John Baird is Canada's Minister of Foreign Affairs, and one of the Conservative government's most vocal parliamentarians, earning himself title as 'the Prime Minister's pit-bull'.

He's also known as the 'First Lady's' public date when Stephen Harper is out of town - no threat as Baird is acknowledged by the Ottawa press as a closet homosexual. When this first came to light he was absent several days from parliament - a somewhat delicate matter for the Prime Minister's inner circle of fundamentalist Christians.

Indeed, it was the Canadian Religious Right (Catholics, Protestants & others) which returned the Conservatives to power in May, 2011. And a proposed Office of Religious Freedom was one of their election promises, likely conjured up to appease concerned religious minorities: immigrants, Seventh-day Adventists, Jehovah's Witnesses et al. In other words, to secure support from the non-mainstream religious collective. And it worked.

Tonight in Washington, D.C., Minister Baird will "champion religious freedom" while promoting Canada's planned 'Office of Religious Freedom'. But over the last year the Canadian government has kept all details of this Office from the public eye - no transparency for Religious Freedom thus far.

The Religious Liberty Dinner is an annual event sponsored by departments of the Seventh-day Adventist Church and hosted this year by the Canadian Embassy in Washington.

Since the Conservative's majority win last year, John Baird has become a strong supporter of gay rights world-wide.

John Baird - SDA Religious Liberty Dinner keynote:

http://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/story/2012/05/23/pol-religious-freedom-john-baird.html

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