CANADIAN RESPONSE TO DEMARCHE ON SINGLE MEMBER

UNCLAS OTTAWA 003209 SIPDIS SENSITIVE E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: ECPS CA AS XA SUBJECT: CANADIAN RESPONSE TO DEMARCHE ON SINGLE MEMBER STATE VETO ISSUE REF: A. SECSTATE 197285 ¶B. OTTAWA 2076 ¶1. (SBU) Econoff spoke with Industry Canada contact Janis Doran, who will be attending the TSAG meeting and who is the GOC ITU expert who has been our primary contact before (see Ottawa 2076). We provided a copy of the talking points to Ms. Doran, who was well-aware of the situation and who has been in contact with Marian Gordon in EB/CIP/MA. ¶2. (SBU) Ms. Doran raised GOC's serious concerns about the current status of the Australian position on this issue. She suggested that Australia's Department of Communications, Information Technology and the Arts (DCIT) and the Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) "do not seem to be on exactly the same channel." She said that ACMA documents from the ongoing meetings in Melbourne are "very worrisome" and suggest that the ACMA is still "where it was before" on the single member state veto issue, while the DCIT-led delegation at the ITU council was "much more muted". Her concern is that since the TSAG is related to standards, the regulatory role of the ACMA may give it the lead at TSAG rather than the DCIT, which is responsible for the ITU council. She recommended that USG and Embassy Canberra check with Australian officials to make sure that they are speaking with one voice ("preferably that of DCIT") at the TSAG meeting. ¶2. (SBU) Ms. Doran also emphasized the need for the USG to engage with Commonwealth African countries on this issue. But she reiterated that the USG should "seriously focus on Australia". Visit Canada's Classified Web Site at http://www.state.sgov.gov/p/wha/ottawa WILKINS