Carney says the world is at a “turning point” when he touts the growth of defense spending -National -National
Prime Minister Mark Carney said he would benefit from a “turning point” in Canada by 2035, with Canada vowing to increase defense spending to a new NATO new target of 5%.
Meanwhile, he acknowledged that he would need a planned level of spending “social permission” and that the country needs to consider “trades” on the way.
“The fate of the world has been at a balance throughout Canada's history, and every time Canada has chosen to step up its efforts to lead the path of democracy and freedom,” Carney said. “We are in one of them again. If we want the world of tomorrow to be shaped by our values, then Canada must be prepared. If we want a safer world, we need a stronger Canada.”
Carney commented after NATO leaders agreed to raise their defense spending target from 2% of GDP to a new 5% target.
The reporter asked him if he needed to make sacrifices to cover the expenses, such as cutting health care transfers.
“We are not making trade-offs given the new threats facing Canada, and we are not sacrificing for it, so we have invested in defense and security, broader security that will be net additives,” he said.
“More things will happen in Canada, and more will build our economy while improving our defense capabilities and we will get the benefits.”
But, he said, as the world gets closer to the 2035 deadline, the country will eventually need to consider potential “trades”.
“We will have to think about what the federal government can do in some cases and how we will pay for it,” Carney said.
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“Those tradeoffs – I’ll give you false precision – but those tradeoffs are happening at the end of the decade at the end of the next decade and we’ll get more to know.”
The NATO agreement will enable allies to invest 3.5% in core defense needs such as jets and weapons and 1.5% in defensive areas such as infrastructure.
Until this year, Canada has been working to meet the first two goals set by NATO and Carney, who said the new 5% target would equate to about $150 billion in defense spending.
NATO said Canada spent $41 billion in 2024.
Carney said he recognized the need for the federal government to build political and “social permits” for such spending.
“First of all, we are protecting Canadians, we are protecting Canadians from new threats,” he said. “I hope we don’t have to do that, but that’s what we have to do, and that’s our core responsibility as government.”
He said the threats were developing and pointed to concerns about Arctic security.
But while the cost of defence expenditure will increase, the Prime Minister believes that the “maximum spillover” will come from, for example through new work by Canadians.
NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte said the allies had developed a “specific” plan to make allies spend 5% of their GDP to make NATO stronger, and the head of the alliance said the Allies would agree to further increase defense production so that their armed forces had “everything needed.”
Carney told CNN International on Tuesday that Canada will reach its target in part by developing deposits for key minerals, and that certain efforts will be done in partnership with the EU, EU member states, the UK and other allies.
Asked Wednesday about his later comments about “weighting”, he said that if hiking in a region, this could lead to higher prices and more spending on “snatching points”, but working with international partners can help you solve the problem.
“That’s part of the reason why we work more closely with Europeans, and that’s part of the reason we continue to work with the United States in the right region,” he said. “That’s part of the reason this growth will happen at a measured rate, or we’ll try to do it at a measured rate and have this consequence.”
The UK, France, the Netherlands and Germany all worked on five per cent goals ahead of Wednesday's meeting. NATO countries are closer to Ukraine, and Russia and its allies Belarus have promised to do so.
Some countries, such as Spain and Slovakia, have expressed concern about the target.
All 32 NATO member states must reach a consensus on new spending targets and have to debate the implementation timetable.
Rut warned on Monday that no country can withdraw from the target and will review progress on the new target within four years.
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