VZCZCXRO1876
OO RUEHGA RUEHHA RUEHQU RUEHVC
DE RUEHOT #2060 3121836
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
O 081836Z NOV 07
FM AMEMBASSY OTTAWA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 6876
INFO RUCNCAN/ALL CANADIAN POSTS COLLECTIVE IMMEDIATE
RUEHAK/AMEMBASSY ANKARA IMMEDIATE 0153
RUEHRL/AMEMBASSY BERLIN IMMEDIATE 1086
RUEHBR/AMEMBASSY BRASILIA IMMEDIATE 0439
RUEHBY/AMEMBASSY CANBERRA IMMEDIATE 1317
RUEHCP/AMEMBASSY COPENHAGEN IMMEDIATE 2328
RUEHLO/AMEMBASSY LONDON IMMEDIATE 0897
RUEHME/AMEMBASSY MEXICO IMMEDIATE 1776
RUEHFR/AMEMBASSY PARIS IMMEDIATE 0972
RUEHSG/AMEMBASSY SANTIAGO IMMEDIATE 0717
RUEHUL/AMEMBASSY SEOUL IMMEDIATE 1503
RUEHKO/AMEMBASSY TOKYO IMMEDIATE 3327
RUEHWR/AMEMBASSY WARSAW IMMEDIATE 0925
RUEHWL/AMEMBASSY WELLINGTON IMMEDIATE 0242
UNCLAS OTTAWA 002060
SIPDIS
SENSITIVE
SIPDIS
USOECD FOR CHARLES RANDOLPH, PAUL REID, CURTIS STONE
USOAS FOR BOB MANZANARES
STATE FOR EEB/EPPD, EEB/ODF, AND S/P
E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: EAID KDEM PREL OECD CA
SUBJECT: CANADIAN PARTICIPATION IN PDG STEERING GROUP
REF: STATE 152799
1. (SBU) According to Nancy Smyth, Deputy Director of Policy
Planning at the Department of Foreign Affairs and
International Trade (DFAIT), DFAIT's Director General for
Economic Affairs John Sloan will lead Canada's delegation to
the November 12 Steering Group meeting, joined by Nicole
Gesnot from Canada's OECD mission. Smyth expressed
appreciation for reftel non-paper on PDG Governance Issues
(which she had seen in an earlier draft). Smyth commented
that Canada is positive about the possibilities of the PDG,
especially the south-south connections, and about bringing in
"new countries" like Chile rather than an "assembly of the
usual suspects." She agreed that, for the PDG to be
effective, it will be necessary to get the governance piece
right. Canada is very interested in how the technical debate
over governance evolves and is looking for close coordination
with a few partners to help set the parameters for this
debate. Canada is also especially concerned with the
criteria of countries around the table. Smyth noted that
only three have, to date, made real contributions. The
Canadian delegation is looking for a real discussion of the
criteria issue on November 12.
2. (SBU) Smyth added that Canada had already given input to
the drafters of the "informal issues note" but that the
current version did not reflect its comments. She noted that
Chile has been taken out of the document as an explicit
candidate for co-chair. Canada agrees with the USG that the
formula should be "OECD plus a partner," and not "OECD plus
UNDP." Smyth confirmed that Canada is "comfortable
considering Chile," which would reinforce Canada's emphasis
on the hemisphere. Chile received unanimous support in its
accession to OECD and would be a "good fit," Smyth commented.
3. (SBU) Smyth said that Canada had not yet made an effort to
feed information on projects to the PDG Advisory Unit, but
will consider directing some of its missions to do so. For
Canada, what will be most important will be reviewing where
there is a fit between PDG-proposed projects and its own
criteria for development support, which the Canadian
International Development Agency (CIDA) controls "fairly
tightly." CIDA will be developing assessment criteria for
PDG projects over the coming months, she promised.
Visit our shared North American Partnership blog (Canada & Mexico) at
http://www.intelink.gov/communities/state/nap
WILKINS