Emirates Airlines, a front for the dictatorship of United Arab Emirates

As a rule of thumb, I'm against protectionism. What trade lawyers call "dumping" -- that is, companies selling things at deep discount prices, even at a loss, to hurt their competition -- is something that I think normal people would call "getting a bargain". I mean, if a company wants to sell things more cheaply than anyone else, why shouldn't consumers be allowed to take that benefit?

So the world’s dictators voted against us at the United Nations last week when we ran for a seat at the Security Council. Who cares?

What we should care about is that the United States didn’t lift a finger to help us.

After the vote, Philip Crowley, the U.S. State Department spokesman, was asked literally six times about America’s lack of support for Canada. Crowley laughed it off, joking “I’m still remembering the Sidney Crosby goal” — a reference to Canada beating Team USA in hockey at the Olympics.

That lame joke let him get out of one of the questions. But his evasions the other five times were so obvious, at one point a reporter actually told him he was blushing.

What did we do to earn this passionate indifference from our closest friend?

No other nation has shed proportionately as much blood in Afghanistan as we have, not even the magnificent British. Is there a more reliable friend, ally or generous trading partner than us? Have we not opened up our oil pipelines to them? Did we not go along with their foolish bailout of General Motors?

What more did we have to do for a mere vote?

So much for U.S. President Barack Obama’s allegiance. What about his own national interest? Would it not be to his advantage to have us on the Security Council with him, instead of a deeply indebted, socialist European country (but I repeat myself)? Portugal has a population smaller than Ontario’s and an economy smaller than Alberta’s.

True, Portugal has sent a token force to Afghanistan, maxing out at 250 soldiers. And two of them have been killed. Canada has 10 times as many soldiers and has suffered 75 times more casualties, because we’re actually doing the fighting.

America wasn’t the only ally to abandon us lately. So did the United Arab Emirates, better known for its metropolis of Dubai.

Canada had been using an air force base there as a transport hub for going in and out of Afghanistan. Our presence helps keep Dubai safe, too: The same radicals we’re fighting in Afghanistan would love to destroy Dubai, an island of liberal modernity in a sea of backwardness.

But in a fit of pique, Dubai kicked us out — and even denied our defence minister, Peter MacKay, the right to land there.

Dubai’s decadent royal family owns two airlines, called Emirates and Etihad. They both receive enormous subsidies from the government that they use to undermine the world’s private airlines.

The UAE was demanding more landing slots in Canada, so as to take away business from Air Canada, just like they’ve gutted Australia’s airline industry.

It’s one thing if a foreign company wants to sell Canadians cheap seats. But what if a foreign government does so, for the strategic purpose of bankrupting its competitors?

Canada resisted, so the UAE threw a tantrum. But they’re actually putting Canadian lives in danger.

Well, two can play the airspace game. Emirates flights to Los Angeles fly over Canadian airspace. That privilege should be revoked immediately.

There’s not a lot we can do when our best friend, the United States, slaps us around.

But when a conniving desert sheik does so, our national self respect demands we slap back.