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Baird was in Doha in early April and says Qatar officials didn’t mention they were going to make a pitch.

Prime Minister Stephen Harper says there is absolutely no reasonable case to move the International Civil Aviation Organization out of Montreal.

“It’s been based in Montreal for a very long time,” Harper told a news conference in Quebec City on Friday. “Montreal, Quebec, Canada have been very good hosts from everything I understand.

“I’m certainly not aware of any serious complaints about how we host the organization. Montreal’s a sophisticated city that is a hub of the aerospace industry around the world.

There is absolutely no reasonable case to move the centre out of Montreal

“There is absolutely no reasonable case to move the centre out of Montreal.”

The organization sets international standards for civil aviation and is the only United Nations agency based in Canada.

Baird points out that Qatar is a country with great wealth and is offering a lot of money to lure the agency to Doha, but that shouldn’t be a factor.

“We don’t think that these type of things should be for sale and we’re going to work strongly to convince other countries,” Baird said Thursday.

Baird and Lisee will be joined by the mayor of Montreal at Friday’s news conference.

Also backing Canada’s bid are international unions who say a move to Qatar is at odds with the ICAO’s mandate.

How can an organization that has to defend the rights and safety of workers and passengers be moved to a state whose citizens’ pleas for democracy are answered with batons and buckshot?

“How can an organization that has to defend the rights and safety of workers and passengers be moved to a state whose citizens’ pleas for democracy are answered with batons and buckshot?” David Cockroft, the general secretary of the International Transport Federation, said in a statement earlier this week.

Canada has played host to the ICAO since 1946. Its current headquarters were built in the 1990s at a cost of $100 million.

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

Montreal is the hub of Canada’s aviation industry, and its international reputation as a major player is reflected in the ICAO’s longtime residency.

The organization also feeds the city’s economy; it employs 534 staff and says it generates some $80 million annually for Montreal’s economy and 1,200 direct and indirect jobs.