Conservatives are accusing the Carney government of using accounting tricks to make it look like Canada is meeting its NATO defence target, after Ottawa shifted the Coast Guard under the Department of National Defence. Blacklock's Reporter said MP James Bezan (Selkirk–Interlake, Man.) told the Commons defence committee the move doesn’t add any real capability to the military and called it “creative accounting.”“The Coast Guard has been out there for the last hundred years and never, ever counted towards being part of our national defence matrix,” Bezan said. “If it hasn’t had the capability, it definitely isn’t a paramilitary organization. They can’t even fine anyone for fishing violations.”.The government announced on September 2 that the Coast Guard, previously overseen by Fisheries since 1995, would now be managed within defence. The change allows the Coast Guard’s $2.4 billion annual budget to be included in Canada’s NATO spending calculations.Defence officials confirmed the new tally will help Canada edge closer to NATO’s 2% of GDP target, though the Coast Guard remains a separate operating agency. Bezan argued Canadians are being misled: “We’re going to get all the dollars without any defence capability. Science vessels, commercial navigation, icebreaking — that’s not defence power.”.The Coast Guard currently operates 127 vessels, including 58 lifeboats and 16 science ships, none of which are combat-ready. Defence officials told MPs the service could eventually be adapted for military purposes. “We think they will be significant,” said Maj.-Gen. Robert Ritchie.Bezan was unconvinced, noting a Fisheries department audit last year rated the fleet obsolete, with 30% of vessels nearing the end of service life. “We just can’t have creative accounting to get 2%,” he said. “We actually need capability to protect Canada and our sovereignty.”
