keystone XL pipeline or officially say no to the project. It is a clever manoeuvre by Canada to attempt to call what many think is a bluff on the part of Barack Obama. John Baird told the U.S. Chamber of Commerce: “The time for Keystone is now. I’ll go further — the time for a decision on Keystone is now, even if it’s not the right one.” Obama need not and probably will not respond to the dare – but that’s what it is. Canada is saying “Cancel it if you dare.” World conditions and public opinion seem to form an unstoppable force for the construction of the pipeline, certainly for those who believe in it.
