NATO members in Western Europe have drawn a torrent of criticism in recent years for failing to spend enough on defense and take their own national security seriously. It’s a fair charge, despite some recent improvements. Yet, one of the least responsible NATO members isn’t in Europe at all. It’s Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s Canada.
In 2014, NATO members committed to a defense spending guideline of 2 percent of GDP. At the time, only three allies met this target. However, since Russia invaded Ukraine, many NATO countries have accelerated their commitments to increase defense spending, and most NATO members now hit this spending goal.
The Canadian government, however, is one of the few NATO allies that fails to meet the 2 percent defense expenditure threshold.
Canada isn’t a small country, nor is it a poor one. It’s perfectly capable of meeting its treaty obligations. Yet it spends a mere 1.37 percent of its GDP on defense, or roughly $30.5 billion a year. Despite having the sixth largest GDP among NATO countries, Canada ranks twenty-seventh in defense spending as a proportion of GDP. For comparison, the United States is the third-highest NATO member ranked in percentage of GDP (3.38 percent), behind only Poland and Estonia.
Canada is more than capable of meeting its obligations and has done so before. During the Cold War, Canada was a hugely capable NATO member whose contributions to deterring the Soviet Union were absolutely critical to hemispheric security.
The need to spend more on defense is particularly salient for Canada, as threats to NATO don’t only come from Eastern Europe. Canada also needs to take Arctic and North American security far more seriously as the Arctic emerges as a critical area of concern, rich in untapped resources and new navigation routes that are attracting attention from our adversaries.
China and Russia are actively increasing their presence in the Northern Pacific Ocean as they seek to expand into the Arctic. In late September, officials from both nations convened to form a “comprehensive strategic partnership” aimed at advancing their initiatives in the region. China describes itself as a “near Arctic” state (despite being nowhere near the Arctic) and has stated its intent to build a “Polar Silk Road.”
On September 28, the U.S. Coast Guard spotted Chinese and Russian coast guard ships near St. Lawrence Island in the Bering Sea, just south of the Arctic Circle. With increasing “near Arctic” encounters, Canada must bolster its defense against potential incursions from China and Russia along the Arctic coastline and not rely on the United States for Arctic security.
As Canadian Senator Pierre-Hugues Boisvenu put it:
“We can no longer ignore the threats to our sovereignty…Foreign powers are already testing our resolve, whether in the air through spy balloons or on the water through monitoring buoys. We are too dependent on the United States for Arctic defence—we must live up to our responsibilities as a northern country.”
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has announced plans to reach NATO’s 2 percent defense spending target. Yet these plans won’t have Canada hitting the target until 2032. This eight-year timeline is far too slow. No other NATO ally has submitted such a lackluster plan.
Trudeau’s priorities appear to lie elsewhere. His priorities for the Ministry of Defense have been to “build an inclusive and diverse” defense team, prioritizing the elimination of “anti-Black racism, LGBTQ2 prejudice, gender bias and white supremacy.” Prime Minister Trudeau would have done better to spend Canadian resources to strengthen Canada’s military readiness and ensure Canada could defend itself and its allies.
Canada’s continued underinvestment leaves its NATO obligations unmet and weakens the overall defense of both the alliance as a whole and the North American continent. Canadians deserve better.
Canadians deserver better? All of NATO deserves better. If Canada won't pull it's fair share of the load then Canada should stop expecting such a cozy relationship with those who do.
------------------ Rams Learning most of life's lessons the hard way. . You are only young once but, you can be immature indefinitely.
Canada has had a Trudeau problem for far too long.
Pretty sure the problem has been identified:
quote
Trudeau’s priorities appear to lie elsewhere. His priorities for the Ministry of Defense have been to “build an inclusive and diverse” defense team, prioritizing the elimination of “anti-Black racism, LGBTQ2 prejudice, gender bias and white supremacy.
Addressing the above issues isn't a money problem, it's a leadership problem. I do know a few Canadians who don't support Trudeau but, they are all military friends, one has to assume the majority of Canadians don't mind.....................
------------------ Rams Learning most of life's lessons the hard way. . You are only young once but, you can be immature indefinitely.
no I reject BOTH AS FAIRY TALES WITH NO HISTORY OUTSIDE OF MYTHS
but if evil has a side it is clearly the RWNJ SIDE THE Gop SIDE
AND YOUR MADE UP GOD NEVER COULD FIX ONE TRUE CHURCH SO MANY CULTS ALL CLAIM TO KNOW THE WILL OF GOD NO EVIDENCE THAT ANY ONE EVER DID
THAT IS THE TRUE TEST IF THERE WAS ONE TRUE GOD THERE WOULD BE ONE TRUE RELIGION CLEARLY FAVORED BY THE GOD BUT THERE IS NOT AND NEVER WAS JUST EVERY MAN GETS TO CLAIM WHAT EVER AND SPIN THE VERSION HE LIKES BEST NO GOD IN ANY OF THE CULTS
Originally posted by ray b: ... THAT IS THE TRUE TEST IF THERE WAS ONE TRUE GOD THERE WOULD BE ONE TRUE RELIGION CLEARLY FAVORED BY THE GOD...
Unless that god didn't want to establish a religion. ...or didn't want reveal itself, or interact with humanity. ...or couldn't interact in a way humanity could understand or interpret. ...or didn't even have any purpose at all.
Ya know, responding to a troll simply encourages them. They just love throwing a thread off topic and stirring a pot. It's simply a waste of time and effort to respond and feed a troll.
------------------ Rams Learning most of life's lessons the hard way. . You are only young once but, you can be immature indefinitely.
Unless that god didn't want to establish a religion. ...or didn't want reveal itself, or interact with humanity. ...or couldn't interact in a way humanity could understand or interpret. ...or didn't even have any purpose at all.
That's not a very absolute test.
BEST ONE I CAN THINK OF
what is that god who claims to be all powerful all knowing creator of everything ect who has a list of everything everyone ever did ?
so very afraid of ? why does he hide ? eazy true answer is that god is man made and never was real just like all the other gods made by men all thru out history
if as indifferent then no eternal life or any other of the religious claims are true if you just say the name his mom never called him or any other claim the deluded make about any gods
sorry no special status to delusions of the divine they for sure have NO place in our laws rules and government procedures
Ya know, responding to a troll simply encourages them. They just love throwing a thread off topic and stirring a pot. It's simply a waste of time and effort to respond and feed a troll.
gee kind of hard on the troll old joe who claimed satan was a real cause of the ... guess you missed that ?
what is that god who claims to be all powerful all knowing creator of everything ect who has a list of everything everyone ever did ?
so very afraid of ? why does he hide ? eazy true answer is that god is man made and never was real just like all the other gods made by men all thru out history
if as indifferent then no eternal life or any other of the religious claims are true if you just say the name his mom never called him or any other claim the deluded make about any gods
sorry no special status to delusions of the divine they for sure have NO place in our laws rules and government procedures
I feel like this applies here
"The agnostic says, 'I cannot find good evidence that so and so is true. He does not say, 'I know it is not true.' The atheist, on the other hand, asserts that the evidence of the truth of what the theist believes is so bad that it is his duty to refuse to believe it.”
Honestly, I'm very skeptical about that. While he may be blatantly trolling on the internet, I sincerely doubt he espouses such opinions while out in public. We've all seen "Internet Warriors" before. Sitting behind a keyboard where it's pretty safe and one doesn't suffer the reactions or consequences of one's statements.
Trolls have a place on earth but where is questionable.
Redirecting threads just so they can insult others is something trolls do. NATO and Canada pulling it's own weight was the topic. ------------------ Rams Learning most of life's lessons the hard way. . You are only young once but, you can be immature indefinitely.
[This message has been edited by blackrams (edited 10-28-2024).]
Honestly, I'm very skeptical about that. While he may be blatantly trolling on the internet, I sincerely doubt he espouses such opinions while out in public. We've all seen "Internet Warriors" before. Sitting behind a keyboard where it's pretty safe and one doesn't suffer the reactions or consequences of one's statements.
Trolls have a place on earth but where is questionable.
Redirecting threads just so they can insult others is something trolls do. NATO and Canada pulling it's own weight was the topic.
old joe was the re-director
but some one needs to stand up for truth justice and the american way there is was no superman but the idea is a good one but no truth from the rump who delays and denigrates justice and his is not my american way as his is fascist and racist and greedy to the max
NATO needs to allow the U to join with 48 hour notice to putin withdraw or be destroyed
