Defense Minister Bill Blair maintains Canada remains committed to meeting NATO’s goal of members spending 2 percent of GDP on defense after the US ambassador called Canada “the outlier ” of the alliance for not having a path to achieve that goal.
Responding to a question asked at the defense committee by Conservative defense critic James Bezan, Blair said initiatives in the recently published defense policy update and budget will increase military spending by 27 per cent next year. .
“It brings us much closer to that two percent. The things I have articulated in these estimates, under the Strong, Secure, Committed project and now in the new defense policy update, take us to 1.76 (percent of GDP),” Blair told the committee.
The minister then added that the initiatives outlined in the defense policy update are fully calculated, while he continues to analyze possible additional purchases of submarines and missile defense systems.
Discussing these future plans, Blair said he and his team are still investigating these purchases before presenting a spending plan to cabinet for approval.
The defense policy update calls for an increase of approximately $8 billion 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 allocated to the future government, it will not be for this government,” Bezan told the committee, before asking about plans to increase the housing stock military.
Blair responded by saying Canada has “doubled” defense spending since the Liberals took power in 2015 and criticized Bezan for voting against government spending efforts.
In an interview with The west block On the show broadcast Sunday, U.S. Ambassador to Canada David Cohen told host Mercedes Stephenson that Canada’s military spending lags behind other allies’ plans to confront a more hostile world stage.
“By the end of 2024, Canada is projected to be the only NATO country that is not spending at least two percent of its GDP on defense and has no plan to get there,” Cohen said in that interview.
“Canada has gone from being an atypical country within NATO to being one in the entire alliance.”
This also followed a bipartisan letter last week signed by 23 US senators calling on Canada to establish a plan to meet NATO’s two per cent goal.
However, Cohen praised other Canadian initiatives such as assistance to 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 defense spaces, including AUKUS,” Cohen said.
Earlier this month, Blair made his first official visit to the United States as defense minister, where he met with Defense Secretary General Lloyd Austin. Blair told the committee his impression is that Americans are “encouraged” by Canada’s plans to increase defense spending.
“We recognized in our own defense policy update that we are doing a lot, that we have more to do, that we are going to do more. But when you spend taxpayers’ money, you have to do it right,” Blair said.
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