CANADA SEEKS U.S. ASSISTANCE WITH HOSTAGE POLICY

S E C R E T SECTION 01 OF 02 OTTAWA 000020

SIPDIS

S/CT FOR K. O'REILLY AND E. RYE

E.O. 12958: DECL: 01/09/2028
TAGS: PTER PREL PINR PGOV CA
SUBJECT: CANADA SEEKS U.S. ASSISTANCE WITH HOSTAGE POLICY
REVIEW

REF: OTTAWA-S/CT EMAILS 1/7/09

Classified By: PolMinCouns Scott Bellard, reasons 1.4 (b) and (d)


1. (U) This is an action request -- see para three.


2. (S) Summary: Canada is for the first time planning on
Cabinet endorsement by April of a formal national policy to
respond to the kidnapping of its citizens by terrorists or
criminals. A spate of five cases of kidnapped Canadians
since June 2008 prompted political leaders to order this
national strategy. Canada seeks to coordinate its policy as
closely as possible with that of the U.S., and requests a
comprehensive briefing on U.S. policy in hostage situations
in Washington on January 29. End summary.


3. (S) Action Request: in response to USG assistance offers
(ref emails),the Department of Foreign Affairs and
International Trade (DFAIT) has requested U.S. help in
drafting Canada's hostage policy and seeks meetings with
Washington agencies more fully to understand NSPD-12. DFAIT
senior policy advisor on counter-terrorism Neal Brennan, who
is leading the Canadian inter-agency planning process, said
his team wants to benefit from U.S. views early in the
drafting process, and has requested to visit Washington on
January 29 for discussions with U.S. counterparts. DFAIT
also requests a releasable version of NSPD-12 to assist its
policy formulation. Please advise. End action request.


4. (S) DFAIT is leading an inter-agency team to draft the
hostage policy for approval by Cabinet by April, at the
latest. According to DFAIT's Brennan, the spate of hostage
and kidnapping incidents involving Canadian nationals since
June 2008 motivated the Prime Minister's Office to order the
drafting of a comprehensive national strategy. Brennan said
that these five Canadian hostage cases had forced Canada to
develop responses "on the fly" and that the inter-agency
community constantly found itself revisiting important policy
issues mid-crisis. Canadian political leaders NOW want to
institutionalize a substantive policy framework in order
better to manage future hostages situations safely and
successfully, Brennan commented.


5. (S) Specifically, Brennan noted that DFAIT wants Canadian
elected leaders to give a "high-level political blessing,
especially with regard to policy on ransom payments."
Brennan's task is to create a policy paper that enunciates
broad principles for dealing with hostage-takers, the media,
the families of victims, and interested third parties (i.e.
insurance companies and employers). This policy document
will also delineate the whole-of-government decision-making
process and clarify governmental roles and responsibilities
during a hostage crisis. Brennan added that his group will
likely later draft standard operating procedures to put the
general policy guidance and principles into practice.


6. (S) Another area where Canada wants more thought and
planning is on coordination among the "Four Eyes" partners.
Brennan commented that mixed nationality hostage cases are
seemingly becoming the norm, because, "where there is a
Canadian, more often than not you'll find Americans, Brits,
and Aussies, too." Toward that end, Brennan is seeking a
better understanding of NSPD-12 and has requested that the
U.S. provide Canada with a releasable version of the U.S.
policy document. Brennan said that his terms of reference
Qpolicy document. Brennan said that his terms of reference
specifically order him to align Canadian policy as closely as
possible with that of the U.S., even though Canada realizes
it may have conflicting priorities in mixed U.S.-Canada
hostage situations, given the much broader U.S. global
strategic role. Senior Canadian officials nonetheless want
to see as little divergence as possible, according to Brennan.


7. (S) Regarding specific policy issues to discuss with U.S.
counterparts, Brennan cited the possibility of secretly
negotiating with hostage-takers as a means of entrapping
them, while publicly claiming "no negotiations with
terrorists." Brennan added that Canadian interlocutors are
also eager to learn whether NSPD-12 is integrated with
broader personnel safety and recovery policy goals, which are
also part of his terms of reference. Another thorny issue
for Canada is policy toward third parties, in particular
insurance companies that may have written policies for
kidnapped Canadian nationals. Yet another issue arose with
the recent kidnapping of a journalist from the Canadian

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Broadcasting Corporation, which is state-owned yet
independent from the government. Brennan said that Canada
was still contemplating how to deal with such entities and
their employees who wander into harm's way. A final issue is
the treatment of Canadian government employees compared with
that of government contractors in hostage situations; Canada
would appreciate hearing U.S. views in this area as well.


8. (S) Brennan would plan to lead the delegation to
Washington and would likely bring along the following
representatives:

-- Department of National Defence (Nicholas Chapdelaine);
-- Royal Canadian Mounted Police (one policy officer and one
operations officer);
-- Canadian Security and Intelligence Service (John Gilmour);
-- Department of Public Safety (Emmanuel Deault-Bonin);
-- Canadian Embassy representative.

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