WASHINGTON – John Baird is using an anecdote from his time as a young staffer in the Mulroney government to illustrate how much Canada’s foreign policy has changed.

The foreign affairs minister spoke to more than 1,000 people at an American Jewish Congress convention today in Washington.

Baird says he was in the room when the subject of rocket attacks on Israel came up, and a civil servant explained that it was difficult to distinguish the good guys from the bad guys in the Middle East.

He says briefings like that never occur in Ottawa anymore.

Baird’s speech criticized what he calls moral relativism in foreign policy, and delivered familiar warnings about Iran and Israel’s other neighbours who would question its existence.

Baird was preceded on stage by Hillary Clinton. Each spoke kindly of the other, and delivered a similar joke: that she was, in fact, the opening act for Baird.

They also echoed each other on a key policy point, as they delivered similarly skeptical messages about dealing with the Iranian government.