US embassy cable - 03OTTAWA1658

C O N F I D E N T I A L OTTAWA 001658 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 06/11/2013 
TAGS: AORC, CA, UNESCO 
SUBJECT: CANADA ON UNESCO BOARD 
 
REF: A. STATE 15524 B. OTTAWA 1119 
 
Classified By: Political MC Brian Flora for reasons 1.5 (b) and (d) 
 
1. (C) Post delivered points contained ref A to Jean-Luc 
Chouinard, Special Advisor for UNESCO in DFAIT's UN and 
Commonwealth Affairs Division, and Dr. Michel Tessier, 
Elections Co-ordinator in that division, on June 10, 2003. 
We also asked again if Canada would consider deferring its 
UNESCO Executive Board candidacy in order to achieve a clean 
slate of Group I candidates. 
 
2. (C) Chouinard indicated that Canada would like a seat on 
the board at the October conference and is actively seeking 
support for its candidacy from other member states.  There 
are a number of UNESCO issues Canada wants to defend and 
promote, Chouinard said, and it believes the best way to do 
that is by regaining its seat on the Board. 
 
3. (C) Chouinard didn't close the door completely, however. 
He said Canada believes in the principle of rotating Board 
seats, and feels Group 1 membership should be better balanced 
between EU and non-EU states. He believes there is merit to a 
rotation scheme over the long-term, as long as others are 
committed to it, and that Canada will support our efforts to 
establish such a scheme. (Comment: Chouinard was clear that 
Canada wants to rejoin the UNESCO board this year while 
remaining open to the idea of a slate and a long-term 
rotation scheme.  It is unlikely Canada will agree to a slate 
for this year's election unless it is part of that slate. End 
comment.) 
CELLUCCI