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courage is contagious
Viewing cable 05OTTAWA228, CANADA: PM MARTIN'S SEEKS TO STRENGTHEN COMMERCIAL
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Reference ID | Created | Released | Classification | Origin |
---|---|---|---|---|
05OTTAWA228 | 2005-01-24 22:38 | 2011-04-28 00:00 | UNCLASSIFIED//FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY | Embassy Ottawa |
This record is a partial extract of the original cable. The full text of the original cable is not available.
UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 OTTAWA 000228
SIPDIS
SENSITIVE
E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PGOV PHUM PREL CA
SUBJECT: CANADA: PM MARTIN'S SEEKS TO STRENGTHEN COMMERCIAL
TIES AND HUMANITARIAN RESPONSE IN ASIA TRIP
REF: OTTAWA 00174
¶1. (SBU) SUMMARY: PM Paul Martin traveled to Thailand, Sri
Lanka, India, Japan and China January 15-23 on a whirlwind
tour that mixed tsunami relief with commercial relations.
Some of the stops were photo ops or courtesy calls and
critics questioned whether anything could be accomplished in
such a rapid-fire trip. But there were substantive meetings
as well, especially in China, and drawing attention to
Canada,s ties with the world,s largest emerging economies
looked good to export-oriented Canadians. On most ports of
call the PM was also embroiled in controversy, some of which
followed Martin from Canada. In Sri Lanka attention was
drawn to his meeting with supporters of the Liberation Tigers
of Tamil Elam and in India a high-profile religious leader
questioned his same-sex marriage proposal. In China a
Conservative MP drew attention to Martin,s seemingly light
stance on human rights, and Martin lashed out at statements
made by Opposition Leader Stephen Harper on same-sex marriage
that made it appear the PM was ready to call an election over
the issue. PM Martin returned to a week of preparations
before the opening of Parliament at the end of the month.
END SUMMARY
¶2. (SBU) Prime Minister Paul Martin traveled to Asia January
15-23. The trip was originally scheduled for India, Japan
and China but in the wake of the tsunami disaster, stops to
Thailand and Sri Lanka were added. Conservative Deputy House
Leader Jason Kenney traveled with the PM. (Comment: Kenney's
key function appeared to be highlighting the PM,s
contradictions and missteps. End Comment).
¶3. (SBU) The Prime Minister stopped first in Thailand on
January 16 for a short visit. Martin had a very brief
meeting with Thailand,s Interior Minister and a slightly
longer visit with Canadian and Thai relief volunteers,
including a long visit with the RCMP forensic team that has
been deployed there to identify bodies.
TAMIL MEETINGS STIR CONTROVERSY
-------------------------------
¶4. (SBU) The next stop was Sri Lanka on January 17, where the
PM visited disaster areas near Kalmunai. Local media reports
that the PM was significantly moved by the devastation he
witnessed but the visit was soon overcome by controversy.
Even before meeting with officials of the Sri Lankan
government, Martin met with members of the Tamil National
Alliance, a mouthpiece for the Liberation Tigers of Tamil
Elam. Two of the officials he met, Joseph Pararajasingham
and Gajendrakumar Ponnambalan, were recently banned from
entering Canada because of suspicions that they would use the
trip to raise money for the LTTE. Jason Kenney pointed out
the apparent conflict in meeting officials who are not
allowed to enter Canada for alleged connections to terrorist
groups. Media reported that TNA officials pressed the Prime
Minister to give charitable status to the Tamil
Rehabilitation Organization, an association that the Canadian
Security Intelligence Service says is a front for the LTTE.
¶5. (SBU) Prime Minister Martin justified the meeting by
saying he wanted to raise the issue of child soldiers and to
seek assurances that aid money was not filtered to the
Tigers. TNA representatives were unapologetic, saying to
reporters it was natural for the Tigers to offer shelter to
children orphaned by the tsunami and the Tigers did not steal
aid money for military use because they stole what they
needed from the Sri Lankans. The Prime Minister followed the
meeting with the TNA officials with a forty-five minute visit
with the President of Sri Lanka, Chandrika Kumaratunga. That
visit did not produce any joint declarations or announcements
but local media reported that Kumaratunga reviewed with
Martin some of the LTTE,s history, including the use of
child suicide bombers.
¶6. (SBU) In connection with the Prime Minister,s visit with
the Tamil officials, national media in Canada reported strong
connections between Canada,s Tamil community and the Liberal
Party of Canada. Liberal MP Jim Karygiannis paid for his own
trip to LTTE controlled parts of Sri Lanka before the Prime
Minister,s trip and he visited TRO offices there. Former
Immigration Minister Judy Sgro also announced her intention
before her departure to send Canadian Immigration officials
to LTTE areas despite the protests of the Sri Lankan
government. (Note: Both of these MPs are from Toronto
ridings where their nominations and election could be
effected by the Tamil community. Most of the influence of
the Tamil community is related to population distribution and
political organization. Concentrated in the Toronto area,
the Tamil community is reportedly in a position to influence
ten Liberal riding associations. Not only do Liberal MPs in
those ridings have to consider this voting block in general
elections, as Liberals the Tamils also influence who is
chosen as the riding,s candidate. End Note)
SAME-SEX MARRIAGE CONTROVERSY TRAVELS WITH PM
---------------------------------------------
¶7. (SBU) Problems also followed the Prime Minister to India
on his next stop. Martin held meetings with India,s
Minister of Foreign Affairs and the Prime Minister, as well
as a courtesy call on the President. The controversy came
from an Indian newspaper article by Jathedar Giani Joginder
Singh Vedanti, who is described by Canadian national media as
the equivalent of the Pope in the Sikh religion. Jethdar
Vedanti declared his opposition to the Canadian same-sex
marriage proposal and suggested Sikhs around the world should
protest. At least one of a group of Canadian Sikh MPs
traveling with Prime Minister Martin, MP Gurbax Malhi, said
he would abide by the Jathedar,s declaration. Others were
less enthused, with MP Navdeep Bains and Health Minister
Ujjal Dosanjh rejecting the declaration, and MP Ruby Dhalla
admitting the Jethdar,s opinion has weight in the Sikh
community, but saying she would still vote in favor of the
same-sex marriage proposal. While not necessarily timed to
coincide with this exchange, the Conservative Party
concurrently unveiled a campaign on the same-sex marriage
issue that is targeted to garner support in metropolitan
ethnic communities across Canada. Conservative
Communications Director Jeff Norquay told POL FSN that the
campaign was long planned as a build-up to Parliament's
return but the coincidence of the Jathedar,s comment was
welcome. In the end, the Prime Minister and his Indian
counterpart released a fairly routine Joint Declaration
covering their meetings on tsunami relief, the G-20,
democracy in Afghanistan, and peace talks with Pakistan.
BUSINESS AND BEEF IN JAPAN
--------------------------
¶8. (SBU) In Japan January 19-20, the Prime Minister attended
a gathering with the Japanese Business Federation and held a
fairly straightforward meeting with Prime Minister Koizumi.
Along with declarations about commitments to tsunami relief,
and promoting trade, peace and prosperity in Asia, Prime
Minister Martin was able to secure a commitment from Prime
Minister Koizumi to seek a science-based resolution to
Japan,s ban on Canadian beef imports, even though PM Koizumi
was unsuccessful in gaining Canada,s support for a Security
Council seat. Local media reported that critics later
questioned the depth of meaning in the term
science-based,, however.
HUMAN RIGHTS AND SAME-SEX MARRIAGE AGAIN IN CHINA
--------------------------------------------- ----
¶9. (SBU) The PM began his visit to China late on January 20
with a delegation of Canadian business leaders, who joined
for this leg of the trip. With 360 members, the size of the
private sector tag-alongs suggests that Martin hoped to
accomplish something concrete in China. Despite an apparent
intent by the PM to focus on trade issues, however, unrelated
news took the spotlight. While the PM was highlighting
China,s progress in reducing human rights abuses, the
Chinese government was in the middle of a media crackdown to
prevent public mourning of the late Communist Party leader,
Zhao Ziyang. This gave Conservative MP Jason Kenney an
opening to attack the Prime Minister. Kenney stated that
Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International, and the U.S. State
Department had all published reports recently saying human
rights conditions were deteriorating in China. He also made
his way to the Zhao home to give flowers and offer
condolences, drawing considerable media attention that was
not appreciated by his hosts. Martin protested Kenney,s
actions to the Canadian media, saying they were disrespectful
to the Zhao family. On January 20, Canadian journalists
(CTV) at the Zhao home were detained and questioned until
their Press Pool passes identified them as Canadian media
with the Prime Minister,s party and they were released (see
reftel).
¶10. (SBU) The same-sex marriage issue also followed Martin to
China. In response to a media question about statements made
by Conservative leader Stephen Harper, Martin stated &if the
question you're asking is, am I ready to go into an election
to support the Charter of Rights against those who want to
attack it, the answer is absolutely yes.8 Harper
immediately spun this to mean that the Prime Minister would
call an election if the bill failed and he further suggested
that the Prime Minister was threatening Liberal Backbenchers
to support the measure. In Canada, Prime Minister,s Office
spokesperson Marc Roy indicated that the vote would not be
declared a confidence motion that would mandate an election
if it were to fail.
¶11. (SBU) COMMENT: Prime Minister Martin keeps an extremely
busy schedule while traveling ) one journalist said the PM
would make a drill sergeant proud ) and this trip was true
to form. Despite the distraction of domestic issues that
followed the PM to Asia it appears to have been a productive
trip. The PM was the first head of state to visit the
tsunami affected region and he was able to create serious
SIPDIS
openings on the economic and commercial front, while
broadening engagement with the important emerging power that
Canada,s new foreign policy recognizes as key to its
interests and to global stability. The one concrete
achievement was a tourism agreement with China which will
allow groups of Chinese citizens to visit Canada, a deal
potentially worth millions to Canada's tourism industry.
Septel will focus on Canada-China relations. END COMMENT
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CELLUCCI