Canada NATO Defense Spending: Senators from both the Democratic and Republican parties in the United States signed a letter to Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on Thursday, pleading with him to raise defense spending to the 2% of GDP that NATO partners have committed to by 2023.
Despite praising Canada as a valuable friend that has supported NATO operations globally, the 23 senators noted in their letter that the alliance “now faces one of the most severe threat landscapes in its history.”
In particular, Canada was encouraged in the letter to honor its NATO commitment and step up efforts to meet the 2% defense budget objective. The letter was addressed to all NATO partners.
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According to Reuters, the co-chairs of the U.S. Senate NATO Observers Group, Republican Senator Thom Tillis and Democratic Senator Jeanne Shaheen, led the letter writers, who sent the message ahead of a NATO meeting in July in Washington.
When questioned about the letter on Thursday, Canada’s Defense Minister Bill Blair cited a policy update from April, when the Trudeau administration promised billions more for the military and stated that military spending would increase from its current 1.4% of GDP to 1.76% of GDP by 2030.
“We recently came up with a defense policy that I think applies a very significant and necessary focus on continental defense, which I would share with the concerned senators,” Blair stated to reporters in Ottawa.
A long-standing source of contention between NATO’s 31 members and the United States, whose armed forces are the backbone of the alliance’s military might, has been the failure of several of them to fulfill the defense spending objective of at least 2% of GDP. According to NATO projections, just eleven countries are making the desired amount of investment.
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According to earlier statements from Canadian government officials, there is no set deadline for reaching the 2% criterion.
According to Blair, Canada’s “timeline will be based on the requirements of our Armed Forces, and we do that in consultation very closely with our Allies and then determine what’s available on the market.” Canada will unavoidably reach the 2% level as the government seeks to strengthen defense capabilities.
