John Baird is, whether he saw it coming or not, the face of Israeli solidarity in Canada. I wonder if, as he delivered his first victory speech upon being elected to Ontario’s legislature in 1995, Baird could ever have guessed that would happen. Would he ever have considered that, seventeen years after he was first elected, he’d be standing in front of the United Nations at all? And there he was, staking out lonely ground—alongside powerful friends from the United States, Israel, and the fearsome south Pacific—in advance of a cause destined to fail, urging a room full of people who disagree to change course. Ultimately, of course, he was unsuccessful. The UN General Assembly voted to recognize the Palestinian Authority as a non-member observer state. But this morning, Baird wasn’t embarrassed on Canada’s front pages. To the contrary, he’s simply cast as a stubborn, principled, and doggedly determined man whose top quote, that the UN’s vote was "utterly regrettable", carried the day. There’s little mention of Baird’s boss, the prime minister, in any top coverage. Indeed, it’s Baird versus the World. Maybe he got bored in the House of Commons.

What’s above the fold this morning?

The Globe and Mail leads with Ontario’s desire to sell off government-owned shares in General Motors. The National Post fronts the United Nations vote to recognize the Palestinian Authority as a non-member observer state. The Toronto Star goes above the fold with the bus driver who rerouted her vehicle to transport Mayor Rob Ford’s football team. The Ottawa Citizen leads with the latest details in Elections Canada’s investigation of voter suppression during the last federal campaign. iPolitics fronts a loophole in the federal government’s integrity policy related to procurement. National Newswatch showcases the Citizen’s story about the Elections Canada investigation into voter suppression.

Stories that will be (mostly) missed