CANADIAN ELECTION WILL DELAY DECISION ON FUNDS FOR

C O N F I D E N T I A L OTTAWA 001238 SIPDIS STATE PASS EUR/RPM R. CARLAND AND SCA/A TOM REOTT E.O. 12958: DECL: 09/18/2018 TAGS: PREL MOPS MARR NATO AF CA SUBJECT: CANADIAN ELECTION WILL DELAY DECISION ON FUNDS FOR AFGHAN ARMY REF: STATE 97991 Classified By: PolMinCouns Scott Bellard, reasons 1.4 (b) and (d) ¶1. (C) Summary: The Canadian government will not consider reftel request that it provide $100 million per year in additional funding for the sustainment of the Afghan National Army (ANA) until a new government takes office after the October 14 federal election. End summary. ¶2. (C) On September 17, Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade (DFAIT) Senior Adviser for Afghanistan Policy and Advocacy David Fairchild confirmed to pol/miloff that the Canadian government was in "caretaker mode" and therefore would not be able to meet the October 1 deadline to respond to the U.S. request for an additional $100 million per year for the sustainment of an enlarged ANA. Additionally, Fairchild observed that Canada would have to weigh the request against an expected call to share the cost of the enlargement of the Afghan National Police (ANP) by some 40,000 officers. Like other allies, he said, Canada is struggling with where best, and how much, to spend on each of the critical security challenges facing Afghanistan and its ISAF partners. ¶3. (C) Fairchild promised to add the request to the agenda of a September 18 inter-agency meeting on Afghanistan. He noted, however, that the five-year, $500 million request was so big that an eventual inter-agency recommendation to fund part or all of it would have to go to Treasury for certification and to Cabinet for approval. Cabinets are usually formed within two weeks of an election victory, he added, likely pushing a response to this request to November, at the earliest. Visit Canada,s Economy and Environment Forum at http://www.intelink.gov/communities/state/can ada WILKINS