Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre makes an announcement after meeting with survivors of domestic violence, in Trois-Rivières, Que, on April 4.Christopher Katsarov/The Canadian Press
Pierre Poilievre said under a Conservative government Canada would make its own, sovereign decisions on increasing military spending as U.S. President Donald Trump once again puts pressure on NATO allies to boost defence budgets to 5 per cent of GDP.
U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio at a meeting of NATO foreign affairs ministers in Brussels said Washington expects all alliance members to commit to raising defence spending to 5 per cent of gross domestic product.
Canada currently spends about 1.37 per cent and has pledged to reach 2 per cent by 2030. No NATO ally has so far committed to increasing to 5 per cent, although Mr. Rubio said Thursday the United States plans to do so.
“We do want to leave here with an understanding that we are on a pathway, a realistic pathway, to every single one of the members committing and fulfilling a promise to reach up to 5 per cent of spending,” Mr. Rubio told reporters in Brussels, adding that this included the U.S.
The Conservative Leader, speaking to reporters Friday during a campaign stop in Quebec, was asked whether he would commit to raising spending to 5 per cent of annual economic output. He said Canada alone will decide its defence budget.
“We’re going to make our own decisions on exactly how much we spend. We’re going to make our own decisions about our military,” Mr. Poilievre said.
The Globe and Mail asked Foreign Affairs Minister Mélanie Joly on Thursday whether she thought Canada could increase military expenditures to reach 5 per cent of GDP. She declined to say. “I’m not into speculation.” she said. She said the U.S. is at 3.2 per cent.
Such a requirement for members of the Western military alliance would require a steep increase in expenditures for Canada. David Perry, president of the Canadian Global Affairs Institute, has estimated that Mr. Trump’s proposal would cost Canada $100-billion in additional annual spending.
The Conservative Leader noted he’s promised to rebuild the military and will cut back on foreign aid and other areas to fund this. He’s pledged to build four new heavy-duty icebreakers and a military base in Iqaluit.
Mr. Poilievre, in an extended reply to the question about NATO spending targets, said a Conservative government would focus on defence priorities for Canada rather than other areas. “We will once again have a strong and proud military that can defend our territory. Our main focus will be on our territory.”
Relations with the U.S. have been eroding under Mr. Trump, who persists in talk of annexing Canada as the 51st state. Asked whether he as prime minister would draw up war plans to defend this country against the Americans, the Conservative Leader offered a limited response: “We will protect our sovereignty against the Americans. We will be a nation that stands on its own two feet, stands up to our foes, protects our territory and honours our troops.”
Retired general Wayne Eyre, formerly the chief of the defence staff for Canada, said he believes Canada needs to exceed 2 per cent for defence spending.
Mr. Eyre said he’s not a fan of using percentage of GDP as a metric for defence spending. He said benchmarks such as capability and readiness are more important. “Instead of having some arbitrary number, you’ve got the firm science behind, ‘Here’s a threat, here’s our plans to deal with a threat and here are the capabilities required to enable those plans.‘”
Separately, Mr. Poilievre promised on Friday tougher laws against intimate partner violence. He said a Conservative government would create a new offence of “assault of an intimate partner,” require the strictest bail conditions for anyone accused of intimate partner violence, including GPS ankle bracelet monitoring – with any breach of conditions resulting in immediate imprisonment. Finally, he said as prime minister he would “end the senseless practice of downgrading the murder of an intimate partner to manslaughter, simply because the murderer claims it was a so-called crime of passion.”
A Conservative government would make sure that the murder of an intimate partner, one’s own child or a partner’s child will be treated as first-degree murder, he said.
“Government has failed the most vulnerable Canadians,” the Conservative Leader said. “Those who abuse their partners or their children should be off the streets and behind bars where they can’t harm their victims or anyone else. A new Conservative Government will make sure our justice system always puts victims, not criminals, first.”
With a report from Reuters