US embassy cable - 05OTTAWA2785

UNCLAS OTTAWA 002785 
 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR OES/SAT AND PM/DTC 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: CA, KTIA, PREL, TSPA, ETTC 
SUBJECT: CLOUDSAT CANADA, AUTHORIZATION FOR SIGNING THE 
CLOUDSAT AGREEMENT 
 
REF: SECSTATE 163101 
 
1. Summary: Charge John Dickson signed the CloudSat Agreement 
with Dr. Marc Garneau, President of the Canadian Space Agency 
(CSA), in Montreal on September 14, 2005.  The U.S. original 
of the agreement is being sent to L/T by pouch.  During the 
luncheon following the signing ceremony, Garneau raised CSA 
concerns about the potential impact of International Traffic 
in Arms Regulations (ITAR) on CSA cooperation with NASA on 
space programs.  CSA officials also noted that they hope to 
have approval from the cabinet by the end of the year to 
begin negotiations with the U.S. on an umbrella space 
cooperation agreement.  End Summary. 
 
2. Charge John Dickson signed the CloudSat Agreement for the 
U.S. on September 14, 2005 at CSA headquarters in Montreal, 
as authorized in reftel.  Dr. Marc Garneau, President of CSA 
and a former astronaut signed for Canada.  The U.S. signed 
original is being pouched to L/T at the State Department. 
Consul General Mary Marshall of the U.S. Consulate General in 
Montreal and ESTH Counselor Curt Stone from the Embassy in 
Ottawa accompanied the Charge. 
 
3. During a luncheon following the signing ceremony, Garneau 
raised CSA concerns about the potential adverse impact of 
ITAR on Canadian participation with NASA on CloudSat and 
other space programs.  Garneau said that the technical 
assistance agreements on various collaborative programs with 
NASA contain non-disclosure provisions, some of which 
prohibit people of certain nationalities from participating 
in the program.  He noted that Canadian law (Charter of 
Rights and Freedoms) prohibits that government from asking 
the nationality of employees, let alone prohibiting them from 
participation in particular programs.  Garneau said that 
there could well be complaints and law suits arising from any 
hint of discrimination based on nationality.  He said he 
expected to raise this issue with NASA counterparts at 
upcoming meetings. 
 
4. In response to a question from ESTH Counselor about the 
proposed bilateral umbrella space cooperation agreement, CSA 
officials explained that there had been delays in getting 
inter-agency agreement on the proposed agreement.  They said, 
however, that the process appears to be moving ahead now and 
that they expect to get cabinet approval to begin 
negotiations by the end of the year.  CSA is hopeful that the 
Canadian Government will be ready to begin negotiations in 
January or February 2006. 
 
Visit Canada's Classified Web Site at 
http://www.state.sgov.gov/p/wha/ottawa 
 
WILKINS