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OO RUEHDBU RUEHDT RUEHGA RUEHHA RUEHPB RUEHPW RUEHQU RUEHVC
DE RUEHOT #0915/01 1362115
ZNY CCCCC ZZH
O 162115Z MAY 07
FM AMEMBASSY OTTAWA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 5647
INFO RUCNAFG/AFGHANISTAN COLLECTIVE PRIORITY
RUCNARF/ASEAN REGIONAL FORUM COLLECTIVE PRIORITY
RUEHBY/AMEMBASSY CANBERRA PRIORITY 1281
RUEHJA/AMEMBASSY JAKARTA PRIORITY 0232
RUEHKL/AMEMBASSY KUALA LUMPUR PRIORITY 0345
RUEHMO/AMEMBASSY MOSCOW PRIORITY 2158
RUEHWL/AMEMBASSY WELLINGTON PRIORITY 0226
RUEKJCS/JOINT STAFF WASHDC PRIORITY
RUEAIIA/CIA WASHDC PRIORITY
RHEHNSC/WHITE HOUSE NSC WASHINGTON DC PRIORITY
RUCNCAN/ALL CANADIAN POSTS COLLECTIVE

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 OTTAWA 000915 
 
SIPDIS 
 
NOFORN 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR EAP/RSP (KEVIN SHEIVES) 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 05/16/2017 
TAGS: PREL PTER PARM KNNP ARF XB CA
SUBJECT: CANADA'S APPROACH TO MAY 25 ARF MEETING IN MANILA 
 
REF: STATE 64134 
 
Classified By: PolMinCouns Brian Flora.  Reasons: 1.4 (b) and (d). 
 
¶1.  (SBU) Summary.  Canada and the U.S. agree on most of the 
important issues to be addressed at the upcoming ASEAN 
Regional Forum (ARF) Senior Officials Meeting (SOM) in 
Manila.  Canada is enthusiastic about the U.S. draft UNSCR 
1540 implementation statement, agrees that the 
inter-sessional meeting (ISM) on non-proliferation should not 
be re-titled, and stands with us against Russia's draft 
statement on inter-civilizational dialogue.  The Canadians do 
not like, but will not oppose, the U.S. proposal on ISM 
working groups.  Canada will press the ARF to record its 
support for the NATO-ISAF mission in Afghanistan, and will 
ask the U.S. delegation to do the same.  This cooperation on 
the eve of the SOM is the latest sign of a positive trend of 
GOC officials seeking and exploiting areas of policy 
convergence with the U.S.  End summary. 
 
¶2.  (C/RelCan) We delivered reftel demarche on the May 25 
ASEAN Regional Forum Senior Officials Meeting in Manila to 
Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade (DFAIT) 
Asia-Pacific Policy Advisor Philip Cordier on May 15. 
Cordier emphasized Canadian agreement with U.S. views on the 
UNSCR 1540 implementation statement, the inter-sessional 
meeting (ISM) on non-proliferation, and the need to "kill" 
the Russian draft statement on inter-civilizational dialogue. 
 
 
UNSCR 1540 Implementation Statement 
----------------------------------- 
¶3.  (C/RelCan) Canada, Cordier said, was enthusiastic about 
the UNSCR 1540 implementation statement.  U.S. officials 
would hear strong, vocal support from Canada at the SOM.  The 
Canadians liked the U.S. text and expected to "follow the 
U.S. lead" on reacting to statement language suggested by the 
Indonesians; language that appeared to be an attempt to water 
down the emphasis on national implementation.  Cordier added 
that Canadian officials would look forward to developing a 
shared strategy with U.S. and other counterparts at the 
informal pre-meeting of "like-mindeds" in Manila. 
 
ISM on Proliferation 
-------------------- 
¶4.  (SBU) Canada agreed with the U.S. that the 
inter-sessional meeting (ISM) on non-proliferation should 
not/not be re-titled, Cordier said.  Canadian officials, he 
noted, would look forward to strategizing on this issue with 
their U.S. counterparts in Manila. 
 
¶5.  (C/NF) Canada would like eventually to chair the ISM, and 
Cordier had just begun to prepare a pitch for the necessary 
funds from the GOC when we called on him. 
 
Russian Draft Statement of Inter-Civilizational Dialogue 
--------------------------------------------- ----------- 
¶6.  (C/RelCan) Canada's preference, according to Cordier, 
would be for no consensus to emerge on the Russian draft 
statement of inter-civilizational dialogue, and for it to "go 
away."  In the absence of that happy outcome, Cordier said, 
the GOC would seek support for Canada's alternative text. 
Canada, he added, was grateful for U.S. backing, expected to 
receive the support of Australia and New Zealand, and would 
Qreceive the support of Australia and New Zealand, and would 
probably garner EU and Malaysian support as well.  The 
Canadians were hoping to parlay expected Malaysian backing 
into support from the other ASEAN members.  The GOC was also 
struggling over whether to demarche Indonesia and Thailand 
directly, or to leave it to the Malaysians. 
 
Inter-sessional Meeting Working Groups 
-------------------------------------- 
¶7.  (SBU) Cordier emphasized that while Canada would remain 
silent on the issue in Manila, the GOC disagreed with the 
U.S. call for an ISM working group, or groups.  Canada, in 
particular, was concerned about the proliferation of such 
groups that, in some cases, were not very useful.  If the 
U.S. proposal was adopted, he said, Canada would try to staff 
it.  In that case Canada would ask, however, that any new 
 
OTTAWA 00000915  002 OF 002 
 
 
meetings be tied to others already on the calendar.  Doing so 
would relieve the pressure on the GOC's small and overworked 
cadre of subject matter experts. 
 
Manila 
------ 
¶8. (C/RelCan) Cordier reviewed a copy of the ARF provisional 
agenda, noting that: 
 
-- (Item 5) Afghanistan would figure prominently in the 
Canadian intervention, and Canada would appreciate the same 
from the U.S in order to ensure that members (vice only 
Canada's) support for the mission would be noted in the 
Chair's Statement.  The Canadians would also share 
observations about regional and international security 
threats related to North Korea, Iran, and Burma.  And the GOC 
would congratulate East Timor on its recent elections. 
 
-- (Item 8.2) Canada would like information about U.S. 
funding for the proposed study on preventative diplomacy. 
 
-- (Item 8.5.2) Canadian officials appreciated the 
participation of the OSCE in the ARF meetings at multiple 
levels, and would like to hear what it has to say about 
preventative diplomacy and confidence-building.  The SCO was 
another matter, Cordier said, and Canada was worried about 
the motivation of its leaders. 
 
-- (Item 8.6) The GOC was hoping that Kazakhstan's 
application for membership would not come up again.  Canada 
would support the continuation of a moratorium on new 
members. 
 
ISG Ottawa, April 2008 
---------------------- 
¶9.  (U) Canada will host the ARF Inter-sessional Support 
Group (ISG) meeting in Ottawa, 1-3 April 2008. 
 
¶10.  (C/RelCan) Canadian officials had been thinking about 
inviting NATO to brief the ISG.  Doing so could provide 
delegates direct exposure to NATO thinking on confidence 
building measures related to the Mediterranean Dialogue, a 
non-threatening, useful way to get NATO into the meeting, 
Cordier said. 
 
Comment 
------- 
¶11.  (C/NF) Cordier ended our meeting by saying, 
"Three-and-a-half out of four ain't bad, right?"  Embassy 
would note that Canada's welcome approach to the ARF SOM 
tracks with our recent experience on many other defense and 
security issues.  Rather than emphasizing our differences, as 
DFAIT operators so often did in international fora under the 
Liberals, the Harper government has directed officials to 
look for and exploit areas of common-cause with the U.S. 
While there remain important differences in certain critical 
areas of defense and security policy, the trend emerging 
among many of our contacts is to seek out and exploit areas 
of U.S.-Canada policy convergence. 
 
Visit Canada's Classified Web Site at 
http://www.state.sgov.gov/p/wha/ottawa 
 
WILKINS