US embassy cable - 05OTTAWA1412

UNCLAS OTTAWA 001412 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
 
DEPT FOR USOAS/HUGH NEIGHBOUR, DRL/MICHAEL BUTLER, 
DRL/CHRIS CAMPONOVO, DRL/JULIE SCHECTER, IO/MARK LAGON, 
L/BOB HARRIS, WHA/CAN 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PHUM, AORC, CA, USOAS 
SUBJECT: CANADA: RESPONSE TO DEMARCHE ON OAS WORKING GROUP 
ON RACISM AND DISCRIMINATION 
 
REF: STATE 082983 
 
1.  (U) Poloff delivered reftel demarche to Pamela Moore, 
Senior Policy Officer at Foreign Affairs Canada (FAC), on May 
5.  Moore thanked us for the points, and advised that she 
would review the demarche with her colleagues at FAC, 
including Marie Gervais-Vidricaire, Director General of the 
Global Affairs Branch. 
 
2.  (SBU) In a follow-up conversation on May 10, Moore 
advised poloff that FAC continues to share many of the USG 
concerns outlined in the demarche  Nevertheless, she said 
that FAC has now concluded that it is time to engage the OAS 
on this issue, and reiterated to poloff that the GoC no 
longer opposes in principle an OAS working group to prepare 
an Inter-American Convention against Racism and all Forms of 
Discrimination and Intolerance.  However, Moore emphasized 
that the GoC will be taking a cautious approach, and that any 
subsequent agreement must address the broad range of 
discrimination issues while not altering or otherwise 
subverting existing international agreements. 
 
Visit Canada's Classified Web Site at 
http://www.state.sgov.gov/p/wha/ottawa 
 
DICKSON