US embassy cable - 05OTTAWA1646

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 OTTAWA 001646 
 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE 
 
SECSTATE FOR ECA/PE/V/R/W - EWILKES-SCOTT; 
WHA/PDA - JCARPENTER-ROCK; 
MONTREAL, TORONTO AND VANCOUVER FOR PAOS; 
HALIFAX AND QUEBEC FOR CONGENS; 
CALGARY FOR PA FIELD REP; CALGARY PLEASE PASS TO WINNIPEG 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: KPAO, OEXC, SCUL, CA, IV Program 
SUBJECT: FY 2006 IVLP Individual Program - Letia Cousins 
(Principal Candidate) 
 
REFERENCE:  OTTAWA 1504 
 
Post is pleased to nominate Letia Cousins, Director, 
Aboriginal and Circumpolar Affairs, Government of Nunavut 
for a 21-day individual project.  EVDB-formatted nomination 
follows. 
 
START FIXED-FORMAT TEXT (PLEASE DO NOT EDIT): 
: The following data is in a fixed format which enables 
: automated processing in Washington and should not be 
: edited except by means of the Post-EVDB software. 
EXPORT-SOURCE: POST-EVDB 
VERSION: 3.0.7 
POST-EMAIL: slw@pd.state.gov 
TRANSMITTING-POST: PAS Ottawa 
TRANSMITTING-POST-ID: 6540 
EXPORT-TYPE: BIO DATA 
START NOMINATION: 
ECA-OFFICE: E/VRW 
PROG-AGENCY-NAME: 
POST-PROJ-ID: 333 
ECA-PROJ-NO: 
PROJ-NAME: Cousins, Letia - Individual 
START MEMO PROJ-DESC: 
 
END MEMO PROJ-DESC: 
PROJ-TYPE: Individual 
PROG-TYPE: IV Grant Visitor 
FY: 2006 
DEPART-POST: 
SESSION-DATE: 
RETURN-POST: 
NO-OF-PART: 1 
RANK-ORDER: 28 
START MEMO POST-OBJ: 
 
END MEMO POST-OBJ: 
START MEMO POST-RCMD: 
 
END MEMO POST-RCMD: 
ECA-OFFICE-ID: 1037 
PROG-AGENCY-ID: 
PROJ-TYPE-ID: IND 
PROG-TYPE-ID: 29 
NOMINATING-POST-ID: 6540 
FUNDING-CNTRY-ID: 322158 
STATUS: N 
ORIGINATOR: P 
SUBJ-DISC: Education (General) 
START BIO: 
PREFIX: Ms. 
F-NAME: Letia 
M-NAME: 
L-NAME: Cousins 
SUFFIX: 
POSITION-CODE: 124 
PRINCIPAL?: Yes 
GENDER: F 
DOB: 10/01/1974 
MAR-STAT: 
BIRTH-CITY: Prince Albert, Saska 
BIRTH-CNTRY: Canada 
CITIZ-CNTRY: Canada 
RES-CNTRY: Canada 
START MEMO POSITION: 
Director, Aboriginal & Circumpolar Affairs Department of 
Executive and Intergovernmental Affairs, Government of 
Nunavut 
END MEMO POSITION: 
START MEMO OTHER-POSITIONS: 
 
END MEMO OTHER-POSITIONS: 
START MEMO PREV-POSITIONS: 
-Circumpolar Affairs Advisor - Department of Executive and 
Intergovernmental Affairs, Government of Nunavut (2002-2004) 
-Training expert in Statistical Analysis and Dissemination - 
United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural 
Organization, Harare, Zimbabwe (2001) 
-Information Systems Management Delegate - International 
Federation of the Red Cross and International Institute for 
Sustainable Development, Mbabane, Swaziland (2000) 
-Economic Modeling Specialist - Department of Economic 
Development and Transportation, Government of Nunavut (1998) 
-Career Development Officer - Department of Education, 
Government of Nunavut (1997) 
-Research Assistant- Department of Political Science, Acadia 
University, Nova Scotia 
-Teaching Assistant- Department of Economics, Acadia 
University, Nova Scotia 
 
 
END MEMO PREV-POSITIONS: 
START MEMO US-TRAVEL: 
Summer vacations in Washington, New York and Tennessee 
(We note that the extensive list of places she has visited 
in the U.S. is somewhat misleading.  Ms. Cousins apparently 
went to each place for only about a day or two, spread out 
over her childhood years.  For example, her visit to 
Tennessee was for one day, to see the Nunavut hockey legend 
Jordin Tootoo play.) 
 
END MEMO US-TRAVEL: 
START MEMO OTHER-TRAVEL: 
Australia, Botswana, Denmark and Greenland, Finland, Italy, 
Mozambique, New Zealand, Russia, South Africa, Swaziland, 
Switzerland, United Kingdom, and Zimbabwe 
END MEMO OTHER-TRAVEL: 
START MEMO EDUCATION: 
Master of Arts in Economics Candidate, Dalhousie University, 
Halifax, present 
B.A. with Honors in Economics, University of Alberta, 
Edmonton, 1998 
B.A. in Economics and Political Science, Acadia University, 
Nova Scotia, 1997 
 
END MEMO EDUCATION: 
START MEMO MEMBERSHIPS: 
Board of Directors - Nunavut Youth Abroad Program 
Iqaluit Unit of the Girl Guides of Canada 
 
 
END MEMO MEMBERSHIPS: 
START MEMO PUBLICATIONS: 
 
END MEMO PUBLICATIONS: 
START MEMO SPEC-CONSID: 
Dietary or medical considerations (e.g. diabetic, allergies, 
vegetarian): None 
Smoker/non-smoker: non-smoker 
 
END MEMO SPEC-CONSID: 
FIRST-LANG: English 
ENGL-READ: 5 
ENGL-SPEAK: 5 
ENGL-COMP: 5 
START OTHER-LANGS: 
OTHER-LANG: French 
OTHER-LANG-ID: FR 
READ: 3 
SPEAK: 3 
COMP: 3 
END OTHER-LANGS: 
START MEMO NOM-POST-OBJ: 
 
END MEMO NOM-POST-OBJ: 
START MEMO NOM-POST-RCMD: 
 
END MEMO NOM-POST-RCMD: 
START MEMO VIS-OBJ: 
 
END MEMO VIS-OBJ: 
START MEMO VIS-REC: 
 
END MEMO VIS-REC: 
NOMINATING-OFFICER: CG Abigail Friedman 
START MEMO NOMINATING-JUSTIFICATION: 
The Mission in Canada has put a priority on increasing 
contact with representatives of the Northern Canadian 
Territorties.  This nomination supports this Mission goal of 
involving people of influence in the North through the 
Virtual Presence Posts, outreach  and programs.  Letia 
Cousins is Circumpolar Affairs Advisor for the Government of 
Nunavut.  Young, bright and Inuit, Ms. Cousins is widely 
regarded as the future of Nunavut.  She has taken advantage 
of several opportunities to travel the world - most notably 
spending nearly two years working in Africa, with the 
International Red Cross in Swaziland and with UNESCO in 
Zimbabwe.  But she has always come back to Nunavut.  "This 
is where my family is and this is where I will stay," she 
tells us proudly.  This is good news for Nunavut Territory, 
where the brain drain of talented youth is a serious 
problem. 
Letia Cousins is already proving herself a leader among her 
colleagues.  She is on the Board of Directors of the Nunavut 
Youth Abroad program and she is training to be a Nunavut 
Justice of the Peace.  Within the GON, she is the lead 
person in handling official visitors to Nunavut.   She is a 
reliable interlocutor and an energetic supporter of our 
efforts to raise the U.S. profile in Nunavut.  Letia Cousins 
recently returned from a GON mission to Greenland, where she 
represented Nunavut at a conference for future leaders. 
 
 
END MEMO NOMINATING-JUSTIFICATION: 
NOM-OFF: ConGen Quebec City 
SPEAKER?: No 
NOTIFY-EMB: No 
MEDIA?: No 
HOME-STAY: No 
HOME-HOSP?: Yes 
E-I-TYPE: ELEO 
NOMINEE-ID: 500 
PERSON-ID: 381 
BIRTH-CNTRY-ID: CA 
CITIZ-CNTRY-ID: CA 
RES-CNTRY-ID: CA 
FIRST-LANG-ID: EN 
E-I-TYPE-ID: E 
NOM-POST-ID: 6540 
NOM-FUNDING-CNTRY-ID: 322158 
NOM-STATUS: N 
DS2019-ACTION: 1 
DS2019-SUBJECT: 45.0101 
SPONS-FUNDS: 0 
SPONS-AGENCY1: 
USGOVT-AGENCY1: 
US-AGENCY-AMT1: 0 
USGOVT-AGENCY2: 
US-AGENCY-AMT2: 0 
INTL-ORG1: 
INTL-ORG-AMOUNT1: 0 
INTL-ORG2: 
INTL-ORG-AMOUNT2: 0 
VIS-GOVT-AMT: 0 
COMMISSION: 0 
OTHER-AMOUNT: 0 
VIS-AMOUNT: 0 
VIS-CAT: 5 
END BIO: 
END NOMINATION: 
END FIXED-FORMAT TEXT: 
 
DICKSON, CHARGE