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C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 05 OTTAWA 000291 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 04/15/2019 
TAGS: PREL ETRD EAID XM BR CA
SUBJECT: CANADA AND THE AMERICAS 
 
REF: A. OTTAWA 134 
     ¶B. 08 OTTAWA 491 
     ¶C. OTTAWA 265 
     ¶D. OTTAWA 263 
     ¶E. OTTAWA 194 
     ¶F. OTTAWA 249 
 
OTTAWA 00000291  001.2 OF 005 
 
 
Classified By: PolMinCouns Scott Bellard, reasons 1.4 (b) and (d) 
 
¶1. (C) Summary: Under Prime Minister Harper, Canada has 
devoted more of its diplomatic and aid attention to the 
Americas, notably a 2007 high-profile Latin America trip by 
the PM, as well as other high level visits.  The government 
has apparently abandoned an initial effort to develop a 
strategic document to guide Canada's involvement in the 
hemisphere, however.  Haiti remains a key priority and is 
Canada's second largest recipient of foreign assistance 
(after Afghanistan), with the Western Hemisphere taking seven 
out of twenty slots on Canada's latest list of targeted aid 
recipients.  Canada also sees free trade as a potent tool of 
greater engagement in the Americas.  Canadian National 
Security Advisor Morin has also been pushing the bureaucracy 
to support Mexican President Calderon's efforts to improve 
the security situation in Mexico.  PM Harper may unveil plans 
for a Lima-based democracy promotion center and/or a 
Panama-based security assistance center at the Fifth Summit 
of the Americas, but will likely stay away from other 
controversial issues. End Summary. 
 
Strategy?  We prefer actions... 
------------------------------- 
 
¶2. (C) Upon taking office for the first time in 2006, Prime 
Minister Stephen Harper announced a sharper focus for 
Canada's foreign policy priorities, notably highlighting 
relations with the U.S., Afghanistan, emerging markets in 
Asia, and the Western Hemisphere.  He came to this decision, 
in part, after extended discussions with Australian 
then-Prime Minister John Howard, according to the Department 
of Foreign Affairs and International Trade's (DFAIT) Director 
General for Latin America and the Caribbean James Lambert. 
Harper had long been favorably impressed by Australia's 
ability to exert outsized influence with the U.S. in 
particular -- and other powers as well -- by emphasizing its 
relations in its own neighborhood, observed Lambert, who 
added that PM Harper hoped to gain similar benefits for 
Canada by increased attention to Latin America and the 
Caribbean.   When forming his second government after the 
October 2008 election, PM Harper also created the new 
position of Minister of State for the Americas, naming former 
journalist and new Conservative MP Peter Kent.  While Kent 
has traveled frequently throughout the hemisphere, he does 
not have actual staff or exercise ministerial oversight of 
Brazil and Cuba policy in particular, as he had originally 
been promised, according to DFAIT contacts. 
 
¶3. (C) Canada had initially sought to develop a full-blown 
policy strategy to guide "whole of government" engagement 
with the hemisphere, including appointment of a DFAIT 
Assistant Deputy Minister as concurrent "Executive 
Coordinator  of the Americas Strategy."  After more than a 
year's work of effort and at least one presentation to the 
Cabinet by DFAIT, the government decided to dispense with a 
written strategy (ref b) and focus instead on discrete 
actions.  According to DG Lambert, DFAIT's own current goal 
was instead "more fully to staff" all its embassies 
"throughout the hemisphere," despite a 26 pct cut in DFAIT's 
2009 budget.  DFAIT Deputy Director for Inter-American 
Affairs Flavie Major separately admitted to poloff that DFAIT 
had missed major opportunities in 2006 and 2007 because "we 
never asked for new money...and now that possibility is 
Qnever asked for new money...and now that possibility is 
closed off."  She added that Canada's Americas strategy 
nonetheless reflected "an attempt by Canada to keep at seat 
at the table" at a time when many in the hemisphere may want 
to exclude Canada.  She confided that DFAIT was still working 
on a "public communication" document for PM Harper to release 
at the Fifth Summit of the Americas in Port-of-Spain. 
 
¶4.  (C)  Separately, however, Canadian Foundation for the 
Americas Executive Director Carlo Dade commented to poloff 
that Canada will inevitably need to devote more resources to 
its Americas strategy since "all the low hanging fruit has 
already been picked."  He observed that signing free trade 
agreements and sending delegation were easy, while deepening 
the relationship with the hemisphere will take serious 
commitment of money and people. 
 
Haiti: Concern About Donor Fatigue 
---------------------------------- 
 
¶5. (C) PM Harper has placed Haiti at the center of Canadian 
engagement in the Americas with a five-year (2006-2011) C$555 
 
OTTAWA 00000291  002.2 OF 005 
 
 
million aid program, with Canada as the second largest 
bilateral donor there and with Haiti as Canada's second 
largest overseas aid recipient, after Afghanistan.  The 
choice of Haiti reflected Canada's shared francophone 
heritage, concern over instability in the region, and a 
strong historical connection with the Caribbean, as well as a 
large Haitian Diaspora among Canada's immigrant population. 
Current Governor General Michaelle Jean is a native of Haiti 
and retains close ties there, but drew criticism from some 
local media commentators during President Obama's February 
visit to Ottawa for stepping beyond her ceremonial role to 
try to discuss Haiti's problems with him. 
 
¶6. (C) As Minister for International Cooperation Bev Oda 
emphasized at the April 14 Haiti Donors' conference in 
Washington, the international community must heighten its 
focus on results in aid programs in Haiti; Secretary Clinton 
underscored Minister Oda's intervention in her own public 
remarks.  According Canadian International Development Agency 
(CIDA) Policy Director Keith Fountain, Canada was also 
increasingly concerned about "donor fatigue" in Haiti. 
Canada remains convinced that Haiti is "not a lost cause," 
but believes that other international partners "must meet 
their commitments" for meaningful change to take place. 
Fountain admitted that Canada would offer no new pledges at 
the donors' conference in Washington, but claimed this was 
because Canada does not want to undercut its message to other 
donors on the importance of aid effectiveness and a focus on 
results and implementation.  He noted that Canada over the 
coming year especially wants the international community to 
focus on job creation and basic services in Haiti, and that 
Canada views lack of concrete progress in basic services to 
improve the everyday life of ordinary Haitians as a key 
obstacle to political progress on the island. 
 
¶7. (SBU) Fountain underscored that Canada remained on track 
to meet its commitments in Haiti and to complete its projects 
on time.  Major ongoing Canadian projects in Haiti include 
C$75 million for construction of a road from Les Cayes to 
Jeremie and C$100 million for development of school 
curriculum.  In February 2007, then-Foreign Minister Maxine 
Bernier announced other key projects, including: 
 
-- rebuilding police training schools (C$3.3 million); 
-- rebuilding and equipping 21 police stations in the 
Department du Sud (C$3.5 million); 
-- building a border post at Belladere (C$2.4 million); 
-- training and technical assistance for legislation drafting 
on human migration and trafficking (C$2.9 million); and, 
-- construction of a coast guard base at Les Cayes on the 
south coast of Haiti (C$7 million). 
 
¶8. (SBU) Fountain added that Minister Oda was eager to work 
with the next USAID Administrator on aid effectiveness in 
Haiti and elsewhere.  In a late February update of Canada's 
new 20 top aid recipients (ref a), Oda included not only 
Haiti and the Caribbean, but also Bolivia, Colombia, Haiti, 
Honduras, and Peru. 
 
Trade as a tool 
--------------- 
 
¶9.  (SBU)  Since assuming his new portfolio in October 2008, 
Minister of International Trade Stockwell Day has also been 
active in traveling within the region, in part to push for 
greater and freer trade through conclusion of several free 
trade agreements (FTAs) as part of Canada's Americas 
strategy.  Minister Day visited Panama in December 2008 for 
trade discussions with the Panamanian government, as well as 
for additional talks with the Central American Four partners 
Qfor additional talks with the Central American Four partners 
(El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, and Nicaragua).  In 
November 2008, Day had traveled to Peru for APEC, as well as 
a trip to Brazil.  In May 2008, Canada had already inked a 
trade pact with Peru, followed by another FTA with Colombia 
in November 2008. 
 
¶10.  (C)  The government has submitted the implementing 
legislation for both FTAs to Parliament, but concerns over 
alleged abuses and killings of labor activists in Colombia 
have made the Colombia FTA in particular somewhat of a 
difficult sell in some quarters of Parliament, according to 
DFAIT's Major.  "It was a painful but deliberate choice for 
the Prime Minister," she said, adding that Harper was 
committed to supporting President Uribe despite potential 
domestic political costs.  Harper and Uribe had struck up a 
good friendship, she said, and the Prime Minister wished to 
support someone he viewed as courageous and trying to change 
his country for the better.  Canada was also continuing 
negotiations with the Central American Four partners.  The 
parties met again for talks in late February and will have a 
second round in April 27 to 30 in Managua.  Both sides having 
been trying to agree to terms since 2001.  The talks had 
 
OTTAWA 00000291  003.2 OF 005 
 
 
stalled for several years beginning in 2004, but resumed in 
¶2006. 
 
Brazil: Re-starting 
------------------- 
 
¶11. (C) Foreign Minister Cannon's late-February trip to 
Brazil highlighted Canada's desire to "turn the page" on a 
long-stalled bilateral relationship, according to DFAIT 
Brazil Deputy Director Catherine Vezina.  Vezina underscored 
that engaging with Brazil is an "obvious and inevitable 
priority" of the Canadian America's strategy in light of 
Canada's global commercial strategic emphasis in foreign 
policy, the important role Brazil plays in the WTO, UN, G-20, 
and other multilateral fora, and Brazil's central role in the 
global effort to combat climate change.  Reflecting Canada's 
"whole of government" approach to Brazil, Canada has a range 
of bilateral agreements and programs, including academic 
exchanges, science and technology, health, culture, 
agriculture, labor, and defense policy talks, according to 
Vezina.  Most recently, Canada took the "unusual step" of 
sending nine deputy ministers to Brazil in February for 
discussion with their Brazilian counterparts, Vezina added. 
 
¶12. (C) Vezina admitted that several "irritants colored the 
bilateral relationship for much of the 1990s and well into 
the early 2000s," including protracted agricultural and 
aerospace trade disputes as well as several high profile 
consular cases.  She claimed that FM Cannon's trip had been a 
"very important public acknowledgment of the current state of 
good relations, which she described as "much more mature than 
a decade ago."  She noted that both Minister Cannon and 
Minister Day had chosen to start their travels to the region 
with trips to Brazil to underline its regional importance. 
She also added that Canada and Brazil, as major contributors 
to the UN Mission in Haiti, also share an important 
commitment to that country and have been considering several 
trilateral development projects there.  She emphasized that 
two-way investment was "robust" and diverse in everything 
from minerals to film production (the major Hollywood release 
"Blindness" was a Canadian-Brazilian co-production), with 
Canada now the largest recipient of Brazilian foreign direct 
investment. 
 
¶13. (C) Vezina pointed as well to the November 2008 signing 
of the Brazil-Canada Framework Agreement for Cooperation on 
Science, Technology, and Innovation as an important next step 
in deepening the relationship.  Canada will contribute C$1.5 
million to support joint research and development projects 
between Brazilian and Canadian companies, governments, and 
research institutes.  However, Brazil expert Dr. Annette 
Hester, a University of Calgary academic and non-resident 
scholar at the Center for Strategic and International 
Studies, told poloff that the agreement showed the 
"absurdity" of Canada's Americas strategy and the 
"irrelevancy" of Canada to Latin America, since "Petrobras is 
going to devote more than $174 billion to research and 
development through 2013 and Canada is offering $1.5 million 
over two years.  That's not a strategy for Brazil, and 
without a Brazil strategy, you don't have an Americas 
strategy," she said. 
 
 
Mexico: Emphasis on Security 
---------------------------- 
 
¶14. (C) Canada has become increasingly concerned about the 
security situation in Mexico, according to several Canadian 
interlocutors.  DFAIT contacts have noted that National 
Security Advisor Marie-Lucie Morin was pushing the government 
to aid Mexican President Calderon in a more public way (refs 
c-e).  An inter-agency Canadian team met with counterparts in 
Qc-e).  An inter-agency Canadian team met with counterparts in 
Mexico City on March 12 and 13 to see how Canada might better 
support President Calderon's efforts to reform the police, 
corrections, and judicial sectors.  The visit also reflected 
the reinvigorated bilateral security policy consultations 
that began again in December 2007. 
 
¶15. (C) NSA Morin had specifically tasked DFAIT and the 
Department of Public Security with examining how best to 
support Mexico in light of Canada's human resource and 
financial capital constraints, according to according to 
DFAIT Mexico Deputy Director David Morgan.  However, without 
a compelling case for Cabinet, new funding for Mexico would 
likely mean "cannibalizing" the aid budget from other 
countries, Morgan commented.  Even in a best case scenario, 
DFAIT might ask Cabinet for only up to C$15 million in new 
money, while a worst case would mean no new money and simply 
"shuffling the deck chairs around," Morgan added. 
 
¶16. (SBU) Canada's and Mexico's bilateral security working 
group now focuses on increasing cooperation and information 
 
OTTAWA 00000291  004.2 OF 005 
 
 
exchange in migration, emergency management, marine security, 
and law enforcement.  Morgan characterized the working group 
as a "modest initial step that is practical, focused, and 
results oriented."  Canadian Border Services Agency (CBSA) 
and the Mexican Interior Ministry's Subsecretariat for 
Population and Religious Affairs separately agreed in August 
2008 to begin working on two joint threat assessments on the 
"flow of high risk nationals in North America" and "Mexicans 
requesting refugee status in Canada."  Public Safety Canada 
and its Mexican counterpart are also currently planning an 
initial assessment of offshore crude oil and natural gas 
extraction platforms to determine the feasibility and terms 
of reference for a critical infrastructure protection 
exercise.  Department of Transport Canada and Mexico's SEMAR 
are in the midst of a bilateral port facilities visit 
initiative to exchange best practices and lessons learned in 
implementing port and marine security measures to meet 
International Maritime Organization standards.  The Royal 
Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) and Mexico's Public Service 
Secretariat (SFP) are discussing a comprehensive law 
enforcement cooperation memorandum of understanding that 
would govern the relationship between the federal police 
services of the two countries.  The RCMP and the SFP have 
also undertaken to exchange national police training 
curricula to identify future training opportunities. 
 
Summit of the Americas 
---------------------- 
 
¶17. (C) Canada hopes that the Fifth Summit of the Americas 
meeting in Port of Spain April 17-19 will be an "important 
crossroads" for the Organization of American States and the 
hemisphere, according to DFAIT Inter-American Policy and OAS 
Deputy Director Leonard Beaulne.  Beaulne told poloff that 
the Trinidad Summit "must be a success" -- given 
disappointment over the Fourth Summit -- if the Summit 
process is to remain relevant.  He added that Canada attaches 
great importance to the Summit process, especially since 
Canada finds itself increasingly "not invited to the table" 
for other hemispheric fora.  According to DFAIT's Major, "the 
Latinos don't want the U.S. at the table and they see Canada 
as an extension of the U.S."  Beaulne commented that the 
"relative incapacity" of the OAS strengthens the argument for 
those that are proposing alternative institutions, like 
Chavez's ALBA, UNASUR, or the Rio Group.  He noted that 
Canada wanted to see a stronger link between the Summit 
process and the work of the OAS with a goal of increasing the 
effectiveness and relevance of both institutions. 
 
¶18. (C) According to DFAIT Summit Coordinator Paul Williams, 
Canada does not plan to take a strong public stance over 
possible attempts by Venezuela's Hugo Chavez or Nicaragua's 
Daniel Ortega to make an issue of Cuba's exclusion from the 
Summit.  He added that PM Harper, at most, would likely say 
the leaders' meeting was not the "appropriate venue to 
discuss the issue" and would instead perhaps call for the OAS 
Secretary General to study the controversy and report back at 
a later date.  He added that it was unlikely PM Harper would 
make any reference to the Inter-American Democratic Charter 
in any public statements on Cuba and the Summit. 
 
¶19.  (U)  PM Harper announced on April 15 that, in addition 
to the Summit participation in Port of Spain, he will then 
visit Jamaica on April 19 and 20, citing the "special bond" 
between the two nations and pledging to build on "this 
historic partnership." 
Q 
Venezuela and Democracy Promotion 
--------------------------------- 
 
¶20. (C) According to DFAIT DG Lambert, Canada -- as well as 
Brazil and Chile -- had appreciated U.S. efforts to 
de-escalate public disagreements with Venezuelan President 
Hugo Chavez, believing that the skillful handling of Chavez 
over the past several years had muted hemispheric criticism 
of U.S. policy in other areas, especially with regard to 
Cuba.  Lambert said Canada believes that poverty feeds 
Chavez's success in furthering his populist ambition through 
ever greater centralization of power.  Internationally, 
Chavez's tentative "alliance" with Iran was increasingly 
"worrying" to Canada, according to Lambert, since it has the 
potential to divert global attention from human rights and 
civil liberties.  Nonetheless, with Venezuela as its third 
largest export market, Canada had no choice but to stay 
engaged with Caracas, despite increasing concerns for the 
investment climate in Venezuela. 
 
¶21. (C) Canada seeks to export Canadian values in the Andes, 
Lambert insisted, and was now considering creation of a 
democracy promotion center based in Lima, with cross 
accreditation to other countries nearby -- including 
Venezuela and Bolivia (ref f).  DFAIT's Major claimed to 
 
OTTAWA 00000291  005.2 OF 005 
 
 
poloff that Canada was also considering opening a security 
assistance center in Panama to help Central American and 
Caribbean countries build their capacity to counter rising 
crime and violence in the region.  Major predicted that PM 
Harper might use the Summit of the Americas to announce both 
centers.  However, funding remained a problem; DFAIT senior 
policy advisor for democracy promotion Amanda Garay admitted 
to poloff separately that while "democracy promotion in the 
region is a big priority, it gets a small share of 
resources."  If they come into existence, both centers would 
likely have only one or two Canadian-based staff at the 
outset, according to DFAIT contacts.  Public Safety Canada 
Director General for International Affairs Artur Wilcynski 
told poloff, however, that he had never even heard of the 
proposed Panamanian center. 
 
Visit Canada,s North American partnership community at 
http://www.intelink.gov/communities/state/nap / 
 
BREESE