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