Tories fired up over Qatari bid to move aviation HQ

MONTREAL Canada’s big guns threw cold water on Qatar’s bid to lure away the International Civil Aviation Organization on Friday, ripping the Middle Eastern country’s blistering year-round heat.

Qatar has begun to woo the UN agency to move its Montreal headquarters to Doha, with one of the country’s main complaints focusing on the city’s bone-chilling winters.

Canada’s weather riposte came on Friday when Foreign Affairs Minister John Baird and Quebec cabinet minister Jean-François Lisée held a news conference with Montreal Mayor Michael Applebaum to announce a common front against the Qatari bid.

“For my part, I prefer by f ar to have four seasons instead of an excruciating and humid temperature of more than 40 degrees — 12 months a year,” said Baird.

Prime Minister Stephen Harper also weighed in on the ICAO tug-ofwar, saying he doesn’t think a strong case can be made to move the civil aviation authority out of Montreal.

“It’s been based in Montreal for a very long time,” Harper said i n Quebec City. “Montreal, Quebec, Canada have been very good hosts from everything I understand.”

The Qatari bid, meanwhile, is seen by government critics as being politically motivated and a reflection of Canada’s pro-Israel policy in the Middle East.

But Baird characterized Canada’s relationship with the Arab world as “excellent.”

“I’ve visited the Arab world eight times (in 10 years) and I’ve been warmly received wherever I’ve gone,” he said.

Baird pointed out that Qatar is offering a lot of cash to lure the agency to Doha, but said that shouldn’t be a factor.

Canada has played host to ICAO since the 1940s. Its headquarters were built in the 1990s at a cost of $100 million.

Losing ICAO would be a financial and political blow for Canada.

It employs 5 34 staff and says it generates some $119 million annually and 1,200 direct and indirect jobs.

A vote on whether to move the headquarters to Qatar will be held in September.