CCM: CANADIAN SUPPORT FOR INTEROPERABILITY

C O N F I D E N T I A L OTTAWA 001494 SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 11/28/2018 TAGS: PARM PREL NATO MOPS CA SUBJECT: CCM: CANADIAN SUPPORT FOR INTEROPERABILITY REF: STATE 125628 Classified By: PolMinCouns Scott Bellard, reasons 1.4 (b) and (d) ¶1. (U) This is an action request -- see para 4. ¶2. (C) Director of the Mine Action and Small Arms Team Earl Turcotte of the Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade (DFAIT) confirmed to PolMinCouns on November 28 that Canada will make a "helpful" statement during the December 3 signing ceremony of the Convention on Cluster Munitions in Oslo, highlighting the importance of interoperability (without a specific reference to Article 21). He insisted that Canada had "fought hard" for Article 21, and promised that the Canadian statement will praise the CCM's "balance between humanitarian concerns and security," note the need to establish "international standards" while "preserving capabilities," and underscore the importance of maintaining interoperability with partners who are not bound by the CCM. Foreign Minister Lawrence Cannon will lead the Canadian delegation, in-between stops at the NATO Ministerial meeting and the OSCE Ministerial meeting. ¶3. (C) Turcotte said that DFAIT and the Department of National Defence would very much welcome the visit by an inter-agency team of U.S. experts on interoperability, as proposed in reftel demarche, but noted the impracticability of arranging until early in the new year. He requested that the U.S. come up with some possible dates for these talks. ¶4. (C) Action request -- please advise when a U.S. team would be available for discussions with Canadian counterparts in Ottawa in January 2009. Visit Canada,s Economy and Environment Forum at http://www.intelink.gov/communities/state/can ada WILKINS