VZCZCXRO5403
RR RUEHGA RUEHHA RUEHQU RUEHVC
DE RUEHOT #0377/01 0741539
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 141539Z MAR 08
FM AMEMBASSY OTTAWA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 7519
INFO RUEHME/AMEMBASSY MEXICO 1799
RUCNCAN/ALL CANADIAN POSTS COLLECTIVE

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 OTTAWA 000377 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
 
STATE FOR WHA/CAN, L/T 
 
PASS USTR (SULLIVAN, MELLE, GARDE) 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV ECON KIPR KTIA CA
SUBJECT: Canada's Treaty-making Process 
 
Ref: 04 Ottawa 1982 
 
¶1. (SBU) Summary: Canada in January 2008 revised its treaty-making 
process to include review of all international treaties by the House 
of Commons before entry into force.  The government, however, will 
maintain the legal authority to decide whether to ratify the treaty; 
no vote in Parliament is necessary for signing or ratification of a 
treaty.  This new process could serve as another delay for Canada's 
long-anticipated copyright legislation, which is necessary to bring 
Canada in compliance with the World Intellectual Property 
Organization (WIPO) Internet treaties. End summary. 
 
 
¶2.  (U) Canada makes treaties only with sovereign states, not with 
subdivisions (e.g., provinces, states, cantons) or with departments 
of governments (e.g., Department of Transportation, Department of 
Energy).  This cable outlines Canada's treaty-making process.  A 
more detailed description is available as "Annex A" at the following 
GoC URL - http://www.treaty-accord.gc.ca/Tabling.asp 
 
¶3.  (U) Before commencing negotiations with the other party, the 
lead Canadian department or agency must seek a negotiating mandate 
from the Cabinet.  Once that mandate is granted, the responsible 
department, with the approval of the Minister of Foreign Affairs, 
may begin negotiation. (In certain cases, the Cabinet has approved 
blanket authority for negotiation, such as for Foreign Investment 
Protection Agreements, Double Taxation Agreements, Mutual Legal 
Assistance Treaties, Extradition Agreements, Social Security 
Agreements and International Civil Aviation Agreements, and, in some 
rare cases, a general authority for a Minister to negotiate 
arrangements exists in statute). 
 
¶4. (U) Once negotiations with the other party are complete, the 
relevant department or agency prepares a submission to Cabinet 
seeking policy approval to sign and ratify the treaty, as well as 
approval to introduce any legislation necessary to bring the treaty 
into effect.  If the Cabinet grants policy approval, the Foreign 
Minister then submits an "Order in Council" submission to the 
Treasury Board committee to seek legal authority to sign the treaty. 
 (Note: An "Order in Council," or OIC, is the instrument by which 
the Governor General, acting on the advice of the Queen's Privy 
Council for Canada, expresses decisions.  The Treasury Board 
fulfills the role of Committee of the Privy Council and is unique in 
that it is the only Canadian Cabinet committee created by statute. 
End note)  The "Order in Council" will also seek an "Instrument of 
Full Powers," which grants a particular individual the authority to 
sign the specific treaty in question; only the Governor General, the 
Prime Minister, and Minister of Foreign Affairs have standing to 
sign for Canada without producing an "Instrument of Full Powers." 
Subsequently, after additional Parliamentary review (see paras 5 and 
6) a second, separate OIC submission goes to the Treasury Board to 
obtain legal authority to ratify the treaty. 
 
¶5. (U) No vote in Parliament is necessary for signing or ratifying a 
treaty; the authority to negotiate and enter into agreements is held 
solely by the executive.  However, the Conservative government on 
January 25 announced that it henceforth will table all international 
treaties in the House of Commons before taking further steps to 
bring these treaties into force.  The procedure is similar to 
procedures used in the United Kingdom and Australia.  The government 
nonetheless made clear that it retained the power of ratification, 
and that this new procedure would not be binding on successor 
Qand that this new procedure would not be binding on successor 
governments. 
 
¶6. (U) Under the new process, the government, after signing a treaty 
but prior to ratification, will observe a waiting period of 21 
sitting days from the date of the tabling a treaty before taking any 
action to bring the treaty into effect.  When treaties require 
legislative amendment to bring Canada into compliance, the 
government has made a commitment to delay the legislation until this 
21 sitting-day period has passed.  The House may debate the 
agreement, if it chooses to do so.  Very exceptionally, the 
government may bind Canada to a treaty before tabling it in the 
House, but in those cases the government has made a commitment also 
to inform the House at the earliest opportunity. 
 
¶7.  (SBU) Comment:  While the new process is non-binding on future 
governments, it will be difficult to abandon it once the Commons has 
become accustomed to this role.  Of more direct interest to the USG, 
the new procedures could complicate the government's efforts to 
bring Canadian law into compliance with the WIPO Internet treaties, 
which Canada signed in the late 1990's but has not yet ratified. 
It remains unresolved whether the WIPO treaties will have to be 
tabled in Parliament for the 21-sitting-days before the associated 
copyright legislation is introduced.  (Canada's failure to implement 
and ratify the WIPO treaties has been a key factor in USTR's 
 
OTTAWA 00000377  002 OF 002 
 
 
placement of Canada on the Special 301 Watch List.)  End Comment. 
 
Wilkins