CANADA ON UNESCO BOARD

C O N F I D E N T I A L OTTAWA 001658

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 06/11/2013
TAGS: AORC CA UNESCO
SUBJECT: CANADA ON UNESCO BOARD

REF: A. STATE 15524 B. OTTAWA 1119

Classified By: Political MC Brian Flora for reasons 1.5 (b) and (d)


1. (C) Post delivered points contained ref A to Jean-Luc
Chouinard, Special Advisor for UNESCO in DFAIT's UN and
Commonwealth Affairs Division, and Dr. Michel Tessier,
Elections Co-ordinator in that division, on June 10, 2003.
We also asked again if Canada would consider deferring its
UNESCO Executive Board candidacy in order to achieve a clean
slate of Group I candidates.


2. (C) Chouinard indicated that Canada would like a seat on
the board at the October conference and is actively seeking
support for its candidacy from other member states. There
are a number of UNESCO issues Canada wants to defend and
promote, Chouinard said, and it believes the best way to do
that is by regaining its seat on the Board.


3. (C) Chouinard didn't close the door completely, however.
He said Canada believes in the principle of rotating Board
seats, and feels Group 1 membership should be better balanced
between EU and non-EU states. He believes there is merit to a
rotation scheme over the long-term, as long as others are
committed to it, and that Canada will support our efforts to
establish such a scheme. (Comment: Chouinard was clear that
Canada wants to rejoin the UNESCO board this year while
remaining open to the idea of a slate and a long-term
rotation scheme. It is unlikely Canada will agree to a slate
for this year's election unless it is part of that slate. End
comment.)
CELLUCCI