US embassy cable - 05OTTAWA3540

C O N F I D E N T I A L OTTAWA 003540 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 11/29/2015 
TAGS: PGOV, PHUM, PINR, PREL, CA, RS 
SUBJECT: CANADA ALSO CONCERNED ABOUT RUSSIAN DRAFT NGO LAW 
 
REF: SECSTATE 212899 
 
Classified By: Pol M/C Brian Flora  Reasons 1.4 (B) and (D) 
 
1.  (U)  Polcons and Poloff delivered reftEl on 28 November 
to Tom MacDonald, Director General of the Central, East and 
South Europe Bureau and Gilles Breton, Deputy Director, 
Eastern European Division at Foreign Affairs Canada (FAC).  . 
 
2.  (C)  According to MacDonald, the GoC shares many of the 
USG concerns about the proposed NGO registration law and 
plans to use current and upcoming visits by influential and 
high ranking Russian officials to guide the outcome of the 
debate.  The GoC believes that it is particularly important 
for Russia, as it assumes the presidency of the G-8 in 
January 2006, to demonstrate its respect for the 
organization's democratic values.  MacDonald expects Russia 
to follow examples from past G-8 Summits and organize a 
parallel NGO conference.  Accordingly, Russia cannot afford 
to pass restrictive or capricious legislation that constrains 
the activities of domestic or international organizations, if 
it wants to take a leadership role in this regard.  Canada, 
through the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA), 
is providing technical assistance to Russia as it prepares 
for the G-8 NGO conference.  Last month, it hosted a group of 
Russian journalists and more groups are scheduled to visit in 
the near future.  MacDonald said that, rather than getting 
"too noisy publicly and pushing Russia into a corner," the 
GoC plans to use these opportunities to encourage an open and 
inclusive debate about NGO registration and to underline the 
need for transparency in the process of drafting and amending 
the proposed legislation. 
 
3.  (C)  Sergey Mironov, President of the Federation Council, 
is currently in Ottawa, hosted by the President of the 
Senate, and MacDonald stated that Canada wil take this 
opportunity to encourage NGO inclusion in the consulation 
process.  He said that Canada will share its own NGO 
registration regulations as a working example but 
acknowledged the sensitivity in Russia toward NGOs that are 
perceived to cross the line from civil society promotion to 
political interference.  Breton said that Russia's historical 
experience and culture make it overly sensitive, especially 
as regards NGOs that receive funding from abroad to promote 
democratic institution-building.  Breton and MacDonald 
thought that it would be counter-productive for foreign 
governments to attempt to tell Russia which NGOs are 
acceptable and which are not.  Instead, Canada prefers to 
encourage a consultative process. 
 
4.  (C)  MacDonald related a recent conversation between a 
FAC official visiting Russia and Ella Pamfilova, Chair of the 
Presidential Council for Promoting Civil Society Institutions 
and Civil Rights.  Pamfilova, who also serves as the head of 
the Russian branch of Transparency International, previously 
came to Canada on a GoC exchange program and plans to visit 
again in the coming months.  She expressed less concern than 
expected to the official about the potential limitations of 
the proposed registration law.  MacDonald himself expressed 
cautious optimism following reports from Canada's Moscow 
Embassy that described signs of flexibility shown by senior 
Russian officials on amending the draft. 
 
Visit Canada's Classified Web Site at 
http://www.state.sgov.gov/p/wha/ottawa 
 
WILKINS