CANADA'S APPROACH TO MAY 25 ARF MEETING IN MANILA

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 OTTAWA 000915

SIPDIS

NOFORN
SIPDIS

STATE FOR EAP/RSP (KEVIN SHEIVES)

E.O. 12958: DECL: 05/16/2017
TAGS: PREL PTER PARM KNNP ARF XB CA
SUBJECT: CANADA'S APPROACH TO MAY 25 ARF MEETING IN MANILA

REF: STATE 64134

Classified By: PolMinCouns Brian Flora. Reasons: 1.4 (b) and (d).


1. (SBU) Summary. Canada and the U.S. agree on most of the
important issues to be addressed at the upcoming ASEAN
Regional Forum (ARF) Senior Officials Meeting (SOM) in
Manila. Canada is enthusiastic about the U.S. draft UNSCR
1540 implementation statement, agrees that the
inter-sessional meeting (ISM) on non-proliferation should not
be re-titled, and stands with us against Russia's draft
statement on inter-civilizational dialogue. The Canadians do
not like, but will not oppose, the U.S. proposal on ISM
working groups. Canada will press the ARF to record its
support for the NATO-ISAF mission in Afghanistan, and will
ask the U.S. delegation to do the same. This cooperation on
the eve of the SOM is the latest sign of a positive trend of
GOC officials seeking and exploiting areas of policy
convergence with the U.S. End summary.


2. (C/RelCan) We delivered reftel demarche on the May 25
ASEAN Regional Forum Senior Officials Meeting in Manila to
Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade (DFAIT)
Asia-Pacific Policy Advisor Philip Cordier on May 15.
Cordier emphasized Canadian agreement with U.S. views on the
UNSCR 1540 implementation statement, the inter-sessional
meeting (ISM) on non-proliferation, and the need to "kill"
the Russian draft statement on inter-civilizational dialogue.


UNSCR 1540 Implementation Statement
--------------

3. (C/RelCan) Canada, Cordier said, was enthusiastic about
the UNSCR 1540 implementation statement. U.S. officials
would hear strong, vocal support from Canada at the SOM. The
Canadians liked the U.S. text and expected to "follow the
U.S. lead" on reacting to statement language suggested by the
Indonesians; language that appeared to be an attempt to water
down the emphasis on national implementation. Cordier added
that Canadian officials would look forward to developing a
shared strategy with U.S. and other counterparts at the
informal pre-meeting of "like-mindeds" in Manila.

ISM on Proliferation
--------------

4. (SBU) Canada agreed with the U.S. that the
inter-sessional meeting (ISM) on non-proliferation should
not/not be re-titled, Cordier said. Canadian officials, he
noted, would look forward to strategizing on this issue with
their U.S. counterparts in Manila.


5. (C/NF) Canada would like eventually to chair the ISM, and
Cordier had just begun to prepare a pitch for the necessary
funds from the GOC when we called on him.

Russian Draft Statement of Inter-Civilizational Dialogue
-------------- --------------

6. (C/RelCan) Canada's preference, according to Cordier,
would be for no consensus to emerge on the Russian draft
statement of inter-civilizational dialogue, and for it to "go
away." In the absence of that happy outcome, Cordier said,
the GOC would seek support for Canada's alternative text.
Canada, he added, was grateful for U.S. backing, expected to
receive the support of Australia and New Zealand, and would
Qreceive the support of Australia and New Zealand, and would
probably garner EU and Malaysian support as well. The
Canadians were hoping to parlay expected Malaysian backing
into support from the other ASEAN members. The GOC was also
struggling over whether to demarche Indonesia and Thailand
directly, or to leave it to the Malaysians.

Inter-sessional Meeting Working Groups
--------------

7. (SBU) Cordier emphasized that while Canada would remain
silent on the issue in Manila, the GOC disagreed with the
U.S. call for an ISM working group, or groups. Canada, in
particular, was concerned about the proliferation of such
groups that, in some cases, were not very useful. If the
U.S. proposal was adopted, he said, Canada would try to staff
it. In that case Canada would ask, however, that any new

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meetings be tied to others already on the calendar. Doing so
would relieve the pressure on the GOC's small and overworked
cadre of subject matter experts.

Manila
--------------

8. (C/RelCan) Cordier reviewed a copy of the ARF provisional
agenda, noting that:

-- (Item 5) Afghanistan would figure prominently in the
Canadian intervention, and Canada would appreciate the same
from the U.S in order to ensure that members (vice only
Canada's) support for the mission would be noted in the
Chair's Statement. The Canadians would also share
observations about regional and international security
threats related to North Korea, Iran, and Burma. And the GOC
would congratulate East Timor on its recent elections.

-- (Item 8.2) Canada would like information about U.S.
funding for the proposed study on preventative diplomacy.

-- (Item 8.5.2) Canadian officials appreciated the
participation of the OSCE in the ARF meetings at multiple
levels, and would like to hear what it has to say about
preventative diplomacy and confidence-building. The SCO was
another matter, Cordier said, and Canada was worried about
the motivation of its leaders.

-- (Item 8.6) The GOC was hoping that Kazakhstan's
application for membership would not come up again. Canada
would support the continuation of a moratorium on new
members.

ISG Ottawa, April 2008
--------------

9. (U) Canada will host the ARF Inter-sessional Support
Group (ISG) meeting in Ottawa, 1-3 April 2008.


10. (C/RelCan) Canadian officials had been thinking about
inviting NATO to brief the ISG. Doing so could provide
delegates direct exposure to NATO thinking on confidence
building measures related to the Mediterranean Dialogue, a
non-threatening, useful way to get NATO into the meeting,
Cordier said.

Comment
--------------

11. (C/NF) Cordier ended our meeting by saying,
"Three-and-a-half out of four ain't bad, right?" Embassy
would note that Canada's welcome approach to the ARF SOM
tracks with our recent experience on many other defense and
security issues. Rather than emphasizing our differences, as
DFAIT operators so often did in international fora under the
Liberals, the Harper government has directed officials to
look for and exploit areas of common-cause with the U.S.
While there remain important differences in certain critical
areas of defense and security policy, the trend emerging
among many of our contacts is to seek out and exploit areas
of U.S.-Canada policy convergence.

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WILKINS