Environment Minister Jim Prentice says Canada's performance at the Copenhagen climate change summit was a success, but critics have slammed the federal government for not taking an active role in reaching an agreement.

Prentice said that Canada fulfilled all of its negotiating objectives laid out before the conference and was a "very active player" at the conference.

"For the first time we have an international agreement that applies to everyone," Prentice told CTV News Channel.

"This was the problem, frankly, with Kyoto. The Americans had no obligation to reduce their emissions under Kyoto; the Chinese, the Indians, the Brazilians -- the so-called major emerging economies had no obligations under Kyoto."

Prentice said the agreement should be judged on more than what took place last week.

"This agreement didn't just emerge in the closing hours of Copenhagen," Prentice said. "The substance of this agreement has developed over the course of the last year starting in the major emerging economies forum that was convened by (U.S. President Barack Obama)... We've sat at that table since January."

Prentice said Canada can deem the negotiations a success because the final agreement reflected Canada's goals of a 20 per cent cut on greenhouse gas emissions over 2006 levels by 2020, an agreement that was applicable to all the world's emitters.

He also said it was a deal that would allow Canada to harmonize its emissions plan with that of the U.S.

Prentice would not comment on the effect the deepening divide between provinces and Ottawa had on Canada's ability to negotiate. But he referred to the discord as a "difficult issue." During the summit, Quebec Premier Jean Charest said the provinces would take their own initiative in tackling climate change, if the federal government failed to negotiate a strong deal.

"We need certainly to have everyone working together," Prentice said. "Some of the provinces chose to be critical of Canada internationally. I don't agree with that. I don't think it was a responsible thing to do. That being as it is, we will carry on. We will work together."

Meanwhile, environmentalists have accused the government of failing to be a strong player at Copenhagen.

"It would be pretty hard to put a positive spin on it," Bruce Cox, executive director for Greenpeace Canada, told The Canadian Press. "Canada went into Copenhagen as a laggard, but we were worse than a laggard."

Cox was not alone in pointing to the deal as a failure. Quebec environmentalist Steven Guilbeault raised concerns that the Copenhagen accord offers money to developing nations to help them fight global warming without setting new greenhouse-gas reduction targets. Instead, most of the countries that attended the conference and agreed to the deal are expected to set their own emission reduction commitments, without mandatory limits.

"We can't have a system where people can pick and choose what they do," Guilbeault said.

Canada was vilified at the summit by environmental groups, and was named "Fossil of the Year."

Groups mocked Canada for rising emissions, accused it of stonewalling talks, and ridiculed Prime Minister Stephen Harper. The "award" points to Canada for rising emissions and accuses it of being "the absolute worst country at the talks."

At his final news conference in Copenhagen, Harper said he was willing to let the other leaders work out a deal.

"Our interests were protected through a strategic alliance with other key players," he said. CTV's Robert Fife reported he was alluding to Obama.

The opposition says Canada should have done better.

"Our government I'm afraid, just took a back seat for the ride and hope to get out of it without any of its policies changed," said NDP Leader Jack Layton.

Liberal Leader Michael Ignatieff said Canada should have come up with its own policy and not followed the U.S.

"We can't have Canadian energy and environmental policy held hostage by American politics," he said.

With files from The Canadian Press