CANADA ATTENDANCE AT PARIS INTERNATIONAL SUPPORT

UNCLAS OTTAWA 000572 SIPDIS SENSITIVE SIPDIS STATE FOR SCA/A (FRESE) E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: AF CA EAID ECON EFIN KDEM PGOV PREL SUBJECT: CANADA ATTENDANCE AT PARIS INTERNATIONAL SUPPORT CONFERENCE ON AFGHANISTAN REF: STATE 32155 Sensitive but unclassified ¶1. (sbu) Foreign Minister Maxime Bernier will likely lead Canada's delegation to the June International Support Conference on Afghanistan in Paris, according to Richard Arbiter, the Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade's Acting Director for Policy and Advocacy on the Afghanistan Task Force. Arbeiter said Minister of International Development Bev Oda may also attend. (Comment: Post also understands that Stephen Wallace - Vice President of the Afghanistan Task Force at the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA) - plans to attend the Paris conference. End comment) ¶2. (sbu) Arbeiter said CANADA is still considering how much money it will pledge. He stated that CANADA had recommended to France, Afghanistan, and the United Nations that they focus on "priority items" in Paris, rather than make it a general pledging conference. Arbeiter said CANADA did not have particular issues in mind (e.g., elections),but indicated that amounts tied to specific priorities would make a better public story in portraying the conference as a success. Visit Canada,s Economy and Environment Forum at http://www.intelink.gov/communities/state/can ada WILKINS