Our allies are less and less willing to look the other way when it comes to our refusal to invest in our national defence.
A few weeks ago, the Wall Street Journal called out Canada’s lack of defence spending. This was notable, because the WSJ is quite influential among many American policymakers, and their criticism of our moribund national defences was seen as representing growing sentiment among our American friends.
Now the Economist – a British newspaper – is similarly calling out our country for our unwillingness to invest in the military.
In a recent column, the paper argued that Canada’s “position as a penny-pinching outlier has become more embarrassing for the country” in the wake of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine:
“Following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, even former military slowcoach Germany announced its determination to meet its 2% obligation. But Mr Trudeau has not shown much enthusiasm for bridging the gap. Leaked Pentagon intelligence documents, first reported in the Washington Post in April, confirmed that Mr Trudeau had told nato allies not only that Canada would not reach the 2% commitment but that it “never” would.
When Mr Trudeau was asked to confirm or deny the remark, he blandly replied: “I continue to say and will always say that Canada is a reliable partner to nato, a reliable partner around the world. And with our military investments, with the support we give to Canadians, we will continue to be doing that.””
Trudeau’s word-salad response doesn’t change the fact that Canada is indeed a laggard when it comes to our defence spending at a time when patience for that lack of spending is running low.
If we demand the benefits of our alliances we must also be willing to pay the costs
NATO is the most successful alliance in human history. By bringing together most of North America, Western Europe, and Central Europe, NATO has effectively ensured that a significant portion of the world will be free from war – at least between alliance participants. It has also helped secure the freedom and independence of smaller nations that would be at risk of being subjugated by Russia, like Estonia, Latvia, Poland, and Lithuania.
If co-operation between NATO and countries like Japan, South Korea, and Australia continues to deepen, it’s not out of the realm of possibility that NATO could one day become an alliance that spans much of the globe, bringing humanity a step closer to the dream of lasting peace by creating an alliance of democratic nations that has no peer.
NATO countries have shown strength through support for Ukraine, and Ukraine’s desire to join NATO shows the alliance has a strong moral appeal and security appeal – far stronger than anything Russia or China offer.
Yet, in order to endure, an alliance like NATO requires those who benefit from it to be willing to pay the costs.
On our own, Canada would be hard-pressed to confront a country like Russia – though given our similar GDP we should be able to at least hold our own when it comes to air power and naval power. Still, we rely upon our allies to help enhance our strength.
Thus, we benefit from NATO greatly as Canadians.
So why aren’t we doing more to contribute to it?
In effect, by refusing to strengthen our own national defence budget, we are asking our allies to spend their money defending both their own territory and our territory, without our country being able to reciprocate.
That is deeply unfair to our allies, and it’s also a betrayal of our history as a nation that has been there for our allies when they need us the most.
Yes, strengthening our military will cost a lot of money and will require the government to make some difficult choices. But if we aspire to truly be a great nation, and if we aspire to live up to our values and our commitments to our allies, investing in our national defence is a must.
Spencer Fernando
