US embassy cable - 05OTTAWA2368

UNCLAS OTTAWA 002368 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PREL, CA, AF, EAID 
SUBJECT: CANADIAN RESPONSE TO DEMARCHE ON CLOSING THE GAP 
FOR AFGHANISTAN'S NATIONAL ASSEMBLY ELECTIONS 
 
REF: STATE 143648 
 
1. (U) Poloff delivered reftel demarche points to Nadia 
Ahmad, Foreign Affairs Canada Policy Advisor for Afghanistan, 
and Econoff delivered them to Jonathan Lane, Desk Officer at 
CIDA.  We were told that Canada is fully supportive of making 
the elections work and will do whatever it can to ensure 
there is no slippage in dates.  They were aware of the 
shortfall and have begun looking at ways Canada might be able 
to shift some of its funding for Afghanistan from current 
programs to additional elections support, on top of the USD 
$6.2 million which it has provided.  This will have to wait 
until Minister Carroll returns from travel, which will be in 
the next week.  They hope to have an answer by August 15. 
Ahmad also mentioned that Canada would be supporting the OSCE 
electoral observer mission with funding and leadership, and 
would be supporting the new parliament with technical 
training and mentoring through the Parliamentary Center, an 
NGO dedicated to improving the quality of representative 
assemblies in Canada and abroad. 
 
2. (U) Note: Since the 2002 Tokyo Conference Canada has 
pledged more than C$616 million (almost US$500 million) in 
reconstruction and development assistance to Afghanistan, 
making it the single largest recipient of Canadian aid. 
 
Visit Canada's Classified Web Site at 
http://www.state.sgov.gov/p/wha/ottawa 
 
WILKINS