halifax –
of halifax international security forum Defense Minister Bill Blair opened Friday with defense minister Bill Blair defending Canada’s military spending, as pressure mounts on NATO members to do more following Donald Trump’s U.S. presidential election victory.
Approximately 300 policy analysts, politicians and defense officials from 60 countries are participating in the 16th annual gathering in Nova Scotia’s capital.
Kelly Craft, a former U.S. ambassador to Canada, said late in the U.S. presidential campaign that if Trump were to win, Canada would be wise to accelerate the timeline for fulfilling its NATO spending commitments.
Andrew Leslie, a retired lieutenant general and former Liberal MP, told the House of Commons defense committee two days after the US presidential election that he saw no “sense of urgency” in the government to deliver on these promises.
Prime Minister Tony Blair told reporters in Halifax that his government knows it will need to increase defense spending to support Ukraine and protect its own territory, but is confident Canada will get “full value” for the investment. He said it is necessary to ensure that they are obtained.
“When our allies say they want us to deliver on our commitments, I tell them the answer is ‘yes’ and I say you are pushing into an open door,” he said. . “We’re going to make those investments.”
Prime Minister Blair promised at July’s NATO summit that the government would commit to a “credible and realistic plan” to spend 2% of gross domestic product (GDP) on military spending by 2032 and buy the largest fleet yet. He said some of the criticism in the United States and within the country was unfair. 12 new submarines.
He said there are examples where Canada can “accelerate” spending by making purchases in concert with allies, citing Ottawa’s announcement that it would replace its CP-140 Aurora maritime patrol aircraft with Boeing P-8A Poseidons. said.
The defense minister also announced that a surface-to-air defense system that Canada purchased two years ago to protect the country from Russian missiles has arrived in Ukraine, but he had hoped the procurement would have progressed sooner. “There are a lot of things that are part of our procurement process that are really slowing us down,” he said.
The 32 members of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) have agreed that each country will spend at least 2% of its gross domestic product (GDP) on national defence, but Canada is the first member not to do so this year. It is one of nine countries. According to the alliance’s figures, Canada is expected to spend the equivalent of 1.37 per cent of its GDP on national defense, a setback for Canada. The Department of Defense predicts this number will increase in the coming years, rising to 1.76% by 2030.
Trump has a long history of criticizing NATO, and former administration officials told The Associated Press that he had repeatedly threatened to leave the alliance, which has been central to U.S. policy for decades. spoke. But allies and allies argue that Trump’s rhetoric is merely a negotiating tactic, pointing out that despite Trump’s accusations, he did not abandon NATO during his previous term.
Nicholas Todd, who attends the security forum as vice-president of government relations for the Canadian Defense and Security Industry Association, said in an interview Friday that if the Liberal government wants to move military spending faster, it must send a clear signal. He said he needed to send it. That spending plan.
“What we’ve seen so far is that it’s expected to hit 2%. This is not a plan. We need a detailed year-on-year funding plan of what’s going to be needed,” he said. .
He contrasted the administration’s Thursday announcement to suspend federal sales tax on a vast range of items costing $6.3 billion with the slowing growth in military spending.
The path to world peace still depends on Ukraine defeating Russia, but this will require the continued support of the United States and its allies, Forum President Peter Van Praa said in an opening press conference. Ta.
“If Russia gets away with this naked aggression, we will be entering a world where might is right. It is a world where no one is safe,” he said.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 22, 2024.
— With files from The Associated Press.
