Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi shows a torn copy of the UN Charter during his address to the 64th session of the United Nations General Assembly, Wednesday, Sept. 23,Richard Drew
When it comes to Canada's air space, there are dictators and then there are dictators.
While Canada has given Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi permission to spend a day in St. John's next week, on his trip home after speaking at the United Nations in New York, the federal government last year refused a similar request from Zimbabwe strongman Robert Mugabe.
A Transport Canada briefing document reveals that in 2008, the Zimbabwean government asked Canada for over-flight rights for Mr. Mugabe's airplane. He was to speak in New York at the United Nations.
The note states that the Department of Foreign Affairs informed Transport Canada "that diplomatic permission for this flight was denied due to sanctions imposed by the Government of Canada against Zimbabwe as a result of the recent election irregularities in that country."
The report also noted that "under international law, sovereign States are not obliged to grant overflight clearance to foreign State aircraft."
The document was provided to The Globe and Mail by researcher Ken Rubin, who obtained it under the access-to-information law.
Catherine Loubier, communications director for Foreign Affairs Minister Lawrence Cannon, said refusing Mr. Mugabe's request was consistent with government policy.
In June of last year, then-foreign minister David Emerson imposed sanctions on the Zimbabwean government, in the wake of a rigged election marked by rampant fraud and violence against opposition supporters.
Along with other measures, aircraft registered in Zimbabwe were prohibited from entering Canadian airspace.
"There are no such sanctions with Libya," she observed. Mr. Gadhafi is welcome to pitch his tent - literally, for he travels with a large Bedouin-style tent - in St. John's if he wishes.
Mr. Cannon is travelling to Newfoundland and Labrador to protest against the hero's welcome that Mr. Gadhafi accorded Abdel Baset al Magrahi, the Lockerbie bomber who took 270 lives on board Pan Am Flight 103, including four Canadians, when he returned to Libya.
The British government released him on compassionate grounds because he was dying of cancer.
Mr. Gadhafi may wish to reconsider the tent option when in St. John's for his one-day visit, however.
The weather next week calls for lows in the single digits, with the forecast prediciting a good chance of rain.
John Ibbitson