From ‘Bob Rae meets with UAE Leaders, fields air landing complaints‘ by Bill Curry in Globe and Mail, January 10, 2011
Liberal MP Bob Rae is meeting with senior leaders in the United Arab Emirates this week, where he says he’s getting an earful over Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s increasingly heated rhetoric in the dispute over air landing rights.But back home, the Prime Minister’s Office is questioning Mr. Rae’s trip and urging him to side with the Canadian government’s position in his meetings…It is unusual for Canada to be involved in an escalating tiff like this with a once-friendly foreign nation. It’s also rare for the opposition to step in so directly.“Is this unorthodox? Yes. Is it unprecedented? No,” said Colin Robertson, a former senior Canadian diplomat. “It does take place from time to time and it can be helpful.”
However, Mr. Harper’s spokesman, Dimitri Soudas, questioned Mr. Rae’s trip in an e-mail to the Globe.“Canadians expect that when Canadian MPs travel abroad that they represent Canada and Canadian interests. It would be extremely regrettable if Canadian interests were undermined in any way,” he wrote. “What the UAE was asking [for] was not in the best interest of Canadians. We trust Mr. Rae will recognize that during his fact finding visit and we urge him to convey that information to the UAE royals.”Mr. Robertson said the PMO’s comments likely serve a notice to the UAE that Mr. Rae is “freelancing” and does not speak for Canada.