CANADA: RESPONSE TO DEMARCHE ON OAS WORKING GROUP

UNCLAS OTTAWA 001412 SIPDIS SENSITIVE DEPT FOR USOAS/HUGH NEIGHBOUR, DRL/MICHAEL BUTLER, DRL/CHRIS CAMPONOVO, DRL/JULIE SCHECTER, IO/MARK LAGON, L/BOB HARRIS, WHA/CAN E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PHUM AORC CA USOAS SUBJECT: CANADA: RESPONSE TO DEMARCHE ON OAS WORKING GROUP ON RACISM AND DISCRIMINATION REF: STATE 082983 ¶1. (U) Poloff delivered reftel demarche to Pamela Moore, Senior Policy Officer at Foreign Affairs Canada (FAC),on May ¶5. Moore thanked us for the points, and advised that she would review the demarche with her colleagues at FAC, including Marie Gervais-Vidricaire, Director General of the Global Affairs Branch. ¶2. (SBU) In a follow-up conversation on May 10, Moore advised poloff that FAC continues to share many of the USG concerns outlined in the demarche Nevertheless, she said that FAC has now concluded that it is time to engage the OAS on this issue, and reiterated to poloff that the GoC no longer opposes in principle an OAS working group to prepare an Inter-American Convention against Racism and all Forms of Discrimination and Intolerance. However, Moore emphasized that the GoC will be taking a cautious approach, and that any subsequent agreement must address the broad range of discrimination issues while not altering or otherwise subverting existing international agreements. Visit Canada's Classified Web Site at http://www.state.sgov.gov/p/wha/ottawa DICKSON