Defense Minister Bill Blair says he is pushing for increased military spending to meet Canada’s commitments to NATO, but still needs to do more work on the “business case” to secure additional funding.
“One of the big challenges of being defense minister is getting funding, and the second is spending it,” Blair said during a debate at the Canadian embassy in Washington, DC, hosted by the Atlantic Council.
“I still have work to do to articulate the business case for the new capacity requirements that Canada is going to need, but I am very confident and can guarantee that our allies Canada still have more to do and we will do more.” .”
As outlined in the recent defense policy update, Canada is on track to achieve about 1.76 percent of GDP in defense by 2029. The NATO agreement, to which Canada is a signatory, provides that two percent percent of GDP is allocated to defense.
Last week, UK Foreign Secretary David Cameron suggested that NATO’s target should be raised until 2.5 per cent of GDP is spent on defence.
Trump has warned that “any country that is not paying what it owes, the United States would not come to help defend it,” Ingram said. “’Pay his way’ meant [the] Two percent contribution to NATO.”
Blair added that all the spending outlined in the defense policy update, an additional $8 billion focused on the Arctic and cybersecurity over the next five years, involves money committed to the various projects.
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This Atlantic Council discussion follows Blair’s meeting Monday morning with US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin. Blair says they discussed the war in Ukraine entering its third year, the conflict between Israel and Hamas, broader tensions in the Middle East and China’s growing military posture.
To work toward these goals, Blair said key areas he is looking at include underwater surveillance and tank replacement.
“We are going to need a new underwater surveillance capability, that is, submarines. We are also going to have to make other very important investments to replace our tank fleet, to build the air and missile defense system that is required in North America,” Blair said at a news conference after their discussion.
Blair says that once the details of these purchase plans are finalized, he will present them to the federal government for approval.
The Minister of Defense stressed the need to increase Canada’s submarine capabilities due to the melting of polar ice that opens up northern waterways, through which more and more Russian and Chinese vessels pass.
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