CANADIAN VIEWS ON ARF REGIONAL DISASTER

UNCLAS OTTAWA 000950 SENSITIVE SIPDIS DEPARTMENT FOR WHA, EAP AND ISN E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PREL EAID KNNP PARM ARF ASEAN CA SUBJECT: CANADIAN VIEWS ON ARF REGIONAL DISASTER PREPAREDNESS REF: A. STATE 74383 ¶B. OTTAWA 0789 Sensitive but Unclassified. Please protect accordingly. ¶1. (SBU) ESTH Counselor discussed ref A demarche with Elizabeth Baldwin-Jones, Deputy Director of the Defence and Security Relations Division at the Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade, on July 14. Baldwin-Jones said she and her colleagues had been in direct contact with EAP/RSP on the matter and confirmed that Canada was on board with the basic approach suggested by the United States and the basic elements proposed for inclusion in the ARF Chairman's statement. ¶2. (SBU) She did note, however, that while greater civil-military cooperation in disaster preparation and response was of course positive, Canada still regarded as an issue defining the proper degree and timing of reliance on the military in responding to disasters. Visit Canada,s Economy and Environment Forum at http://www.intelink.gov/communities/state/can ada WILKINS