Manitoba Premier Wab Kinew is calling for the Trudeau government to step up to its NATO commitments, saying that it’s not just a question of defence but also a sign of good faith with Canada’s biggest trading partner, the U.S.
Canada has come under a great deal of criticism for not meeting its NATO spending targets, particularly from politicians south of the border.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced that his government would meet the 2% of GDP defence budget commitment by 2032 last week, while speaking at the defence treaty’s summit in Washington D.C., amid a whirlwind of scrutiny from NATO members.
However, Kinew said that Canada should hit its NATO spending target sooner, calling for the prime minister to reach the threshold within the next four years.
“I want Canadians to see this as a national security thing. It’s an investment in the Canadian Armed Forces, but I encourage Canadians to think about this also as an investment in trade,” Kinew told reporters at the premiers’ annual summer meeting in Halifax.
“If we’re not meeting our responsibility to our NATO allies, it is going to have an impact on (the Canada-United States-Mexico Agreement) renewal. It is gonna have an impact on the relationship.”
The Council of the Federation meeting took time to focus on Canada’s relationship with the U.S. as the country is poised for another presidential election this fall.
U.S. presidential candidate Donald Trump has lambasted other countries for not upholding their financial commitments, telling Russia to do “whatever the hell they want” to NATO members who fail to do so.
“NATO was busted until I came along,” said Trump at a rally earlier this year. “I said, ‘Everybody’s gonna pay.’ They said, ‘Well, if we don’t pay, are you still going to protect us?’ I said, ‘Absolutely not.’ They couldn’t believe the answer.”
Kinew stressed the link between defence and trade because he fears that if Canada doesn’t meet its NATO obligations, then the U.S. could respond by taking punitive measures on the economic front.
“The point that I’m making is we need to invest in national security, but we also need the federal government in this area, clearly a federal responsibility, to do their part,” said Kinew. “I am concerned that if we don’t hit that two per cent target within the next four years … it is going to become a trade issue, it is going to become a trade irritant.”
The premiers released a joint statement stressing the importance of Canada meeting its NATO obligations on Wednesday.
“Canada fulfilling its NATO obligation of defence spending of 2% of GDP is an important element of being a stable ally and strong economic partner,” reads the statement.
Canada currently only spends about 1.3% of its GDP on military spending and according to the Parliamentary Budget Officer, it will only be spending 1.42% of its GDP towards NATO by 2030.
When asked if he would commit to meeting NATO targets if elected, Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre has said he couldn’t because Canada is “broke.”
“I make promises that I can keep, and right now … our country is broke after nine years of Justin Trudeau,” Poilievre told reporters in Montreal last week. “I’m inheriting a dumpster fire when it comes to the budget.”
“Every time I make a financial commitment, I’m going to make sure I’ve pulled out my calculator and done all the math. People are sick and tired of politicians just announcing that they’re going to spend money without figuring out how they’re going to pay for it.”
Canada’s failure to meet NATO spending has been scrutinized by several American politicians recently, including U.S. Speaker of the House Mike Johnson, who called the situation “shameful.”
“Shamefully, Canada announced in the last couple days that they won’t be ponying up, they’re not going to do their 2%, why?” Talk about riding on America’s coattails,” said Johnson. “They have the safety and security of being on our border and not having to worry about that. I think it’s shameful.”
