Judd, with the greatest of respect, I'm not sure that you could find an impartial view from a political hack based in Ottawa, particularly given the prickly nature of the present relationship between the UAE and Ottawa.
But back to the questions of a subsidy...Wikipedia defines it as (yes I know Wikipedia...but it's a comprehensive definition)
A subsidy (also known as a Render) is an assistance paid to a business or economic sector. Most subsidies are made by the government to producers or distributed as subventions in an industry to prevent the decline of that industry (e.g., as a result of continuous unprofitable operations) or an increase in the prices of its products or simply to encourage it to hire more labor (as in the case of a wage subsidy). Examples are subsidies to encourage the sale of exports; subsidies on some foods to keep down the cost of living, especially in urban areas; and subsidies to encourage the expansion of farm production and achieve self-reliance in food production.
[1]
Subsidies can be regarded as a form of protectionism or trade barrier by making domestic goods and services artificially competitive against imports. Subsidies may distort markets, and can impose large economic costs.
[2] Financial assistance in the form of a subsidy may come from one's government, but the term subsidy may also refer to assistance granted by others, such as individuals or non-governmental institutions
Based on those terms, one could hardly argue that EK receives ANY form of subsidy, moreover, the terminology and ideological framework of such an environment is based around the premise of....wait for it....protectionism.
Now if you can sell that one to me about EK and it's operations in Dubai, then I'm all ears.
Similar arguments have been levelled previously i.e. They don't pay for fuel, they get handling for free etc etc etc. But the fact is none of that has any basis in reality.
The reality is that EK operate in a regulatory environment that is aviation friendly, compare that to how long T5 took at LHR..or the shenanigans over the 3rd non-runway.
There is very little if any corporation tax to pay in the UAE, and yet EK paid 35% of its profits to the government (tell me how a subsidised airline would manage that?)
Many commentators have made the argument that due to EK being based in a favourable regulatory environment, it effectively receives an indirect subsidy which again is demonstrably misleading....ANYONE can operate into and out of UAE as it operates and open skies policy, hardly a subsidised business environment.
I'd love to go far more into the detail of why Tightslot's comment was both wrong and ignorant of many facts....but alas I think it would be lost in the background noise.