VZCZCXRO6778
PP RUEHGA RUEHHA RUEHQU RUEHVC
DE RUEHOT #0290 0562252
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 252252Z FEB 08
FM AMEMBASSY OTTAWA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 7400
INFO RUCNCAN/ALL CANADIAN POSTS COLLECTIVE PRIORITY
RUEKJCS/SECDEF WASHDC PRIORITY
RHMFIUU/CDR NORAD PETERSON AFB CO PRIORITY

UNCLAS OTTAWA 000290 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PREL MARR MOPS PTER CA
SUBJECT: NEW BILATERAL CIVIL ASSISTANCE SPARKS SOME 
CRITICISM 
 
REF: OTTAWA 136 
 
¶1.  (SBU) Summary:  A new U.S. - Canada Civil Assistance Plan 
(CAP) is one in a series of post-9/11 bilateral defense and 
security measures designed to serve both countries when 
natural or manmade disasters occur.  Lack of public 
information here about this bilateral military accord has 
begun to spark some political criticism in Canada, however. 
Closer bilateral coordination, synchronization, and 
transparency would help to neutralize potential Canadian 
political opposition to the CAP and other new defense and 
security agreements.  End summary. 
 
New Mil/Mil Plan for Civil Emergencies... 
----------------------------------------- 
 
¶2.  (SBU) U.S. NORTHCOM and Canada Command commanders General 
Gene Renuart and General Marc Dumais on February 15 signed a 
new U.S. - Canada Civil Assistance Plan (CAP).  The CAP 
provides a planning and operational framework for the 
military of one country to provide support to the military of 
the other country in the performance of civil support 
operations, such as in cases of flooding, forest fires, 
hurricanes, earthquakes, or in the aftermath of a terrorist 
attack.  Under the CAP, military forces from one nation would 
augment the other nation's military (not civilian) forces in 
civil support operations.  The CAP does not cover support for 
law enforcement operations.  Legal considerations related to 
the troops fall under the 1953 NATO Status of Force 
Agreement.  Appropriate civilian authorities, in coordination 
with the U.S. Department of State (DOS) and the Canada's 
Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade 
(DFAIT), would determine when to invoke the CAP. 
 
¶3.  (SBU) The CAP, the Basic Defense Document of 2006 and the 
May 2008 Joint Declaration on Defense Relations variously 
clarify and improve cross-border planning and operational 
preparation, to include how and when mutual aid is required 
to face natural and man-made disasters in either country. 
Efforts to complement these initiatives, such as a Combined 
Defense Plan (CDP) and a Combined Mission Interoperability 
Plan (CMIP), should further strengthen bilateral defense 
cooperation. 
 
...Provokes Some Public Criticism 
--------------------------------- 
 
¶4.  (SBU)  The leftist Council of Canadians (COC) has already 
publicly criticized the Canadian government for failing to 
release information about this agreement, which could 
"militarize" the bilateral relationship.  COC spokesman 
Stuart Trew has raised the specter of renegade, armed U.S. 
troops patrolling Canadian pipelines and roads.  He noted 
that, in contrast, NORTHCOM's website already offered 
information about the CAP.  He additionally voiced concerns 
about who would control American forces engaging in such 
operations in Canada. 
 
¶5.  (SBU) Comment:  Those few Canadians who will even notice 
the CAP will likely see it as a good thing for both Canada 
and the U.S.  The allegations by COC nonetheless will no 
doubt further feed the fever of conspiracy theorists in 
Canada (and the U.S.) about a potential loss of Canadian 
sovereignty from NAFTA and the Security and Prosperity 
Partnership, among other agreements.  An apparent lack of 
inter-governmental coordination and/or transparency about the 
announcement of the CAP likely heightened domestic suspicions 
here and may have driven up the political cost to the 
Canadian government.  It would be worthwhile for both sides 
better to synchronize the public affairs aspects of such 
positive initiatives in order to maximize the comfort levels 
Qpositive initiatives in order to maximize the comfort levels 
related to new efforts at needed cross-border cooperation. 
 
Visit Canada,s Economy and Environment Forum at 
http://www.intelink.gov/communities/state/can ada 
 
WILKINS