Foreign Affairs Minister John Baird hosts impromptu twitter chat

For the second time in six months, Foreign Affairs Minister John Baird has taken to the twitter airwaves to host an impromptu Q&A under the #AskBaird hashtag.  

Among the revelations to emerge over the course of the chat, which lasted just over an hour:
 

• His favourite moment on the job so far has been presenting Aung San Suu Kyi with honourary Canadian citizenship
  
   
• He brought his NDP and Liberal foreign affairs critics Paul Dewar and Marc Garneau to Iraq because he felt it would be "of value to all parties to be able to assess the situation for themselves
   
• While "a tweet won't tackle ISIL," he sees "digital diplomacy" as "an important tool for promoting our values."
   
• As a Canadian with Scottish roots, he'd vote nay on independence, as the United Kingdom "is an amazing country [and] would be weaker divided."
   
• His favourite television show ever "has to be The Simpsons," he loves both the British and American House of Cards, and is still on the first season of Homeland
   
• He hasn't given much thought to the latest twist in the Toronto municipal race, but thinks John Tory "is a friend who has all the qualities to be a great mayor."

Oh, and that much-retweeted map reminding Russia where Not Russia begin? The brainchild of "one smart intern" at @CanadaNATO.

The full Q&A, organized loosely by theme: