CANADIAN PARTICIPATION IN PAKISTAN DONORS'

UNCLAS OTTAWA 000282 SENSITIVE SIPDIS STATE FOR SCA/P (GOODMAN AND FOLEY) E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PREL EAID PK JA CA SUBJECT: CANADIAN PARTICIPATION IN PAKISTAN DONORS' CONFERENCE REF: STATE 32712 ¶1. (SBU) PolMinCouns, jointly with Acting Pakistan High Commissioner Naela Chohan and Japanese Minister Counselor Abe Koji, on April 6 met with Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA) Senior Policy Advisor Keith Fountain to encourage high level Canadian participation and a generous pledge at the April 17 Pakistan Donors' Conference (reftel). Fountain said that Canada had not yet decided on its representative, but regretted that Foreign Minister Lawrence Cannon would be in Trinidad and Tobago that same day with the Prime Minister to attend the Summit of the Americas. International Cooperation Minister Bev Oda also has a previous commitment elsewhere in the world on that day. He predicted that either Parliamentary Secretary for Foreign Affairs Deepak Obhrai or Parliamentary Secretary for International Cooperation Jim Abbott would lead the Canadian delegation, which would also include Deputy Minister in charge of the Afghanistan Task Force in the Privy Council Office David Mulroney. Fountain indicated that Canada was unlikely to be able to make a specific pledge at the conference, as it was still studying the implications of the new regional approach that President Obama has championed. He noted current Canadian aid to Pakistan was about C$30 million annually. ¶2. (SBU) In a subsequent meeting at the Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade on April 8, the same trio met with Assistant Deputy Minister for Asia and Africa Ken Sunquist and Assistant Deputy Minister of the Afghanistan Task Force Yves Brodeur, and made the same points. ADM Sunquist confirmed that Canada was still sorting out its representation at the conference, but indicated that Parliamentary Secretary Obhrai or Abbott remained the most likely choice. He said that DFAIT and CIDA had examined the possibility of sending International Trade Minister Stockwell Day (who is concurrently chairman of the Cabinet Committee on Afghanistan),since he is currently in Japan and will travel next to China for several days, but that Day apparently is similarly unavailable on the 17th. ADM Sunquist added that Canada was unlikely to be able to come up with a specific new pledge, or significantly to increase its Pakistan funding, by the donors' conference. He and Brodeur promised to share any additional information that became available before the 17th, reiterated Canada's strong support for Pakistan and Afghanistan, and underscored the importance Canada attached to international solidarity on these issues. Visit Canada,s North American partnership community at http://www.intelink.gov/communities/state/nap / BREESE