No sign Canada has a plan to reach NATO defence spending target: U.S. NATO ambassador

The U.S. ambassador to NATO says she has seen no indication that Canada has a plan to reach the NATO spending target of two per cent of GDP on defence.

The U.S. ambassador to NATO says despite the Canadian government claiming to “take the pledge very seriously,” she has seen no indication that Canada has a plan to reach the NATO spending target of two per cent of GDP on defence. 

In an exclusive interview on CTV’s Question Period airing Sunday, Julianne Smith told host Vassy Kapelos every member of the NATO alliance needs to “do its fair share,” which is required for collective “deterrence and defence” in the face of increasing global threats.

“I think (Canada) had, when they signed on to it, every intention, obviously, of eventually meeting the commitment,” Smith said. “The question, though, again, across the alliance is, when will we see an actual plan to reach that two per cent target, and have clarity on how Canada's going to get there?”

“I have not had any instance where any Canadian official has told me they will not get there,” she added. “But I don't have any sign that there is a plan in place to get to that two per cent mark.”

There have long been calls for Canada to meet the two per cent target, including from Smith herself, who also told Kapelos in an interview on CTV’s Question Period in February that Canada was the only one of 31 member countries without a plan to reach it.

Last week, a bipartisan group of United States senators wrote a letter to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, stating they are “concerned and profoundly disappointed that Canada’s most recent projection indicated that it will not reach its two per cent commitment this decade.”

The letter from the U.S. Senate NATO Observer Group also states Canada’s failure to reach the two per cent goal — which NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg asserted last year should be a floor and not a ceiling — is “to the detriment of all NATO allies and the free world.”