CANADA: (4/5) 220TH MEETING OF THE U.S.-CANADA

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 OTTAWA 002022 SIPDIS SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 11/02/2017 TAGS: PREL MARR MOPS NORAD CA SUBJECT: CANADA: (4/5) 220TH MEETING OF THE U.S.-CANADA PERMANENT JOINT BOARD ON DEFENSE - WESTERN HEMISPHERE, MEXICO Classified By: PolMinCouns Scott Bellard, reasons: 1.4 (b) and (d) ¶1. (U) Summary. U.S. Co-Chairman George Nethercutt and Canadian Co-Chairman Rick Casson, M.P. convened the 220th meeting of the Permanent Joint Board on Defense (PJBD) at the Canadian Maritime Warfare Center in Halifax, Nova Scotia October 9 - 11, 2007. This is the fourth in a series of five telegrams (septels). It documents the PJBD's deliberations on CANUS visions and collaboration in the Western Hemisphere and engagement with Mexico. End Summary. -------------- Western Hemisphere -------------- ¶2. (SBU) DFAIT Director General for International Security Don Sinclair raised engagement with Mexico and other Latin American and Caribbean states. He noted that Prime Minister Harper's July 2007 trip to South America and the Caribbean focused attention on Canada's three key objectives for the region: to enhance democracy, security, and democratic government. DFAIT is now working out how best to do this in a way that delivers tangible, measurable results to well-led countries via increased trade, aid, and engagement, according to DG Sinclair. ¶3. (SBU) As part of an effort to build institutional linkages to the region, Canada would host at least five high-level events in 2008, to include: -- visits by the presidents of Brazil and Chile; -- a meeting of the Conference of Defense Ministers of the Americas (CDMA) in Banff; -- a visit of CARICOM leaders to Canada; and, -- a meeting of the Caribbean Development Bank in Canada. ¶4. (C) On Haiti, DG Sinclair noted that Canada and the U.S. were the top two donors and that both countries would have to remain engaged for the long haul in order to deal with endemic security and health risks, including drugs, trafficking, and poverty. Canadian aid to Haiti amounted to a five-year, $555 million commitment, making it Canada's number-two aid priority after Afghanistan. There is a long way to go, he underscored, but positive indications were emerging, particularly in Cite Soleil, where a security environment conducive to development had developed. Looking forward, Canada hopes to maintain the current international -- and particularly Latin American -- involvement in MINUSTAH. ¶5. (C) State WHA/CAN Director Alex Lee summarized the USG's Latin America strategy, with its emphasis on the power of democratic governance to deliver the best outcomes to citizens, as well as our desire to find more ways to cooperate with countries in the region. Co-Chairman Casson, and others on the Canadian side, noted the extremely high degree of alignment in the Canadian and U.S. strategies, and suggested that both sides look at ways to deepen collaboration in the region. -------------- Mexico -------------- ¶6. (C) DG Sinclair cited "realism, gradualism, and sensitivity" as the watchwords guiding Canadian engagement with Mexico. Current Canada-Mexico defense and security initiatives include: -- bilateral Pol-Mil Talks: The first occurred in Ottawa in 2006, and the second would be in Mexico October 23-24, 2007. Q2006, and the second would be in Mexico October 23-24, 2007. They are "awkward but useful," according to DG Sinclair. The agenda for the 2007 talks included non-proliferation, peacekeeping operations, counterterrorism, Mexican relations with both CANADACOM and USNORTHCOM, and increased cooperation in the OAS and the UN; -- peacekeeping engagement: Canada has pressed lightly on this very sensitive subject, but managed to get Mexican officials to attend a PKO conference in Ottawa that included OTTAWA 00002022 002 OF 002 a trip to Haiti to observe MINUSTAH operations; -- Joint Action Plan: The two leaders agreed at Montebello to develop a Joint Action Plan, and instructed a working group to develop a work plan. ¶7. (C) U.S. Military Policy Representative Major General Philip Breedlove suggested that the PJBD could serve as a useful forum to ensure greater transparency about what each country was doing with Mexico. DG Sinclair and others responded favorably to this suggestion and proposed that there be informal working groups where each side could bring subject matter experts. Coast Guard Rear Admiral Lloyd noted that DHS has multiple streams of engagement with Mexico, and that it would gladly use the PJBD to help keep the Canadians informed. ¶8. (C) MG Davis called for the broadening of the mandate of these informal working groups to include all of Latin America. He said that, in the near term, he would want to call on experts to contribute ideas for the Canada-Mexico Joint Action Plan, but would also want to look more broadly at the region. He noted that Canada's preliminary thinking was to look at the Caribbean with a greater security focus, at the Andean Region with more of an emphasis on counter-narcotics and counterterrorism, and at the Southern Cone for partners with whom Canada can engage the rest of the hemisphere. ¶9. (C) DASD Stephen Johnson described the USG's strategic engagement plan for Latin America, emphasizing the promotion of democracy, economic freedom, and the rule of law, and regional security cooperation based on capable forces. He characterized the present day as a "moment of opportunity" when maturing democracies in the region are prepared to partner with us in helping to shape the economic, security and ideological spaces of Latin America. ¶10. (C) MG Davis reiterated how impressed he was by the alignment of Canadian and U.S. views of the region, and noted that they should form the nucleus of the agenda at the 2008 Conference of Defense Ministers of the Americas in Banff. He called for the PJBD to authorize an informal working group to address these issues. DG Sinclair added that he was intrigued by Johnson's call to fill the region's "ideological space" with good solutions if we want to keep countries from going the way of Venezuela and Bolivia. ¶11. (SBU) Co-Chairman Casson voiced agreement that Latin America was an area where the PJBD, and its informal subgroups, could promote bilateral information-sharing and exert influence. Co-Chairman Nethercutt ended the session by observing that the two sides needed to focus on how the U.S. and Canada could best cooperate in filling political spaces in Latin America with our good intentions. Visit our shared North American Partnership blog (Canada & Mexico) at http://www.intelink.gov/communities/state/nap WILKINS