Defense Minister Bill Blair on Friday responded to American critics of Canada’s defense spending, saying the eight-year plan to achieve its commitment to NATO was “credible and verifiable” despite reports to the contrary. .
Speaking to reporters at the opening of the Halifax International Security Forum, Blair said “no one has to argue with me” that Canada needs to spend more on defense and that the federal government was making the necessary investments, but that more collaboration is needed. international and industry. necessary to achieve NATO’s spending target.
“I have told (our allies) that they are pushing for a door,” Blair said. “We are going to make those investments.
“We know we need to do more, but it’s about getting there in a timely manner. “It’s going to require cooperation and collaboration with our closest allies, with industry and really hard work on the part of the Canadian Armed Forces.”
Canada is one of eight NATO members not meeting the alliance’s goal of spending at least two percent of GDP on defense. Its updated defense policy forecasts spending will rise from 1.37 percent of GDP today to 1.76 percent by 2030.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau promised at the NATO summit in July that Canada’s defense spending will reach two per cent by 2032. However, the parliamentary budget officer said last month that the government’s plan to achieve this is not in place. clear and is based on “erroneous” economic projections.
The financial watchdog’s report said Canada will have to nearly double its annual military spending to $81.9 billion from current levels to meet NATO’s target.
But Blair, who previously dismissed the PBO’s findings, said Friday that the 2032 timeline was “realistic” given the time it will take to deliver equipment such as naval destroyers and F-35 fighter jets.
The incoming Donald Trump administration is expected to take a hardline stance on NATO and its members’ spending commitments, and will have several allies in the US Congress.
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Republican U.S. Rep. Mike Turner, who leads the U.S. delegation to the NATO Parliamentary Alliance meeting in Montreal this weekend, criticized Trudeau’s defense policies. in an interview with Politico on Fridayusing words like “exploitation” and “incredible arrogance” and warning of possible consequences.
“You’re being dishonest by saying you’re going to keep a commitment that you don’t keep,” Turner said. “You’re cheating on everyone else and that needs to be addressed to some extent by everyone who doesn’t cheat.”
Blair called the comments “unfair” when asked about them in Halifax.
“I think we have already demonstrated over the last two years a real commitment to begin the important and necessary work of acquiring new platforms for the Canadian Armed Forces, with aircraft, ships, submarines and other new technologies, new weapons systems, ammunition. Blair said. “All that work is underway.”
The minister pointed to the Canadian Armed Forces’ “very credible plan to significantly accelerate” recruitment as an example of how Canada is taking its defense commitments seriously.
Another was the timetable for the acquisition of a new fleet of submarines, after Blair merely said that the government was “exploring” it during the presentation of the defense policy update in April.
“Everyone rolled their eyes and said, ‘You’re just kicking the can down the road,’” Blair said. “Two months later, the prime minister announced that we were going to acquire 12 of them. Two months later, we entered the market with an RFI.
“I hope that sends a signal.”
At the same time, Blair said more work and collaboration with industry partners and allies is needed to accelerate procurement, although he said there were “many opportunities for us to accelerate” the 2032 timeline.
He also said Canada shares “some frustration” over the time it is taking to deliver military aid to Ukraine, which will be a major topic of discussion at the Halifax forum.
A notable example of such delays came on Friday, when Blair announced that a new U.S.-built air defense missile system had arrived in Ukraine, nearly two years after Canada bought it for $406 million.
Blair said this was accelerated from the four- to five-year timeline Canada first gave its industry partners, before the U.S. government “stepped up” and helped prioritize procurement.
“It still took two years,” Blair said.
“I think that’s part of the conversations we need to have here with the industry, and not just here, but ongoing about how to accelerate production.”
Blair has previously testified that production delays delayed the missile system Canada ordered.
The minister said accelerating production and delivery was more crucial than ever as adversaries and competitors like China rapidly build their own forces.
“We have to keep up the pace, not to engage in conflict, but to prevent it,” he said.
Blair also acknowledged that his message was quite different from his speech at the Halifax forum a year ago, when he stressed the need for Canada to put “resources…behind our aspirations” when it came to defence.
“I came here last year and said, we have to spend more money, we have to do more,” he said. “We have been working tirelessly over the past 12 months to achieve just that.
“I now have a substantial new budget. I also have commitments from my government and the investments we have to make. And we have what we believe is a timeline for when we can achieve that.”
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