CANADIAN PROGRESS TOWARD FULL APP PARTICIPATION

UNCLAS OTTAWA 001188 SIPDIS SENSITIVE SIPDIS DEPARTMENT FOR WHA, EB, AND OES WHITE HOUSE FOR CEQ EPA FOR INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS DOE FOR POLICY AND INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: KGCC SENV CA SUBJECT: CANADIAN PROGRESS TOWARD FULL APP PARTICIPATION REF: OTTAWA 155 Sensitive but Unclassified. Please protect accordingly. Not for Internet distribution. ¶1. Canadian officials have advised Embassy that they are nearly ready to request formally admission to the Asia Pacific Partnership for Clean Development and Climate. They report that formal letters, signed by Environment Minister John Baird and Foreign Minister Peter MacKay, are being readied and should be delivered to appropriate ministers in APP capitals by ambassadors or high commissioners before the end of June. Officials in Baird's office advise that the funding requested to support Canada's participation in APP is in hand. They believe India and other partners will be supportive when the time comes to consider Canada's formal request. ¶2. As for timing, the Canadians hope the upcoming meeting in Tokyo of the Policy and Implementation Committee will endorse Canadian membership and that the PIC endorsement will be finalized when ministers meet in New Delhi later this year. ¶3. Domestically, Canadian officials continue consultations with major industry associations in relevant sectors and, in some cases, with individual companies to assess the level of interest and explore private sector thinking on projects that might be proposed and pursued. In our own conversations, a number of industry groups have expressed significant interest in APP and in Canada's partnership in the group. Visit our shared North American Partnership blog (Canada & Mexico) at http://www.intelink.gov/communities/state/nap WILKINS