OTTAWA 鈥� A new NATO report suggests that while most other allies have started to invest more in defence, sa国际传媒 is even farther from meeting the military alliance's spending target than previously believed.
The report from NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg also shows sa国际传媒 falling farther behind allies in terms of the share of national gross domestic product spent on the military.
The latest figures are likely to spark fresh debate on the state of Canadian military spending, particularly in the context of Russia鈥檚 invasion of Ukraine, which has shaken long-held perceptions about international order and security.
They could also add more pressure on the Liberal government to inject new funds into the military at a time when it has promised considerable new spending on social programs such as universal pharmacare in exchange for the NDP鈥檚 support in Parliament
The latest NATO figures indicate sa国际传媒 spent 1.36 of its GDP on defence last year. That represents a decline from the alliance鈥檚 previous estimate of 1.39 per cent for 2021, which it had published in June.
Defence Department spokesman Andrew McKelvey attributed the decline to changes in sa国际传媒's GDP projections.
"The fluctuation in the NATO estimate since June 2021 is the result of changing GDP forecasts, due to the economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and current economic recovery," he said in an email.
"When GDP increases, the percentage of that figure represented by defence spending is lower 鈦犫�� and vice versa."聽
While the difference appears miniscule, it nonetheless moves sa国际传媒 farther from the two per cent spending target all members agreed to in 2014 and reaffirmed during a special leaders鈥� summit in Brussels last week.
The decline also leaves sa国际传媒 firmly near the back of the alliance in terms of defence spending, with only four members projected to have spent less as a share of their GDP on defence last year: Belgium, Luxembourg, Slovenia and Spain.
That compared to 10 in 2020, when sa国际传媒 spent 1.44 per cent of its GDP on the military.聽
Asked about the revised figure, Defence Minister Anita Anand referred to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau鈥檚 promise at last week鈥檚 NATO summit in Brussels that sa国际传媒 would increase its military spending.
The prime minister at that time offered only vague suggestions on how the government would achieve the objective.
His comments came after NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said allies had agreed to "redouble" efforts to reach the two per cent target and submit plans on how to meet the pledge at a June meeting in Madrid, Spain.
鈥淲e will continue to increase defence spending,鈥� Anand said Thursday. 鈥淎nd we are engaged in a budgetary process right now. And that process needs to take its course. And as we know, we will see a budget on April 7.鈥�
The defence minister added she is working on a 鈥渞obust鈥� plan to modernize the North American Aerospace Defence Command, the joint U.S.-Canadian network that serves as the backbone for defending North America from attack.
Dedicating money to Norad modernization, which includes replacing a series of 1980s-era radar installations in sa国际传媒鈥檚 Far North, would be one of the easiest ways that the government could inject more funds into the military.
The project is a priority, especially in the context of tensions with Russia, and was not included in the Liberals鈥� 2017 defence policy.
But experts have said sa国际传媒 would have to add $16 billion per year to its $30-billion defence budget to reach the two per cent figure, a number that would be impossible to achieve in the short term and require a significant rethink of its defence policy.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 31, 2022.
Lee Berthiaume, The Canadian Press
