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An unapologetic Stephen Harper emerged from a weekend Commonwealth meeting convinced that his stand on climate change is the right way to go despite allegations that he isolated Canada at a major international forum.

"I think for the first time in a very long time, Canada's voice is being heard," Mr. Harper told reporters at the end of the three-day meeting of leaders from the 53-nation Commonwealth. "And the consequence of our voice being heard is that we're getting the changes that we want to see.

"I think that's what a country with an active foreign policy does," he said.

Liberal Leader Stéphane Dion, on the other hand, derided Mr. Harper's position as a failure of leadership.

"Our role is to be exemplary, to show leadership, and to then encourage the other countries to do more," Mr. Dion said in an interview. "But if we want to go to the speed of slowest member of the class ... well, this is a big mistake. It's a recipe for catastrophe."

Canada fought vociferously against the initial wording of a proposed climate-change resolution that called for "binding commitments" for greenhouse gas emissions that would be applied to developed countries. Mr. Harper balked, insisting that if targets were to be binding, they should apply to all large emitters, in particular emerging economies like China and India, a member of the Commonwealth.

"Agreeing to an international statement like that doesn't get us anywhere any further than we're at already. If we're going to get an effective international protocol ... we have to get everybody to sign on at once."

The call for binding targets on developed countries was backed by Britain and other Commonwealth nations, especially small island nations like Malta, which feel threatened by rising sea levels.

But with Canada, Australia and New Zealand objecting, the Commonwealth leaders had to go back to the drawing board.

India and South Africa, who believe that the major responsibility for global warning remains with the developed world, said they would not sign on to "binding commitments" either.

Because the Commonwealth operates through consensus, any reference to "binding commitments" disappeared and leaders were forced to adopt a much weaker statement which calls only for "a long-term aspirational global goal for emissions reductions to which all countries would contribute."

Mr. Harper was incensed by suggestions that Canada was isolated at the meeting. "On the contrary," he told reporters, "it's the first time in these international meetings that a group of countries worked with us to assure a better result. The position of Canada is clear and we have no intention of changing it."

Although he said Canada was not isolated, the only country he identified as backing the Canadian position was Trinidad. Other sources added New Zealand and Australia, whose diplomats were still under orders from the just-defeated government of John Howard.

Mr. Harper said that he would never sign a Kyoto-like pact.

"The only way we're going to get an effective international agreement is to get everyone to sign on at one time," Mr. Harper said. "We already saw at Kyoto if we get a third of the world to sign on first and wait for the other two-thirds it's never going to happen."

The dispute over the climate-change wording is simply a warm-up for the United Nations negotiations in Bali, Indonesia, next week on whether to extend the Kyoto Protocol.

Mr. Dion scoffed at the notion of agreeing to "aspirational goals" when humanity is facing an enormous ecological threat.

He said yesterday that a Liberal government would commit Canada to binding targets to reduce greenhouse gases, and set an example for other countries to follow.

"It's doable without hurting the Canadian economy," Mr. Dion said. "To the contrary, if we design it well, we would have a country with more energy efficiency, with better industrial processes, built on recycling instead of waste."

Despite the criticism at home, Mr. Harper showed no signs of backing down. As with his stand on human rights in China or his reversing of Canada's traditional position on aboriginal rights at the UN, he thinks a muscular, single-minded approach to foreign policy is preferable even if it's not necessarily popular.

"We have a position that has a significant amount of support and more importantly, it's the only right position,'' Mr. Harper insisted.

With the Commonwealth operating on a consensus basis, the statement on climate change, like its other pronouncements, were adopted unanimously so it was hard to find outspoken criticism of Mr. Harper.

The harshest words came from Malaysian Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, who said he had been looking for "something specific" when it came to climate change rather than a statement of generalities.

Asked what he thought of Mr. Harper's intervention in the process, he responded that "in some ways, I do feel a little bit disappointed."

"We would like the developed countries to take more steps than the developing countries," he added.

While Mr. Harper attracted criticism for his stand, it was also clear that two other leading Commonwealth members, India and South Africa, were unwilling to accept the idea of binding targets.

In fact, a source at one small island nation laid the blame for the failure to come up with stronger language in the statement on India rather than on Canada.

The Indian press virtually ignored the meeting, except for the appointment of an Indian as the Commonwealth's new secretary-general, convinced that a Commonwealth statement on climate change would be meaningless.

"India was not going [to accept] any statement that includes binding targets," explained Sanjay Suri, a correspondent with Interpress news agency. "The Indian position is in line with the U.S. [and Canadian] position in that both are opposed to binding targets. Even if it's for conflicting reasons, the end position is the same."

With a report from Heather Scoffield

'BETTER THAN MOST'

Prime Minister Stephen Harper acknowledged yesterday that not all of the Commonwealth's 53 members are "perfect" but he insisted that the organization is better than most when it comes to protecting human rights and democratic ideals.

"Because the Commonwealth does put democracy, human rights and good governance at its core, doesn't by any means mean that all of the countries here are perfect democracies or even model democracies," he told reporters at the end of a three-day meeting of heads of government.

Mr. Harper was responding to concerns that the Commonwealth is inconsistent in its application of its democratic ideals. Critics here have noted that while Pakistan was suspended last week over the withdrawal of constitutional rights and democratic freedoms, countries such as Uganda have been accused of stifling political opposition and remain in good standing with the organization.

"We're not blind to the problems that exist in this country," he said after a bilateral meeting with Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni.

The President is accused of imprisoning his main opponent during the last election. Northern Uganda has also been racked by a war for two decades.

But Mr. Harper said that Uganda, which lived through the bloody regime of Idi Amin, nevertheless "is moving in a positive direction."

"It's always a balancing act to urge further progress without jeopardizing the progress that has taken place. But certainly the President and I discussed these things."

The Prime Minister admitted that Uganda remains a country with too much poverty. "Despite the great problems of this country, I sense a hope here, a hope that hasn't been around for a long time."

And he believes that the Commonwealth is a worthwhile grouping because it does suspend members who fail to abide by its democratic standards.

"The Commonwealth does have value-added compared to other international organizations where a significant backsliding on rights or democracy has no consequences," he said. "This is one organization where there are consequences ... I would say as a rule the developing countries in Commonwealth are provably on average better than most."

Alan Freeman