INTERNATIONAL POLICY STATEMENT CALLS FOR ENHANCED

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 OTTAWA 001190

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 04/18/2015
TAGS: CA MARR PGOV PREL AID KCRS
SUBJECT: INTERNATIONAL POLICY STATEMENT CALLS FOR ENHANCED
NORTH AMERICAN ENGAGEMENT

Classified By: POLMINCOUNS Brian Flora, reasons 1.4 (b) (d)


1. (C) Summary: Ottawa unveiled its long-awaited
International Policy Statement today, which the government
pledged would give Canada a more prominent place on the world
stage and provide needed focus to its first-ever effort to
integrate defense, diplomacy, development aid, and trade.
The document gives special prominence to U.S.-Canadian
relations while emphasizing Canada,s independence in global
affairs. Canada will strive to focus its aid programs on a
smaller number of countries and fewer sectors, will roll-out
a Stabilization and Reconstruction Task Force (START) and
increase the size of its military to enhance its ability to
respond to global crises, and will give increased emphasis to
emerging economies such as India and China, while renewing
its emphasis on multilateralism. The Opposition was quick to
disparage the rollout as politically motivated, and lamented
the lack of &bold thinking and strategic decision making,8
with targeted critiques of each of the segments. We see this
document as a very good framework that provides the U.S. with
a host of opportunities for enhanced engagement. End Summary

Long Time Coming
--------------


2. (SBU) The Liberal Cabinet rolled out the long-awaited
International Policy Statement April 19 in a press conference
held by the Ministers of Defense, Foreign Affairs,
International Cooperation, and International Trade. The 190
page document is available on line at
www.dfait-maeci.gc.ca/cip-pic/ips/ips-home-en .asp) and
includes separate sections for defense, commerce, foreign
aid, and diplomacy. Poloff was given a preview of the IPS by
Foreign Affairs Canada,s Policy Planner Christ Cooter a day
prior (Cooter emphasized that we were the only country
receiving such a pre-screening). Cooter pointed out the
highlights of the document and its evolution.


3. (SBU) Cooter said that the recent review of the IPS by
Canadian scholar Jennifer Walsh, who was charged by PM Martin
to find a controlling idea to center the statement, failed to
draw out the &big idea8 but did help with wordsmithing and
changed the structure slightly on the margins. He admitted
the timing was not optimal but thought that the controlling
ideas were largely bi-partisan and would survive a change in
government.

Emphasis on North America
--------------


4. (C) Cooter pointed to several of the highlights of the IPS:

-- First, an emphasis on North America and specifically on
U.S.-Canadian relations. He said that in each of the four
sections, and indeed in many of the subsections, there is a
specific place for bilateral issues and considerations. In
the Prime Minister,s foreword, the first section is Canada
in North America, which states unequivocally that &all
Canadians understand that our most important relationship is
with the United States.8

Having said that, Cooter conceded that there is not too much
that is truly original in this area. Several ideas have been
considered by Policy Planning over the past months, such as a
sort of &North American Davos8 as a way to increase
dialogue and unity. In the end they settled for a loosely
conceived North American Network to broaden the range of
dialogue between Americans, Canadians, and Mexicans.

-- Second, trade disputes are reducing the strength of
North America as an informal bloc, and in a world of rising
powers this can only reduce our mutual global influence and
prosperity. Improving our methods of resolving trade
disputes is given special attention in several places.

-- Third, the IPS calls for new structure for development
assistance that will focus Canada,s aid programs better
geographically and sectorally. By 2010 two-thirds of
Canada,s aid money will go to 25 countries and will be
focused on good governance, health, education, private sector
development, environmental sustainability, and gender
equality. The majority of these countries are in Africa.
While Canada will not try to meet the conventionally accepted
target of .7 percent of GDP in foreign assistance, it will
increase its assistance by eight percent per year leading to
a doubling of foreign aid between 2001 and 2010.

-- Fourth, Cooter said, the military will receive a plus
up of 5,000 soldiers, primarily targeted to assist with
failed and failing states (septel will cover the defense
portion of the IPS).

-- Fifth, the foreign affairs agencies will be transformed
in order to better deliver on the objectives of the new
strategy. Defense Minister Bill Graham at the press
conference on April 19 referred to this as &eliminating
silos8 so that the different agencies work seamlessly rather
than in isolation from one another.

-- Sixth, the IPS highlights the Prime Minister,s focus
at the last UNGA of the &responsibility to protect.8
Several of the functional areas include objectives and
programs to strengthen the ability of the global community to
assist the victims of man-induced catastrophes. Cooter said
this is one of Canada,s key international defense
priorities.

-- Seventh, as one of the concrete measures Canada will
take to help failed and failing states, the Stabilization and
Reconstruction Task Force was created &to ensure that there
is longer-term planning for early response to international
crises and that the required skills and expertise are at the
ready. Existing agencies will be used to source experts and
individuals or groups whose capacities are required. They
will be dispatched by those responsible, including the
military or CIDA.8

Opposition: This is not Mr. Roger,s Neighborhood
-------------- ---


5. (SBU) The Opposition did not waste any time criticizing
the policy statement. In Question Period MP James Moore
blasted the IPS as an effort at distraction by a government
that &has done nothing in the foreign affairs arena for 12
years and now wants to walk away from a scandal.8 The
opposition's Shadow Cabinet held a parallel press conference
an hour after the government's in which they attacked the
strategy.

-- Foreign Affairs critic Stockwell Day lamented the lack
of an increase in real defense capabilities, saying &we are
not dealing with a Sesame Street neighborhood where the
biggest threat is Oscar the Grouch,8 but a world with real
dangers that requires a serious military.

-- Trade critic Belinda Stronach keyed on the inability of
the Liberal government to improve trade relations with the
US, and called for a strengthened effort fix the broken
dispute settlement mechanism. &There should have been a
political commitment to pursue a new set of concrete
negotiations on dispute settlement and a political action
plan for engaging the United States systematically at the
Cabinet level.8

-- International Cooperation critic Ted Menzies pointed
out that Haiti, Sudan, Afghanistan, and Iraq are not on the
list of the 25 key countries and these priority countries
would instead be getting the crumbs from the remaining
one-third of Canada,s foreign aid. He said its established
criteria for receiving aid &abandons the poorest of the poor
for the easy wins.8

-- Defense critic Gordon Campbell said that the
Conservatives were pleased to see that the document had a
number of the key planks of the Conservative's defense policy
paper issued a year prior. He said that in addition to the
obviously required transformation of the armed forces, there
is an even more urgent need to transform the Ministry of
Defense.


6. (C) Comment: Politically motivated or not, it is frankly
good to finally get this policy statement on the street. It
strikes us as a solid document that will add an element of
coordinated focus to Canadian foreign policy and should help
Ottawa to play a more active role in the world. There are a
number of opportunities in the statement for enhanced
engagement with the U.S., not only on global issues but in
trade and hemispheric issues as well. The Opposition will
probably not gain any points in their criticism of the
statement, most of which would likely survive a change of
government in any event.

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DICKSON