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Liberals stoke U.A.E. dispute

It is time the federal government extinguished a dispute that has flared up between Canada and the United Arab Emirates.

It is time the federal government extinguished a dispute that has flared up between Canada and the United Arab Emirates.

But it is also time for Liberal politicians to stop drenching this diplomatic fire with gasoline. That’s an easy, if cheap, way to score political points at home. But this country’s interests in the Middle East could get burned in the process.

In the beginning, this bilateral disagreement was about Ottawa’s refusal to grant two U.A.E. airlines additional landing rights at Canadian airports. Then, in retaliation, the United Arab Emirates evicted the Canadian military from an airbase it had used for nine years. Upping the ante further, the U.A.E. slapped costly visas on Canadians who wanted to travel there.

As if this wasn’t enough for the federal government to cope with, it must now deal with a growing queue of Liberal politicians who have joined the U.A.E. in attacking Canada’s position.

Start counting: Earlier this month, Liberal foreign affairs critic Bob Rae travelled to the United Arab Emirates and denounced the Canadian government. Next, former Liberal prime minister Jean Chretien, on a trip to Saudi Arabia, railed against the federal government’s handling of the dispute.

Last week, Sandra Pupatello, Ontario’s economic development and trade minister, accused the federal government of being hypocritical and protectionist while she was on a trade mission in the United Arab Emirates. Ontario’ Liberal Premier, Dalton McGuinty, waded into the controversy a day later by warning that the federal government’s actions threatened business dealings between Canada and the U.A.E. — though he could not name a single deal at risk.

Then, on Thursday, federal Liberal finance critic Scott Brison initiated a meeting with the U.A.E. foreign minister in Switzerland, raised the prospect of talks between Canada and the United Arab Emirates and lamented how hurt and insulted the minister was by Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s behaviour.

So who’s next? And why so much interest in the U.A.E.? To be sure, Canada should strive to improve trade and relations in the Middle East. We should be respectful of our Arab partners, too. But two-way trade between Canada and the U.A.E. is just $1.7 billion a year. We do more trade with the United States in two days. In other words, if you sniff around this brouhaha, you’ll smell the rank odour of politics. It all smacks of a targeted campaign.

Let’s be clear: The federal government is not immune to criticism for its limits on United Arab Emirates airlines or in its handling of this dispute. But the U.A.E. decision to turn a commercial disagreement into a full-scale diplomatic row that harms Canadian security interests and unreasonably hinders Canadian travellers is alarming and unacceptable.

Beyond this, the Liberals should give their heads a shake. Yes, they are free to lambaste the federal government on matters of policy and to propose alternatives. But here and through direct contact with those with whom Canada has a dispute, they have crossed a line and entered what should be forbidden territory.

They have, though their collective action, taken sides — and come down in favour of a federation trying to coerce Canada into doing its bidding. Within their meddlesome tirades against the Tories is the crazed assumption that Canada is 100 per cent wrong while the United Arab Emirates are inhabited by angels. And in fragmenting the front Canada displays to the world, they have weakened Canada’s bargaining position. They should say now if they want us to cave in to the United Arab Emirates’s bullying and, if so, prepare us for more knuckling under in future. We agree the federal Conservatives should do more to end the dispute with the U.A.E. The Liberals, however, should do less.

An editorial from the Waterloo, Ont., Region Record.