Canadians

The UAE government is generally pretty amiable and tries to remain on good diplomatic terms with the rest of the world. Recently, however, one country has been difficult to deal with and has strained diplomatic ties to the point where the UAE government has had to take action. That's right, you guessed it: I'm talking about Canada.

It seems that the "peaceful" nation of Canada has been stirring things up in the Gulf. Even though the UAE helps Canada out by importing more Canadian goods than any other nation, Canada has selfishly refused to allow more Etihad and Emirites flights to land in Canadian airports. Also, in a recent tour of the Gulf, the Canadian trade minister visited most countries except, you guessed it, the UAE. Naturally, the poor UAE government had no other recourse but to close Camp Mirage, Canada's military base in the UAE. In addition, they refused to allow a Canadian plane with Canada's defense minister to land in Camp Mirage.

Sure Canadians would like to think of themselves as the U.S.'s cool-headed neighbor to the north, but if that were the case why would the UAE have to lobby against Canada's bid for a seat in the Security Council of the United Nations? After that, Canadian officials were such poor sports that they required Emirati's traveling to Canada to get a visa. In retaliation for this uncalled for action, the UAE embassy in Ottowa (the Canadians won't even let the UAE have an embassy in their capital, Toronto!) announced that from January 2nd, Canadians will have to get a visa to visit the UAE.

I think that the diplomats and trade ministers of Canada could learn a thing or two from their U.S. counterparts. If people are buying your stuff, you let them do what they want. In times like this, the only thing you can do is shake your head and say, "Oh Canada..."