US embassy cable - 05OTTAWA435

UNCLAS OTTAWA 000435 
 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE OES/SAT, IO/UNP, WHA/CAN 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: TSPA, CA, UNPUOS, UNGA 
SUBJECT:  COPUOS - Canadian reaction to USG approach on Space 
Debris 
 
Ref: SECSTATE 18202 
 
1. ESTH Counselor and Specialist met on February 9 with 
Danielle Ayotte, Director and Dave Church, Senior 
International Advisor, with the Science and Technology 
Division of International Trade Canada (ITCan) to discuss 
the USG approach outlined in reftel.  We had provided the 
USG draft guidelines to Ayotte and Church at ITCan, as well 
as to the Canadian Space Agency, on February 3. 
 
2. Ayotte and Church told us that the Canadian interagency 
review of the USG proposal is not yet complete, and that the 
review is concurrent with, and being influenced somewhat by, 
a related key question for Canada, i.e., should Canada join 
as a member of the Inter-Agency Debris Coordinating 
Committee (IADC). 
 
3. Notwithstanding that the GoC review is not complete, 
Ayotte and Church were able to tell us that the GoC is 
generally favorably disposed toward the approach offered by 
the USG, with one significant difference. 
 
4. Whereas the USG approach clearly proposes that the Space 
Debris Mitigation Guidelines "remain voluntary and not be 
legally binding under international law", the GoC position, 
according to Ayotte and Church is likely to favor a "soft 
law" approach.  Church described "soft law" as being firm 
guidelines to which parties formally commit to following, 
perhaps by signing a good faith code of conduct or covenant, 
but which is nonetheless not legally binding nor 
enforceable.  Church characterized the "soft law" approach 
as being about halfway on the spectrum between voluntary 
agreements and legally binding agreements. 
 
5. Post will follow up with Ayotte and Church before the 
STSC meeting February 21 in order to provide any additional 
GoC comments on USG proposal. 
 
Cellucci