A pair of bipartisan US senators say they hope Canada and the United States will work collaboratively on shared defense and border issues, but suggested Ottawa’s policies on military spending must change to speed progress.
Speaking to Mercedes Stephenson of the Halifax International Security Forum in an interview that aired on Sunday The west blockRepublican Senator James Risch of Idaho and Democratic Senator Jeanne Shaheen of New Hampshire downplayed concerns that incoming President-elect Donald Trump would penalize Canada on issues such as trade if it does not increase defense spending.
But Risch suggested Washington was growing impatient with Canada’s progress in meeting NATO’s goal of spending at least 2 per cent on defence, which Ottawa says it plans to meet within eight years.
“If Donald Trump was sitting right here, he’d have a big laugh about 2032, because that’s so far from what we’re facing in the world right now,” he said.
“That’s an eternity down the road for us. This must be done now.”
Risch said the United States’ concern is ensuring Arctic security is maintained so that threats do not attack through Canada, making shared defense commitments like NORAD vital.
“People in Canada certainly have to understand the threat coming to us from the north,” he said. “If they come for us… they’ll come for you (Canada) from the north, and we’re next.”
Both senators sit on the powerful foreign relations committee of the US Senate, where Risch is currently the ranking member of the Republican minority. The Republican Party will take control of the Senate in January, after the US elections.
Canada is one of eight NATO members not meeting the alliance’s two per cent defense spending target. 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.
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The financial watchdog report said Canada will have to nearly double its annual military spending to $81.9 billion from current levels to meet NATO’s goal, a tall order for a government facing headwinds and new financial obstacles. commitments to address the cost of living for Canadians.
At the opening of the Halifax forum on Friday, Defense Minister Bill Blair defended the defense spending schedule as “credible and verifiable,” and that Canada was doing the work needed to strengthen its military while looking for ways to “accelerate.” ” their objectives.
Trump’s criticism of NATO members who do not meet their spending commitments as “defaulters,” and the suggestion that he would not come to their aid in the event of an attack, has added urgency to the issue. Matthew Whitaker, Trump’s pick for US ambassador to NATO, has made similar comments.
Risch noted that he and Shaheen regularly speak with European NATO members who are meeting the spending target despite having smaller economies than Canada.
“Canada is going to have to step up,” he said.
“This is not easy. It’s not easy for us either. It’s certainly not easy for many of those European countries. But the NATO alliance is the strongest and most successful military alliance in the history of the world. …We have a mutual obligation. And that obligation today is more necessary than ever.”
Shaheen said he has had positive conversations with Blair in Halifax and that both Canada and the United States want to resolve defense issues together.
“I don’t see it that way,” he said when asked if Canada faces any risks from the Trump administration if it doesn’t act more quickly.
“This is in our interest in the United States, in Canada and in all NATO members, to see that we remain strong because of the threats we face.”
Risch added that while there is cooperation between US and Canadian military and defense officials, “public policy in Canada has to change in this regard or it will be a serious problem.”
The two senators, whose states border Canada, said Ottawa must also do its part to address immigration concerns that are a top priority for the Trump administration.
Trump’s newly appointed “border czar,” Tom Homan, has called the Canada-U.S. border “an extreme national security vulnerability” that can be a “gateway” for terrorism suspects to cross into the United States.
Last month, USBP Chief Patrol Agent Robert Garcia, who oversees the section of the border known as the Swanton Sector, which includes eastern Ontario, Quebec, New York, Vermont and New Hampshire, said agents have apprehended more than 19,222 subjects from 97 different countries since last October. He said that’s more than his last 17 fiscal years combined.
“I can tell you that the northern border is a concern for us in New Hampshire,” Shaheen said, noting that the number of people crossing from Canada into the upper northeastern United States has increased “dramatically” in recent years.
“We’ve been working with Canadian officials and we’ve seen some progress,” he said. “But it’s something we have to work on, because… we want to maintain the longest border in the world (in a way) that is secure. And that’s why we need to work together to make that happen.”
Although Risch said the northern border was “an issue that needs work,” the situation pales in comparison to the U.S.-Mexico border, which saw nearly 54,000 encounters in September alone.
Although that number has decreased 78 percent since last December, Trump has promised to close the border and severely limit asylum applications as well as mass deportations.
“Our problem is our southern border,” Risch said. “And by the way, that southern border is not just a problem for us, it is a problem for you too, because once you enter the United States, it is relatively easy to cross (to Canada).
“(Trump) is going to have a closed border again on the southern border.”
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