Canada will meet NATO’s military spending guideline by early next year and diversify defense spending away from the United States, Prime Minister Mark Carney said Monday, asserting that Washington no longer plays a predominant role on the world stage.
The announcement means Canada will achieve NATO’s spending target of 2% of gross domestic product five years earlier than previously planned.
“Our military infrastructure and equipment have aged, hindering our military preparedness,” Carney said. “Only one of our four submarines is seaworthy. Less than half of our maritime fleet and land vehicles are operational. More broadly, we are too reliant on the United States.”
According to NATO figures, Canada was estimated to be spending 1.45% of GDP on its military budget, below the 2% target that NATO countries have set for themselves. Canada previously said it was on track to meet NATO’s target by the end of the decade.
“Our goal is to protect Canadians, not to satisfy NATO accountants,” Carney said in a speech at the University of Toronto.
Canada is about to host US President Donald Trump and other leaders at a summit of the Group of Seven leading industrialized nations in Alberta on June 15-17, and before the NATO summit in Europe. NATO allies are poised to increase the commitment well beyond the 2% target.
NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte said last week that most US allies at NATO endorse Trump’s demand that they invest 5% of gross domestic product on their defense needs and are ready to ramp up security spending even more.
“We are meeting 2%. And that is the NATO target as it is today,” Carney said at a later news conference. “We will need to spend more.” He said there will be discussions on the increased spending amount and its timeline at the NATO summit.
Carney has said he intends to diversify Canada’s procurement and enhance the country’s relationship with the EU.
“We should no longer send three-quarters of our defense capital spending to America,” Carney said in a speech at the University of Toronto. “We will invest in new submarines, aircraft, ships, armed vehicles and artillery, as well as new radar, drones and sensors to monitor the seafloor and the Arctic.”
Canada has been in discussions with the European Union to join an EU drive to break its security dependency on the United States, with a focus on buying more defense equipment, including fighter jets, in Europe. Carney’s government is reviewing the purchase of U.S. F-35 fighter jets to see if there are other options.
“We stood shoulder to shoulder with the Americans throughout the Cold War and in the decades that followed, as the United States played a predominant role on the world stage. Today, that predominance is a thing of the past,” Carney said in French, one of Canada’s official languages.
He added that with the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989, the United States became the global hegemon, noting that its strong gravitational pull became virtually irresistible and made the US “our closest ally and dominant trading partner.”
“Now the United States is beginning to monetize its hegemony: charging for access to its markets and reducing its relative contributions to our collective security,” Carney said.
Trump’s calls to make Canada the 51st US state have infuriated Canadians, and Carney won the job of prime minister after promising to confront the increased aggression shown by Trump.
The prime minister said “a new imperialism threatens.”
Carney said the long-held view that Canada’s geographic location will protect Canadians is increasingly archaic. The government is adding $9 billion Canadian (US$6.6 billion) in spending this year and Carney said the Canadian Coast Guard will be now be a part of the military.
European allies and Canada have already been investing heavily in their armed forces, as well as on weapons and ammunition, since Russia launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine on Feb. 24, 2022.