Canada is reviewing military spending amid pressure from the US - Politico
Canadian Finance Minister François-Philippe Champagne has announced the government's intention to seriously review defense spending policies, making the development of the army and defense infrastructure one of the key national priorities. He said this in an interview with Politico, UNN writes.
The result we want to achieve is the protection of Canada, the protection of Canadian sovereignty. The world has changed significantly
Details
According to him, changes in the global security situation require more decisive action from Canada. In particular, Champagne noted that the issue of increasing defense spending for collective security was actively discussed at the last meeting of G7 finance ministers.
We need to make smart purchases, smart investments and a smart approach to defense spending. We need to rebuild our armed forces, we need to rebuild infrastructure. We need to build new defense systems, but we need to do it where we support Canadian industry, Canadian workers and Canadian autonomy
According to the publication, Canada is nowhere near the NATO target of 2% of GDP. The alliance's report estimates this figure at 1.37 percent, making it one of the biggest offenders in the alliance. Former Prime Minister Justin Trudeau once privately told NATO officials that Canada would never reach that figure, according to documents leaked from the Pentagon two years ago.
Let us remind you
US President Donald Trump previously announced to Canada the price for participation in the anti-missile "Golden Dome" and named the condition for free protection. He stated that joining the neighboring country to the security program would cost 61 billion dollars. And again offered Canada to become the 51st state of the United States in order to receive protection for free.