NDP against Canada increasing defence spending to hit 'arbitrary' NATO target

NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh says his caucus would be against the federal government moving to increase its defence spending to hit NATO's target of two per cent of GDP, calling the request from the international military alliance 'arbitrary.'

“The pressure that's being applied right now is to get to two per cent. We think that that's an arbitrary number, and we don't support that number,” said Singh in an interview on CTV’s Question Period.

Canada is currently spending approximately 1.39 per cent of its GDP on defence. The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) pledge, which all members collectively agreed to in 2014, was to increase their military spending to at least two per cent of national gross domestic product within the next decade.

“We don't need to meet that arbitrary number, and we don't think that's the right approach,” Singh said.

Pressure has mounted on the Canadian government to enhance its share since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and discussions of more permanent deployments in Eastern Europe. Both Defence Minister Anita Anand and Foreign Affairs Minister Melanie Joly have indicated that Canada intends to bring more to the table, but just how much more remains to be seen.