US embassy cable - 05OTTAWA3209

UNCLAS OTTAWA 003209 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: ECPS, CA, AS, XA 
SUBJECT: CANADIAN RESPONSE TO DEMARCHE ON SINGLE MEMBER 
STATE VETO ISSUE 
 
REF: A. SECSTATE 197285 
     B. OTTAWA 2076 
 
1.  (SBU) Econoff spoke with Industry Canada contact Janis 
Doran, who will be attending the TSAG meeting and who is the 
GOC ITU expert who has been our primary contact before (see 
Ottawa 2076).  We provided a copy of the talking points to 
Ms. Doran, who was well-aware of the situation and who has 
been in contact with Marian Gordon in EB/CIP/MA. 
 
2.  (SBU)  Ms. Doran raised GOC's serious concerns about the 
current status of the Australian position on this issue.  She 
suggested that Australia's Department of Communications, 
Information Technology and the Arts (DCIT) and the Australian 
Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) "do not seem to be 
on exactly the same channel."  She said that ACMA documents 
from the ongoing meetings in Melbourne are "very worrisome" 
and suggest that the ACMA is still "where it was before" on 
the single member state veto issue, while the DCIT-led 
delegation at the ITU council was "much more muted".  Her 
concern is that since the TSAG is related to standards, the 
regulatory role of the ACMA may give it the lead at TSAG 
rather than the DCIT, which is responsible for the ITU 
council.  She recommended that USG and Embassy Canberra check 
with Australian officials to make sure that they are speaking 
with one voice ("preferably that of DCIT") at the TSAG 
meeting. 
 
2.  (SBU)  Ms. Doran also emphasized the need for the USG to 
engage with Commonwealth African countries on this issue. 
But she reiterated that the USG should "seriously focus on 
Australia". 
 
Visit Canada's Classified Web Site at 
http://www.state.sgov.gov/p/wha/ottawa 
 
WILKINS