Ottawa is counting tree planting, infrastructure upgrades and academic grants as part of its military spending as it struggles to meet a long-standing NATO defence commitment, newly released records show.Blacklock's Reporter says documents obtained through Access to Information indicate the Department of National Defence under David McGuinty included a variety of non-military expenses while attempting to reach the alliance’s minimum spending target of 2% of GDP.Despite the revised accounting, the government still missed the mark. The department reported spending $48.4 billion on military preparedness this budget year, falling short of the roughly $50 billion required to meet the commitment to NATO.Among the items included in the calculation was $200,000 for landscaping at military housing sites. A departmental memo titled Spending Details described the funding as supporting the planting of approximately 14,450 trees at residential housing properties managed by the Canadian Forces Housing Agency over a five-year period.The department also counted pension payments for former civilian employees from several departments, including Global Affairs Canada and Shared Services Canada, as well as other unspecified government organizations that officials said could not be publicly disclosed..Another change involved adding the full budget of the Canadian Coast Guard to the defence tally after the service was moved under the National Defence portfolio. A Nov. 21 memo titled NATO Investment Pledge said that historically only part of the Coast Guard’s budget counted toward Canada’s defence spending but that the entire amount would now be included.Additional expenditures counted toward the NATO commitment included a $7.13 million grant to Hydro Ottawa to upgrade electrical supply infrastructure, $3.2 million to modernize a water treatment facility in Saguenay, Que., and a $912,999 grant to the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council.The records also list $1.5 million for indigenous reconciliation initiatives and $1.7 million in social services tied to sexual misconduct claims as defence-related spending.Internal documents show the government revised its timeline for reaching the NATO benchmark more than once. Officials initially promised Canada would hit the 2% target by the end of the 2025 calendar year, then later shifted the pledge to the end of the federal fiscal year on March 31. The government ultimately missed both deadlines.Speaking last June, Prime Minister Mark Carney said Canada would eventually meet the alliance’s spending commitment.“Aspiration without effort is just empty rhetoric,” Carney said. “If we want a better world we will have to make difficult choices and work harder than we’ve had to in decades. Government must start by fulfilling its most fundamental role which is to defend Canadians.”
