Simply put, the market between Canada and the UAE has not developed to the point where more capacity is warranted. Period. Full stop," Mr. Rovinescu said
Hmmm...that must be why you can never get a seat on the Toronto flights...
That lack of seats is NOT due to Dubai-bound passengers, it's due to pax travelling beyond Dubai to Indian, Pakistan and the like. This is an important distinction! It explains why granting more access to Canada to EK would benefit EK far more than granting Air Canada more access to the UAE would benefit Air Canada. The market for Dubai-bound pax with Dubai as a final destination is miniscule.
Basically EK would like to siphon off as many pax as they can to feed the DXB hub and their growth. Naturally! But they can't complain about unfair practices while they're benefitting from their own cozy arrangement with their government (which apparently includes getting it to blackmail foreign governments), and while they're exploiting the crap out of their own workforce.
No love lost for Rovinescu or AC, but this time...good on him for fighting back.