Federal ministers appear to remain optimistic about Ottawa’s defence spending in the wake of President Donald Trump’s proposal to raise NATO targets from 2% to 5%.
Trump speaking via video conference at the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos, Switzerland on Thursday said the United States has for too long been carrying the weight for its ally nations.
Canada spends 1.37% of its GDP on defence — the lowest in the G7. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's government says it won’t reach 2% until 2032.
Trudeau when asked by reporters about the target hike Thursday evening boasted his Liberal government’s defence spending is “on a path towards the full 2% in the coming years” and projected blame onto Stephen Harper’s Conservative government in 2015.
The video of the prime minister went viral on social media, with netizens commenting not so much on his words, but that his sweater appears to be on backwards.
Trade Minister Anita Anand, former defence minister, meanwhile insists there are “opportunities” to accelerate defence spending, and Foreign Affairs Minister Mélanie Joly plans to meet with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio next week.
“We will continue to look at how we can accelerate defence spending and look at how we can accelerate the speed of defence procurements,” Anand told reporters on Thursday, per Blacklock’s Reporter.
“I’ve had conversations with other ministers in this government and we see there are opportunities.”
When asked if that was realistic, Anand replied, “Canada will definitely be looking at those words.”
According to Blacklock’s Reporter, the biggest NATO defence spenders are Poland, 4.1%, the United States, 3.45% and Estonia, 3.4%.
Joly, who is heading to Washington to discuss Trump’s looming 25% tariff threat, which he said will go into effect February 1, will inevitably be addressing Trump’s 5% proposal with her American counterpart.
“There will be lots of rhetoric,” Joly told reporters on Thursday, per Global News.
“We will hear a lot of different versions coming from south of the border. We need to put our head down, we need to be united and we need to defend Canadian jobs.”
