Rae defends U.A.E. meetings

Liberal foreign affairs critic Bob Rae is hitting out at the Conservative government over criticism of his meetings with officials in the United Arab Emirates.

The meeting took placeamid a simmering dispute between the Middle East nation and Canada.

In a blog post on the Liberals' website on Tuesday, Rae dismissed criticism fromgovernment MPs in media reports, saying any claims he is being "disloyal" to Canadaare "patently ridiculous."

"Forgive me for refusing to dress in pom poms and join Mr. Harpers chorus line," Rae wrote. "Sitting down with another sovereign country and its institutions to hear their point of view is part of national leadership. Its an example of patriotism and not the reverse."

Rae, who has beenvocal in his criticismof the government'shandling ofrelations withthe key Mideast trading partner, met with U.A.E. representativesearlier this week in Dubai during a self-funded personalvisit to the Middle East.

In a blog post after the meetings, Raeaccused theConservatives of playing favourites with Air Canada and said Prime Minister Stephen Harper "further poisoned the atmosphere" between the two countries by insisting the U.A.E. is to blame for the spat.

The comments prompted Conservative MP Dean Del Mastro to callRae Canada's "international doormat."

Meanwhile, Dimitri Soudas, the prime minister's communications director, has said Canadians expect all MPs to represent Canada's interests while travelling abroad, adding it would be "extremely regrettable" if Canadian interests were "undermined."

But Rae wrote the Liberals willcontinue to defend Canadas international reputation and traditions, and won't be "cowed or intimidated into silence."

"Funny, did the same logic apply when Stephen Harper and Stockwell Day wrote an op-ed in the Wall Street Journal attacking the Liberal governments decision not to join the United States in its decision to invade Iraq?" he wrote.

This month, the U.A.E. slappedexpensive visa requirements on Canadians headed to the country amida growing diplomatic spat between Ottawa and the U.A.E. over landing rights for its two state-owned airlinesat Canadian airports.

The rowculminated intoCanada being evicted from Camp Mirage, key military base in Dubai thatthe U.A.E. hadallowedthe Canadian Forces touse without charge as a key transit point for staging operations in Afghanistan.

Air Canada executive slams Rae

The Conservative government has defended its stance on the landing rights andsaid the U.A.E. was in the wrongfor linking accessto the base withlanding rights negotiations.

Rae also called it an "ironic twist" that the "old Reform Party and Stephen Harper have become advocates of closed skies and pure and simple protectionism" in the landing-rights dispute.

Rae's comment drewa sharp rebukefrom Air Canada's chief operating officer, Duncan Dee.

Theairline'sexecutivetold the Globe and Mailthat "instead campaigning for votes in Dubai or AbuDhabi," Rae should be "speaking up for the hundreds of thousands of Canadians whose livelihoods depend directly or indirectly on a strong and vibrant Air Canada and Canadian airline industry."

A 1999 agreement allows Emirates Airlines and Etihad Airways to fly up to six times a week into Canada.

Air Canada has objected to increased service to Canadian destinations,saying the current agreement between Canada and the U.A.E. "allows more than enough capacity to carry all the point-to-point traffic" between the two countries.