VZCZCXRO2882
PP RUEHDBU RUEHGA RUEHHA RUEHMT RUEHPW RUEHQU RUEHVC
DE RUEHOT #0282 0981804
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 081804Z APR 09
FM AMEMBASSY OTTAWA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 9320
INFO RUCNAFG/AFGHANISTAN COLLECTIVE PRIORITY
RUCNCAN/ALL CANADIAN POSTS COLLECTIVE PRIORITY
RUEHIL/AMEMBASSY ISLAMABAD PRIORITY 0853
RUEHKO/AMEMBASSY TOKYO PRIORITY 3424

UNCLAS OTTAWA 000282 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR SCA/P (GOODMAN AND FOLEY) 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PREL EAID PK JA CA
SUBJECT: CANADIAN PARTICIPATION IN PAKISTAN DONORS' 
CONFERENCE 
 
REF: STATE 32712 
 
¶1.  (SBU)  PolMinCouns, jointly with Acting Pakistan High 
Commissioner Naela Chohan and Japanese Minister Counselor Abe 
Koji, on April 6 met with Canadian International Development 
Agency (CIDA) Senior Policy Advisor Keith Fountain to 
encourage high level Canadian participation and a generous 
pledge at the April 17 Pakistan Donors' Conference (reftel). 
Fountain said that Canada had not yet decided on its 
representative, but regretted that Foreign Minister Lawrence 
Cannon would be in Trinidad and Tobago that same day with the 
Prime Minister to attend the Summit of the Americas. 
International Cooperation Minister Bev Oda also has a 
previous commitment elsewhere in the world on that day.  He 
predicted that either Parliamentary Secretary for Foreign 
Affairs Deepak Obhrai or Parliamentary Secretary for 
International Cooperation Jim Abbott would lead the Canadian 
delegation, which would also include Deputy Minister in 
charge of the Afghanistan Task Force in the Privy Council 
Office David Mulroney.  Fountain indicated that Canada was 
unlikely to be able to make a specific pledge at the 
conference, as it was still studying the implications of the 
new regional approach that President Obama has championed. 
He noted current Canadian aid to Pakistan was about C$30 
million annually. 
 
¶2.  (SBU)  In a subsequent meeting at the Department of 
Foreign Affairs and International Trade on April 8, the same 
trio met with Assistant Deputy Minister for Asia and Africa 
Ken Sunquist and Assistant Deputy Minister of the Afghanistan 
Task Force Yves Brodeur, and made the same points.   ADM 
Sunquist confirmed that Canada was still sorting out its 
representation at the conference, but indicated that 
Parliamentary Secretary Obhrai or Abbott remained the most 
likely choice.  He said that DFAIT and CIDA had examined the 
possibility of sending International Trade Minister Stockwell 
Day (who is concurrently chairman of the Cabinet Committee on 
Afghanistan), since he is currently in Japan and will travel 
next to China for several days, but that Day apparently is 
similarly unavailable on the 17th.  ADM Sunquist added that 
Canada was unlikely to be able to come up with a specific new 
pledge, or significantly to increase its Pakistan funding, by 
the donors' conference.  He and Brodeur promised to share any 
additional information that became available before the 17th, 
reiterated Canada's strong support for Pakistan and 
Afghanistan, and underscored the importance Canada attached 
to international solidarity on these issues. 
 
Visit Canada,s North American partnership community at 
http://www.intelink.gov/communities/state/nap / 
 
BREESE