US embassy cable - 05OTTAWA1819

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 OTTAWA 001819 
 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR OES (TURNER), WHA/CAN (BREESE, NELSON) 
 
WHITE HOUSE FOR CEQ 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: SENV, PBTS CA, Devils Lake, Environment 
SUBJECT: DEVILS LAKE, ENVIRONMENT COMMITTEE WEIGHS IN 
 
1. Summary: In a press conference on June 14 the House of 
Commons Environment Committee called on the federal 
government to act decisively and exhaust "all diplomatic 
and/or legal options" to stop the Devils Lake outlet from 
commencing operation until it has been reviewed by the IJC. 
The Committee's unanimous support for the resolution was 
overshadowed by the incendiary rhetoric of a Manitoba M.P. 
(not from the Committee) who called on Canada to impose 
trade sanction to achieve that objective. The statements of 
Environment Committee members and the Committee Resolution 
were, in contrast, forceful but measured. End summary. 
 
 
2. The House of Commons Standing Committee on Environment 
and Sustainable Development held a press conference the 
afternoon of Tuesday, June 14 to announce they had adopted a 
resolution calling for the United States to join Canada in a 
joint reference to the International Joint Commission (IJC) 
on Devils Lake.  They also announced they will soon be 
sending a letter to Secretary Rice reiterating that demand 
and also forcefully requesting that the President become 
engaged on this issue and make a decision. 
 
3. Support for the resolution was unanimous, a rarity in 
Parliament these days, although there were differences 
evident in the four parties' positions as they made their 
statements. 
 
4. Perhaps most significant, however, was what occurred just 
as the Committee members concluded the press conference. 
Manitoba NDP Member of Parliament, Pat Martin (who is not a 
member of the Committee) took the podium and provided the 
press with some incendiary rhetoric.  Martin, with 
much passion, told the assembled reporters that:  "Diplomacy 
has not worked" and "Canada's bargaining stance has been on 
its knees" and "the time for a diplomatic solution is 
over".  The NDP Member of Parliament elaborated, 
saying "It's time to take the gloves off and get tough with 
the United States", "lets start talking about trade 
sanctions" and, alluding to the energy relationship between 
Canada and the United States, he added "Let the bastards 
freeze in the dark". 
 
5. The statements of Environment Committee members and the 
Committee Resolution were, in contrast, forceful but 
measured.  Of course Martin's "freezing" line made the 
headlines in today's papers, overshadowing the all-party 
consensus that fellow NDP M.P. Nathan Cullen, who authored 
the resolution, had so carefully crafted.  Indeed, we 
understand that Cullen, was so incensed at Martin's 
intemperate remarks that he and Martin who typically sit 
alongside one another in the House of Commons had to be 
relocated away from one another during last nights series of 
budget votes.  Supposedly Martin received the cold shoulder 
from the rest of the NDP caucus as well. 
 
6. The resolution is brief, the key statement is that 
".whereas the said water diversion may have serious and 
harmful ecological and economic repercussions in Canada; Be 
it resolved that the Standing Committee on the Environment & 
Sustainable Development urgently calls upon the Government 
of Canada to immediately exhaust any and all diplomatic 
and/or legal options available to prevent any water 
diversion from Devils Lake, North Dakota until the project 
has been reviewed by the International Joint Commission." 
 
7. The Committee's resolution is available at: 
 
 http://www.parl.gc.ca/committee/CommitteePubl ication.aspx?S 
ourceId=120911 
 
8. During the Q&A session the Liberal members of the 
Committee, Chairman Alan Tonks and Bryon Wilfert, 
Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Environment (who 
represents the Minister and the government on this 
committee), emphasized that the current situation is 
untenable and expressed concern what precedent the Devils 
Lake issue will set if a reference to the IJC is not made. 
Tonks and Wilfert also stressed that negotiations are on- 
going between the two governments, but they noted it is 
critical to get the President fully engaged on this matter. 
Tonks and Wilfert alluded several times to also being open 
to alternatives to an IJC reference, as long as that 
process would achieve the same ends as an IJC reference, 
i.e. science-based consideration of the facts and an 
impartial recommendation.  (Comment: Wilfert would 
definitely have been briefed on the CEQ meeting of June 13). 
 
9. When the assembled press asked a question about linking 
the Devils Lake issue with trade to gain leverage, David 
McGuinty, a Liberal MP and brother of Ontario Premier Dalton 
McGuinty noted that perhaps it is necessary to reexamine the 
Canadian relationship with the United States, 
and Canadian sovereignty more generally, in the context of 
continental environmental stewardship.  McGuinty, a former 
Chair of Canada's National Economic and Environmental think- 
tank the National Roundtable on the Environment and the 
Economy (NRTEE), added that former Canadian Ambassador to 
the USA, Raymond Chrtien claimed he spent about 40% of his 
time on bilateral environmental issues, underscoring that 
perhaps these issues need a higher profile generally in the 
relationship. 
10. In response to being pressed on alternatives to an IJC 
reference, Tonks mentioned that there are avenues such as a 
reference to the International Court of Justice, but he 
stressed that this was not being contemplated and that 
linkage to other issues (whether environmental or trade 
related) was premature.  He also mentioned the possibility 
of a unilateral reference to the IJC, but exclaimed that 
this is not a favored option. 
 
 
 
11. The Conservative Party's Critic for the Environment, Bob 
Mills, expressed support for an IJC reference as the most 
expeditious means to achieve a solution that all parties 
could live with.  But he took the Liberal government to task 
for refusing the 2002 USG suggestion of an IJC reference at 
that time and Mills referenced the June 10 letter from the 
ND Congressional delegation to President Bush; Liberal M.P. 
Wilfert suggested, however, that there were several factual 
inaccuracies in that letter.  Mills added that the 
Boundary Waters Treaty is over 90 years old and suggested 
that it needs to be modernized (a sentiment similar to that 
expressed by Liberal David McGuinty). 
 
12. Nathan Cullen, NDP Environment critic and author of the 
Committee resolution, said that the GoC must ramp up the 
pressure on the United States on all available fronts, and 
the full range of diplomatic tools must be used - he chose 
not to elaborate.  He claimed that if the Administration 
allows the DL outlet to operate it will do serious damage to 
the bilateral relationship 
 
13. Finally, Bernard Bigras, Bloc Quebecois Environment 
critic, explained that his party fears that a dangerous 
precedent will be set if the Devils Lake matter is not 
referred to the IJC - including an erosion of the utility 
and effectiveness to the two governments of the IJC in the 
future. 
 
Dickson