US embassy cable - 03HALIFAX367

UNCLAS HALIFAX 000367 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: MOPS, KPKO, PGOV, PREL, ASEC, IZ, CA, Iraq 
SUBJECT: PEARSON PEACEKEEPING CENTRE CAPABILITIES AND IRAQ 
RECONSTRUCTION 
 
SENSITIVE BUT UNCLASSIFIED -- PROTECT ACCORDINGLY 
 
1.  (SBU)  SUMMARY:  The Pearson Peacekeeping Centre in 
Cornwallis, Nova Scotia, has extensive expertise in training 
military, civilian and police personnel for peace operations in 
a variety of environments, but has as yet received from the 
Canadian government no taskings related to Iraq.  Ottawa could 
be encouraged t make use of the PPC's capabilities to provide 
training in support of Iraq reconstruction.  END SUMMARY. 
 
2.  (U)  Consul General, PA Minister-Counselor and Montreal PAO 
recently visited the Pearson Peacekeeping Centre in Cornwallis, 
NS, to meet the PPC's staff, look at its facilities and evaluate 
possibilities for future programs together.  Ken Eyre, the Chief 
Operating Officer, briefed us on the courses that the PPC 
offers.  These include focused training courses at the basic and 
advanced levels for military, civilian and police personnel 
involved in peace operations.  The PPC also holds training in 
humanitarian response in peace operations, human rights and 
civil-military cooperation and can custom design courses to the 
specifications of users.  The PPC's training is usually not 
country or mission-specific, but is aimed at providing a 
foundation for those involved in various aspects of peace 
operations by distilling lessons learned from many missions. 
 
3.  (U)  The PPC has expanded from it's original training 
facility and now offers the majority of its courses in places 
other than Cornwallis.  Much of the training is in Canada, but 
an increasing number of courses are held in other countries, 
including the Middle East.  President Sandra Dunsmore plans to 
open an Ottawa office soon to raise the PPC's profile with the 
Canadian government.  In addition to its core courses, the PPC 
can provide in-depth exercises for units going to peace 
operations, capacity building for other training and education 
institutions and an as well support missions in the field with 
on-site training.  German forces bound for Afghanistan 
participated in a command post exercise at the PPC which 
according to the faculty they found very useful.  A small core 
faculty is augmented by subject matter experts from various 
fields and countries.  Most instruction is in English and 
French, but a growing number of courses are offered in Spanish 
as well. 
 
4.  (SBU)  COMMENT:  The PPC has impressive capabilities, and 
has certainly come a long way from it's fairly humble origins 
nearly a decade ago.  The expertise and facilities could be 
called upon by the Canadian government for training -- either in 
Cornwallis or in the region -- as part of its contribution to 
Iraq reconstruction.  We share the PPC staff's puzzlement at why 
this has not happened to date.  END COMMENT.