PEARSON PEACEKEEPING CENTRE CAPABILITIES AND IRAQ

UNCLAS HALIFAX 000367 SIPDIS SENSITIVE E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: MOPS KPKO PGOV PREL ASEC IZ CA SUBJECT: PEARSON PEACEKEEPING CENTRE CAPABILITIES AND IRAQ RECONSTRUCTION SENSITIVE BUT UNCLASSIFIED -- PROTECT ACCORDINGLY ¶1. (SBU) SUMMARY: The Pearson Peacekeeping Centre in Cornwallis, Nova Scotia, has extensive expertise in training military, civilian and police personnel for peace operations in a variety of environments, but has as yet received from the Canadian government no taskings related to Iraq. Ottawa could be encouraged t make use of the PPC's capabilities to provide training in support of Iraq reconstruction. END SUMMARY. ¶2. (U) Consul General, PA Minister-Counselor and Montreal PAO recently visited the Pearson Peacekeeping Centre in Cornwallis, NS, to meet the PPC's staff, look at its facilities and evaluate possibilities for future programs together. Ken Eyre, the Chief Operating Officer, briefed us on the courses that the PPC offers. These include focused training courses at the basic and advanced levels for military, civilian and police personnel involved in peace operations. The PPC also holds training in humanitarian response in peace operations, human rights and civil-military cooperation and can custom design courses to the specifications of users. The PPC's training is usually not country or mission-specific, but is aimed at providing a foundation for those involved in various aspects of peace operations by distilling lessons learned from many missions. ¶3. (U) The PPC has expanded from it's original training facility and now offers the majority of its courses in places other than Cornwallis. Much of the training is in Canada, but an increasing number of courses are held in other countries, including the Middle East. President Sandra Dunsmore plans to open an Ottawa office soon to raise the PPC's profile with the Canadian government. In addition to its core courses, the PPC can provide in-depth exercises for units going to peace operations, capacity building for other training and education institutions and an as well support missions in the field with on-site training. German forces bound for Afghanistan participated in a command post exercise at the PPC which according to the faculty they found very useful. A small core faculty is augmented by subject matter experts from various fields and countries. Most instruction is in English and French, but a growing number of courses are offered in Spanish as well. ¶4. (SBU) COMMENT: The PPC has impressive capabilities, and has certainly come a long way from it's fairly humble origins nearly a decade ago. The expertise and facilities could be called upon by the Canadian government for training -- either in Cornwallis or in the region -- as part of its contribution to Iraq reconstruction. We share the PPC staff's puzzlement at why this has not happened to date. END COMMENT.