Prime Minister Mark Carney made an announcement Tuesday that the government will be increasing defence spending with a focus on growing Canada's domestic defence industry. The announcement, made at an assembly line at Canadian aerospace company CAE Inc., highlighted the government's shift away from the United States, with Carney announcing new initiatives to support and increase the Canadian domestic defence industry."The nature of warfare is changing," the Prime Minister said, continuing to say that Canada "has neither spent enough on our defence nor invested enough in our defence industries. We have relied too heavily on our geography and others to protect us."The message of this announcement seemed to be that a heavy preference will be put on domestic manufacturers when the Canadian Armed Forces (CAF) looks for new equipment.Furthering this point, Carney announced the creation of the Defence Investment Agency (DIA), which, according to its own site, will modernize "Canada’s defence procurement by centralizing expertise, cutting red tape and streamlining decisions. This means faster delivery of critical equipment to the Canadian Armed Forces.".Carney also touted that Canada would be reaching the NATO-recommended 2% of GDP defence spending target this spring and that CAF has seen a 13% increase in recruitment since June, after years of missing recruiting targets.He also mentioned that this increase to 2% will just be the start, as he plans that Canada will "double defence expenditures by the end of this decade."This new boost of defence spending will seemingly be focused on increasing Canada's self-reliance in defence and its ability to defend its own sovereignty."Defending Canada means more than just increasing the size of our military; it also means the strength of our industries, the resilience of our economy, and our capacity to act independently when it matters the most."Carney associated the building of a strong, independent Canada lies not just in building a stronger military but also with building a domestic defence industry with the capacity to support this growth. ."Our Canadian Armed Forces will be backed by a resilient Canadian defence industrial base; every dollar will be spent to maximize jobs, careers, and industries right here in Canada," the Prime Minister continued.He prefaced that this focus on domestic industry doesn't mean that Canada will only look inwards, saying, "This strategic autonomy does not mean isolation; it means being strong enough to be a partner of choice, rather than a dependent."Carney ended his speech by saying, "The work of defending Canada is the work of building Canada.".While answering questions after the announcement, the Prime Minister mentioned that talks surrounding Canada joining the US-proposed "Golden Dome" missile defence system were "going well," but declined to comment further about Canada's possible participation.However, he also contradicted this, saying that the Canada-US relationship is currently one of "dependency" and that building this domestic industry will help in changing this current state.The Prime Minister was joined in Montreal by the Minister of Industry, Mélanie Joly, and the Minister of Defence, David J. McGuinty.
