Canadians travelling to the United Arab Emirates have been dragged into an ongoing dispute over commercial flight paths.
As of Jan. 2, all Canadians headed for the U.A.E. on business or pleasure will be required to apply for a visa, according to Foreign Affairs and International Trade Canada.
The two have been quibbling over airport landing rights for months.
The first blow came when the Harper government resisted the Emirates demands for more service by its two state-owned airlines, Emirates and Etihad, into Toronto. Transport Canada has long said that the carriers six weekly flights are enough to serve the route.
Last month, the U.A.E. retaliated by kicking Canadian troops out of Camp Mirage.
Walid Hejazi, professor of international competitiveness at the University of Torontos Rotman School of Management, said the visa requirement is more than just an inconvenience for travellers it also sends a signal that the relationship between these two countries is not moving in a positive direction.
This is terrible, he added. This hurts the competitive position of Canadian businesses. Businesses there are not going to be as open tomorrow as they were yesterday to Canadian companies.
Camp Mirage, a military transportation hub near Dubai, is a critical logistics and supply point for Canadas 2,750 troops in Afghanistan. Its loss complicates withdrawal plans for Canadian soldiers next year.
Security expert Alan Bell, president of Globe Risk International, said Ottawa cant do a thing about the new visa requirements.
We decided to play games with them. They pulled out a card and we didnt like the card so we told them to rip the card up, and now were paying the consequences. Thats the way they do business.
Its a mess now.
With files from The Canadian Press(www.torontostar.com)
As of Jan. 2, all Canadians headed for the U.A.E. on business or pleasure will be required to apply for a visa, according to Foreign Affairs and International Trade Canada.
The two have been quibbling over airport landing rights for months.
The first blow came when the Harper government resisted the Emirates demands for more service by its two state-owned airlines, Emirates and Etihad, into Toronto. Transport Canada has long said that the carriers six weekly flights are enough to serve the route.
Last month, the U.A.E. retaliated by kicking Canadian troops out of Camp Mirage.
Walid Hejazi, professor of international competitiveness at the University of Torontos Rotman School of Management, said the visa requirement is more than just an inconvenience for travellers it also sends a signal that the relationship between these two countries is not moving in a positive direction.
This is terrible, he added. This hurts the competitive position of Canadian businesses. Businesses there are not going to be as open tomorrow as they were yesterday to Canadian companies.
Camp Mirage, a military transportation hub near Dubai, is a critical logistics and supply point for Canadas 2,750 troops in Afghanistan. Its loss complicates withdrawal plans for Canadian soldiers next year.
Security expert Alan Bell, president of Globe Risk International, said Ottawa cant do a thing about the new visa requirements.
We decided to play games with them. They pulled out a card and we didnt like the card so we told them to rip the card up, and now were paying the consequences. Thats the way they do business.
Its a mess now.
With files from The Canadian Press(www.torontostar.com)