CANADA: RESPONSE TO DEMARCHES ON ILO ELECTIONS AND

UNCLAS OTTAWA 001604

SIPDIS

SENSITIVE

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PHUM PREL AORC ELAB CA ILO
SUBJECT: CANADA: RESPONSE TO DEMARCHES ON ILO ELECTIONS AND
BUDGET

REF: A. STATE 094818


B. STATE 094764


1. (U) Poloff discussed refs (a) (Cuban candidacy for the
ILO Governing Body) and (b) (ILO's proposed budget for
2006-2007) with Wendy Drukier, Senior Policy Advisor at
Foreign Affairs Canada (FAC),on May 24. Drukier thanked us
for the points, and requested some time so that she could
pass the demarche to her colleagues in Geneva for their
review.


2. (SBU) In a follow-up conversation with poloff on May 26,
Drukier provided feedback on both demarches. Concerning ref
(a) and the possible candidacy of Cuba to the ILO Governing
Body, Drukier stated that the Government of Canada (GoC)
fully supports the candidacy of Barbados, agreeing with the
USG that Barbados has a much better record of cooperation
with the ILO than does Cuba. She expressed hope that Cuba
would not press its candidacy beyond the Americas Group, but
that if it did make a direct bid to the ILO Government
electoral college, Canada was prepared to support Barbados,
and would urge other countries to do likewise.


3. (SBU) Regarding ref (b) and the proposed ILO budget for
2006-2007, Drukier stated that while FAC agrees with the USG
on the need for fiscal restraint at the ILO, the GoC is
nonetheless concerned that it may be counterproductive to
press the issue too strongly (i.e. funding for the ILO would
actually increase, rather than decrease). Drukier indicated
that FAC's representatives in Geneva were discussing this
with USG reps, and that according to Drukier, the USG is also
backing off somewhat from our previous stance. Drukier also
stated that the GoC feels somewhat constrained to press too
hard on this issue, since Canada is also a candidate for the
ILO Governing Body.

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DICKSON