Canada stalled negotiations

Dubai: Canada's foreign minister waded into the dispute over landing rights, telling Gulf News that he met with UAE Foreign Minister Shaikh Abdullah Bin Zayed Al Nahyan on five separate occasions in the past 18 months.

In a letter sent and published in the Opinion section of today's Gulf News, Lawrence Cannon writes that there have also been numerous meetings between UAE and Canadian officials on the issue of more landing rights for Emirates and Etihad at Toronto and other Canadian destinations.

But Gulf News has learnt that those five meetings referred to by Cannon took place on the sidelines of other multilateral conferences that had nothing to do with the issue of landing rights.

In those meetings between the two foreign ministers, all that the Canadian side offered were more promises of ‘new ideas' that never materialised.

Gulf News has also learnt that 11 letters from the UAE General Civil Aviation Authority to Canadian officials over the past four years were unanswered. On the one occasion that Ottawa responded, it stalled for more time.

Gulf News has learnt that the stalling tactics employed by Canadian officials resulted in the escalation of the issue from a technical one of landing rights to a political one.

The UAE's foreign policy has a duty to support its trade interests including those in the oil and gas sector, airlines and telecom.

With Etihad and Emirates limited to just three flights each to Toronto, and with negotiations stalled on more landing slots and destinations, the UAE felt obliged to act in its best sovereign interests.

Cannon's letter, however, does not address the UAE's Ambassador in Ottawa, Mohammad Abdullah Al Gafli's claim that he has been unable to secure a meeting with the minister and is instead being dealt with by Cannon's aides.

On the issue of visas, Cannon says UAE nationals have required visas to enter Canada ever since the two nations established diplomatic relations in 1974.

In 2009, Cannon writes, the UAE decided to pursue visa reciprocity with countries that demanded visas for its nationals. Those talks have also been stalled.

Since January 2, the UAE is requiring all Canadian passport holders to obtain entry visas prior to arrival.