US embassy cable - 05OTTAWA1604

UNCLAS OTTAWA 001604 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PHUM, PREL, AORC, ELAB, CA, ILO 
SUBJECT: CANADA: RESPONSE TO DEMARCHES ON ILO ELECTIONS AND 
BUDGET 
 
REF: A. STATE 094818 
 
     B. STATE 094764 
 
1.  (U) Poloff discussed refs (a) (Cuban candidacy for the 
ILO Governing Body) and (b) (ILO's proposed budget for 
2006-2007) with Wendy Drukier, Senior Policy Advisor at 
Foreign Affairs Canada (FAC), on May 24.  Drukier thanked us 
for the points, and requested some time so that she could 
pass the demarche to her colleagues in Geneva for their 
review. 
 
2.  (SBU) In a follow-up conversation with poloff on May 26, 
Drukier provided feedback on both demarches.  Concerning ref 
(a) and the possible candidacy of Cuba to the ILO Governing 
Body, Drukier stated that the Government of Canada (GoC) 
fully supports the candidacy of Barbados, agreeing with the 
USG that Barbados has a much better record of cooperation 
with the ILO than does Cuba.  She expressed hope that Cuba 
would not press its candidacy beyond the Americas Group, but 
that if it did make a direct bid to the ILO Government 
electoral college, Canada was prepared to support Barbados, 
and would urge other countries to do likewise. 
 
3.  (SBU) Regarding ref (b) and the proposed ILO budget for 
2006-2007, Drukier stated that while FAC agrees with the USG 
on the need for fiscal restraint at the ILO, the GoC is 
nonetheless concerned that it may be counterproductive to 
press the issue too strongly (i.e. funding for the ILO would 
actually increase, rather than decrease).  Drukier indicated 
that FAC's representatives in Geneva were discussing this 
with USG reps, and that according to Drukier, the USG is also 
backing off somewhat from our previous stance.  Drukier also 
stated that the GoC feels somewhat constrained to press too 
hard on this issue, since Canada is also a candidate for the 
ILO Governing Body. 
 
Visit Canada's Classified Web Site at 
http://www.state.sgov.gov/p/wha/ottawa 
 
DICKSON