'Show us the money': Canada pressured by allies to up military spending
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[June 29, 2023]
By Steve Scherer
OTTAWA (Reuters) - Canada is expected to boost military spending after a
government review next month, but the increase is unlikely to comfort
allies facing new threats and it could further undermine the country's
international military credibility, policy analysts said.
Canada's lagging military investments are well known, but threats have
grown more serious with Russia waging war in Ukraine on the NATO
alliance's doorstep and vast areas of the Arctic becoming more
accessible because of climate change.
NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg warned after a visit to the
Canadian Arctic last August that Russia and China were forming a
strategic partnership that challenged the Western military alliance's
values and interests.
At 1.29% of GDP in 2022, Canada's defense spending as a percentage of
GDP is about the same as it was in the late 1990s, according to the
North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), and well below the 2% target
for its members. The 2022 average spending for all of NATO was 2.58% of
GDP.
Canada, a founding NATO member, is expected to pledge an increase in
defense expenditure when it releases a broad assessment of military
needs just before a July 11-13 NATO leaders summit in Lithuania. NATO is
expected to push for even more spending during the summit.
"I'd be surprised if the defense review doesn't disappoint," said one
former senior official in the defense department, who spoke on condition
of anonymity.
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In order to meet the NATO target, Canada would need to spend an
additional C$13 billion and C$18 billion ($9.8-$13.6 billion) per year
for five years, the parliamentary budget office estimated last year.
"We say nice things but do not invest," said the former defense
official, and allies now say: "Show us the money."
Daniel Minden, spokesperson for Defence Minister Anita Anand, said
Canada has the sixth largest defense budget in the alliance and that the
country would "continue to make landmark investments to equip our Armed
Forces".
At stake is Canada's credibility among partners as it seeks to bolster
its heft internationally with a new focus on the Indo Pacific, and as it
promotes itself as a preferred global supplier of resources such as
critical minerals used in electric vehicles.
"Canada can't afford to continue along the path of doing the minimum
possible to sustain its military," said Roland Paris, professor of
international affairs at University of Ottawa and a former adviser to
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.
Trudeau's Liberal government has committed more than C$1 billion ($759
million) in military assistance to Ukraine and his government this year
finalized the purchase of 88 F-35 jets from Lockheed Martin Corp in a
C$19 billion project. It has also said it will spend C$38.6 billion over
20 years to modernize the North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD).
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![](../images/062923PIX/news_q44.jpg)
Canada's Prime Minister Justin Trudeau
speaks with NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg near a Canadian
Forces CF-18 Hornet fighter aircraft during their visit to CFB Cold
Lake in Cold Lake, Alberta, Canada August 26, 2022. Adam Scotti/Prime
Minister's Office/Handout via REUTERS/File Photo
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But a leaked Pentagon assessment obtained and reported by the
Washington Post in April said Trudeau had told NATO officials Canada
would never meet the alliance's target.
Trudeau has not commented directly on the news report, but when
asked about it in April, he said Canada would "continue to invest"
and would be a reliable partner.
A senior diplomat from a NATO country, who spoke on condition of
anonymity, said European nations in particular were unhappy with
Canada's failure to meet the expenditure target.
"For Europeans, this is an existential issue. Russia is close by.
But Canada is across the Atlantic Ocean and this is not pressing.
And you don’t get elected in Canada by promising to increase defense
spending."
The cost of living, affordable housing and healthcare tend to be
issues of most concern to the Canadian electorate.
'FORMER HIGH SCHOOL HOCKEY STAR'
Canada's exclusion from AUKUS, a security pact between Australia,
the UK and the U.S. in 2021 to help Australia acquire
nuclear-powered submarines, was an indication that allies have
shrinking regard for Canada's armed forces, policy analysts said.
It was "a signal from countries saying you are not serious," said
Christyn Cianfarani President and CEO of the Canadian Association of
Defence and Security Industries (CADSI), the country's main military
industry lobby. The move is allies telling Canada: "We don't want to
hear the words anymore. We want to see money."
Canada is a member of the Five Eyes intelligence sharing pact with
all three countries, and while it is not currently looking for
nuclear submarines, it has started the process to replace its own
conventional fleet.
David Perry, President of the Canadian Global Affairs Institute,
also said it was time for Canada to step up.
"We're like the 40ish-year-old, former high school hockey star who's
cruising on memories of the good times, while everybody else has got
a job and kids and a house."
($1 = 1.3249 Canadian dollars)
(Reporting by Steve Scherer; Editing by Denny Thomas and Grant
McCool)
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