Harper in town...but not seen

So the word is that Harper has finally arrived in Copenhagen, but has yet to be seen.

Apparently he is leaving Canada's address to the plenary tonight to Environment Minister Jim Prentice and instead will be dining with other leaders.

Harper and Prentice have also not responded to earlier requests to meet with the Canadian Youth Delegation in Copenhagen, though I clearly remember Prentice looking us in the eye in Ottawa back in October and saying "see you in Copenhagen!" The lack of access to our elected leaders here in Copenhagen seems to signal the general trend in the shutting down of transparency here for the UN negotiations. Only 300 civil society members were allowed inside the Bella Centre, compared with the roughly 30,000 or so that were registered. 

There is concern that this is the beginning of a process to "greenwash the outcome" - as in the pressure to create a deal even if its a bad deal because Copenhagen is committed to having a "success". That being said, tomorrow is set to be the most momentous day here for the UN negotiations, and Obama's speech in particular could set the course for the future of these negotiations once the glamour of the Copenhagen summit is over.

Will a fair, ambitious and legally binding treaty be in the works? Will Canada continue to be the new international climate villain? The next 24 hours will tell...