Canada to Hike Defense Spending to Hit NATO Target This Year
Military exercises in Saguenay, Quebec.
Photographer: Fred Marie/Art in All of Us/Corbis News/Getty Images
Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney announced a large increase in defense spending to meet NATO’s target this fiscal year, saying it’s necessary in “a darker, more competitive world” where US dominance is receding.
“The long-held view that Canada’s geographic location will protect us is becoming increasingly archaic,” Carney said in a major foreign policy speech in Toronto. “We have been jolted awake by new threats to our security and sovereignty – including from emboldened Russia and an assertive China.”