OTTAWA - The Liberals are blaming Tory "incompetence" for an embarrassing landing-rights dispute between Canada and the United Arab Emirates.
The two countries were in talks to allow UAE airlines more flights to Canadian airports, but the deal was called off.
As a result, Canada has lost access to a major staging ground for troops headed in and out of Afghanistan.
"The UAE is a very important strategic partner of Canada, it is in a very important part of the world and for a variety of reasons that come down to incompetence, the government didn't take them seriously," said Liberal Leader Michael Ignatieff.
A source close to the negotiations told The Canadian Press that when they began, the government was prepared to allow an expansion of flights into Vancouver, but the airlines would have to cut seats going in and out of Toronto.
Air Canada strenuously objected to any expansion of service and the talks broke down.
The end result, Ignatieff said, was the "absurd spectacle" of Canada's top soldier and two cabinet ministers barred from landing in the UAE on their way out of Kandahar.
Defence Minister Peter MacKay, Veterans Affairs Minister Jean-Pierre Blackburn and chief of defence staff, Gen. Walt Natynczyk were flying home from a three-day visit in Afghanistan on Monday when the wealthy Gulf nation closed its air space to their plane.
"Another bad day for Canada," said Ignatieff.
The breakdown in talks came just before Canada lost a bid for a seat on the United Nations Security Council.
The Prime Minister's Office expressed doubt that the dispute with Dubai had any bearing on the outcome of the vote.
One senior government official said Canada actually got "a good chunk" of the vote from the Arab countries.
But a statement from the UAE's ambassador to Canada hinted the issue isn't over.
"The fact that this has not come about undoubtedly affects the bilateral relationship," Mohammed Abdullah Al-Ghafli said.
NDP foreign affairs critic Paul Dewar said there's more behind the dispute than air routes.
He said he spoke to the UAE ambassador a year ago and found he was concerned about a series of irritants, such as visas that had been imposed on UAE citizens coming to Canada. He said the ambassador was frustrated that Foreign Affairs Minister Lawrence Cannon wouldn't return his phone calls.
"I believe it wasn't just about air routes, it was about poor diplomacy and poor relations," Dewar said.
The end of negotiations over commercial air access also resulted in Canada being told to get out of Camp Mirage, a once-secret military installation in Dubai which is the Canadian military's principal supply line to Afghanistan.
That has sent military and foreign affairs officials back to the planning table to figure out how they'll get Canada's troops out of the country next year.
Documents obtained by The Canadian Press under Access to Information earlier this year suggested the military is exploring several routes.
One could potentially run from northern Afghanistan through Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan and finally Turkey, an allied nation.
