Defence Minister Bill Blair maintains Canada remains committed to reaching NATO‘s target of members spending two per cent of GDP on defence after the U.S. ambassador called Canada “the outlier” in the alliance due to not having a path to reach that target.
In response to a question at the defence committee by Conservative defence critic James Bezan, Blair said initiatives in the recently published defence policy update and budget will increase military spending by 27 per cent next year.
“It brings us much closer to that two per cent. The things I’ve articulated in these estimates, under the Strong, Secure, Engaged project and now in the new defence policy update, brings us to 1.76 (per cent of GDP),” Blair told the committee.
The minister then added that initiatives laid out in the defence policy update are fully costed, while he continues to look into additional potential purchases of submarines and missile defence systems.
When talking about these future plans, Blair said he and his team are still researching these purchases before bringing a spending plan to cabinet for approval.
The defence policy update lays out a roughly $8-billion increase in military spending over the next five years.
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“We know that most of the funding in your (defence policy update) is backloaded for the future government, it’s not going to be for this government,” Bezan said at committee, before asking about plans to increase the military housing stock.
Blair responded by saying that Canada has “doubled” defence spending since the Liberals took power in 2015 and criticized Bezan for voting against government spending efforts.
In an interview with The West Block that aired Sunday, U.S. Ambassador to Canada David Cohen told host Mercedes Stephenson that Canada’s military spending lags plans from other allies aimed at facing a more hostile world stage.
“At the end of 2024, the way projections are looking, Canada will be the only country in NATO that is not spending at least two per cent of its GDP on defence and does not have a plan to get there,” Cohen said in that interview.
“Canada has moved within NATO from being a bit of an outlier to being the outlier in the entire alliance.”
This also followed a bipartisan letter last week signed by 23 American senators calling on Canada to establish a plan to reach the two per cent NATO target.
However, Cohen was complimentary of other Canadian initiatives such as assistance for Ukraine, military training operations in Europe and commitment to NORAD modernization.
“All of that makes Canada a more credible international partner in all of these defence spaces, including AUKUS,” Cohen said.
Earlier this month, Blair made his first official visit to the U.S. as defence minister, where he met with Defense Secretary Gen. Lloyd Austin. Blair told the committee that his impression is the Americans are “encouraged” by Canada’s plans to increase defence spending.
“We acknowledged in our own defence policy update, we’re doing a great deal, we have more to do, we’re going to do more. But when you’re spending taxpayer dollars, you’ve got to do it right,” Blair said.
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