Gregor Robertson trashes Canada's record on climate change in Washington

Vancouver Mayor Gregor Robertson has trashed the Canadiangovernment's record on climate change in front of a distinguished audience at the U.S. State Department.

He is the only Canadian mayor invited to the"Our Cities, OurClimate" summit in Washington, D.C.

His comments came during a conference on green cities, organized by former New York mayor and current UN climate envoy Michael Bloomberg and attended by top officials from the department.

Robertson says Canada is an embarrassing laggard on climatechange under the Harper government and hopes the Oct.19election produces a government that plays a more constructiverole.

His comments came at the end of a formal luncheon, in a paneldiscussion featuring three mayors Robertson, and peers from Japanand Nigeria.

The Vancouver mayor met Secretary of State John Kerry, who delivered opening remarks at the event, although he left before the post-luncheon panel discussion started.

"Mayors also have economic incentives to act, because people want to live in cities with clean air. And where people want to live, businesses want to invest. The more cities can attract talented and hard-working people, the more their economies will grow,"Kerry and Bloomberg said in a joint statement.

In an interview later, Robertson said he keeps hearing questionsabout Canada's climate recordfrom people in Washington and during a recent visit to theVatican.

American officials did not comment on Canadian domestic policy. They did, however, arrange media interviews with the visiting mayors. Robertson says he was invited to the summit several weeks ago.

Robertson was also the only Canadian mayor whomet with Pope Francis at the Vaticanto discuss the role cities can play in addressing climate change, sustainability, and poverty.