Prime Minister Mark Carney says he is hopeful Canada will join the European Union’s defence rearmament plan by July 1 in a bid to decrease its reliance on the United States for arms and ammunition.
The government’s throne speech on May 27 committed the country to joining ReArm Europe and Carney told CBC in an interview the same day he wants to move quickly on joining the initiative.
“Seventy-five cents of every dollar of capital spending for defence goes to the United States. That’s not smart,” Carney told CBC’s “Power & Politics.”
Canada has been involved in discussions with the European Union about participating in the project since Carney was sworn-in this spring. The plan could see members investing $1.25 trillion in defence over the next five years.
“We’re making great progress on that, and by Canada today, we'd like to see something concrete,” Carney said, adding that becoming part of the “build out” of the EU’s defence industrial base will bring jobs to Canada.
Carney told Trump during his visit to the White House earlier this month that Canada was not interested in becoming part of the United States.
Global Affairs Canada confirmed in a recent statement that Canada is still looking at joining the US$175 billion Golden Dome initiative first announced on May 20.
“Canadians gave the Prime Minister a strong mandate to negotiate a comprehensive new security and economic relationship with the United States,” Global Affairs said. “To that end, the Prime Minister and his Ministers are having wide-ranging and constructive discussions with their American counterparts. These discussions naturally include strengthening NORAD and related initiatives such as the Golden Dome.”
Defence Spending
While Canada considers its participation in ReArm Europe, NATO is considering increasing its defence spending threshold for member nations.Trump has said for months he wants to see NATO countries increase their defence spending to 5 percent of GDP.
Carney told CBC that Ottawa will “definitely” have to spend more on defence, but wouldn’t commit to a specific dollar amount.
“I’m not a fan of picking an arbitrary number and then trying to figure out how to spend up to it,” he said, adding that there are questions the country must ask itself before committing to a specific sum, such as what will it cost to secure Canada’s borders, the Arctic, and maintain sovereignty.
He said his government must first determine what needs to be done at home and with its partners as well as how much each project will cost.
“At the NATO summit, NATO partners are going to be asked to spend more, to do more, for mutual protection. We’re going to participate in that,” he said. “But part of the way we want to participate in that is with new partners, with European partners, yes, with the United States, yes, on our own, in a way that’s best for us. So look for some agreement and some progress on both from us.”
Canada currently spends approximately 1.37 percent of its GDP on defence, considerably less than the 2 percent target that allies committed to achieving more than 10 years ago. Carney said during the recent federal election campaign that he planned to reach the 2 percent spending goal by 2030.
Defence Minister David McGuinty told a defence industry trade show on May 28 that Ottawa will take “immediate and decisive action” to rebuild Canada’s military and plans to triple its military spending from 2014 levels by the end of the decade.
He said joining ReArm Europe would diversify Canada’s defence partnerships and give it access to new opportunities in Europe’s $1.25 trillion defence marketplace.
