UAE-Canada cold war: now the $1000 visa 4, January 2011
Posted by thegulfblog.com in The Emirates.Tags: Canada visa UAE, New UAE canadian visa requirements, UAE Canada visa
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The cold war between Canada and the UAE continues apace.
It began when Canada’s refused to allow Emirates and Etihad Airlines more access to Canada, both in terms of frequency of flight and destination. Canada refused fearing that the heavily subsidized Emirati airlines would take significant chunks of domestic Canadian airlines’ profits. And who can blame them?
Some key Shaikhs in the Emirates seem, however, to have taken this rather badly. First, Canada was banned from using a military base near Dubai, second, Canadians were required to obtain their visas before departure and as of the 2nd January, a 6 month multiple entry visa for a Canadian will cost C$1000. A clear example, I’d say, of the perils of the personality politics that can afflict the Gulf.
The Gulf blog 
Just curious. Why would anyone want to come to the UAE?
@idit
Beaches, malls, Dubai’s a fun place. Admittedly if you’re looking for more than that, a little history and culture other places might be preferable.
In any case I hope Canada sticks to it’s guns.
idit, put aside your emotions while commenting. Canada has a great amount of economic interests in the UAE due to the huge number of Canadian companies located in the region. Canada, as an exporting nation, depends on cordial relations with foreign countries.
Back to the article, you must understand that Air Canada is a horribly inefficient and gets preferential treatment even though it is no longer a state owned entity. Additionally, such practices undermine the spirit of free trade which is mutually beneficial in the case of the UAE and Canada where the relationship is truly symbiotic. Furthermore, the UAE has every right to withdraw the use of airspace for military operations (flights) especially when a foreign base in within their borders which is used as a staging grounds for an active conflict. Regardless of the rationale, there was no reason for the UAE to deal with a Conservative government in Canada which acts against its interests, particularly when the UAE gains no benefit from the use of Minhad Air Base, even the Canadian investment into infrastructure into the base is worthless to the UAE since almost all fixed wing assets are located at al Dhafra in Abu Dhabi. Simply put the UAE had and has nothing to gain by co-operating with Canada and in the current economic realities beleaguering Canada is facing, it is to their loss to have the cost of business operations dramatically increase so greatly for Canadian firms operating in the UAE and in the region (as many have their HQ’s in Dubai).
this is one obvious reason: https://thegulfblog.com/2010/05/14/abu-dhabi-hotel-unveils-gold-atm/
Thanks for the quick summary.
Free trade is great, of course, and good for everyone…unless you’re one of the x hundred/thousand Air Canada employees that would eventually lose their job were the government funded Emirati airlines to descend and wipe out their market share. There is no question that they are better and can offer cheaper prices: surely it would just be a matter of time. All I’m saying is that one can’t blame a Canadian politician for taking this stance.
Certainly the UAE may withdraw any and all access of foreign troops to an airbase on their own land. Yet still, to me, their reaction seems to be over the top and akin to that of a spoiled child. Yes, these airlines would like access to those markets, but it truly isn’t that important.
Well, lets see who needs who more!!! Canada needs UAE??? Well I think Canada can manage without one of the smallest countries ohh I’m sorry united Smallest towns ( called Emirates) in the world. By the way Canada is helping the region by using that base. Theyre helping the afghans who were terrorized by Arab talibans from UAE and … At the end it’s definitely not a win-win situation. After all it wasn’t Canada but Dubai that needed bail out.
I agree with Mohammad. The UAE is overestimating it’s importance to Canada.
I can’t help feeling just a tiny bit satisfaction. Let a couple thousand Canadians experience what it is to need or want to go somewhere abroad and be denied, you know, the way billion people can’t just grab a passport and hop on a plain.
And yeah it’s quite petty, from both sides, but Oh so entertaining.
Ahmed, although i can see you tried to write your post with a lot of rational, however,i totally disagree with you unfortunately.
I agree that there are many companies headquartered in Dubai, but do you really think this affects Canadian economy?
I don’t think so, Canada was one of the fastest countries to recover from the economic downturn that occurred in 2009 and we all know how fragile UAE’s economy was at that time..you are comparing a bear to a mouse with all respect of course.
Did you know that 86% of Canada’s exports are to the US, the largest economy in the world?
http://www.buyusa.gov/harrisburg/can_ustrade.html
how much could UAE affect Canada’s Economy?
How much can UAE be affected if Canada’s companies decided to headquarter in some other country in the region?
I think UAE played a childish game with a typical arrogance known in the gulf countries that i have lived in for years!
you don’t try to force your demands on another country and on her own land!!
i wouldn’t say AirCanada is better than that of Emirate Airlines of course, but i have tried it and
it’s not as bad as you make it sound, i’ve seen much worse!!
and even if it were bad, Canada has every right to protect its national airlines and any of its national industries on its homeland.
now UAE wants to “punish” Canada by playing hard on its Visa…come on…what childish game is that? can’t Canada do the same for it’s visa?
overall, UAE can try to bully people on its own land, but don’t try to bully a country thousands of times bigger than you in terms of size, economy, population…everything!
read this post, you’ll like it!
http://www.nationalpost.com/todays-paper/Telling+United+Arab+Emirates+where/4100937/story.html?section=Editorial
sorry for the long post!
Thanks for your thoughts. Some excellent points.
do you guys think that they will get back on that decision they made about the visa or is it going to stay like this ?
It’ll soften eventually. As to when…?
i hope soon, because me and my mother are planning to go to dubai in March, i have a brother living there but iam afraid they refuse us for the visa.
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