NATO chief not denying Trudeau said Canada won’t ever meet defence spending target

OTTAWA –

NATO’s Secretary General is not denying that Prime Minister Justin Trudeau privately told the alliance Canada will never meet a defence spending target of two per cent of GDP.

“I’m talking and I’m consulting and I’m meeting with heads of state and government, prime ministers and presidents, across the lines almost every week,” Jens Stoltenberg said in a Canadian exclusive interview on CTV’s Power Play with Vassy Kapelos Tuesday. “There’s no way I can continue to sit down, discuss, with them if I start to report from each and every of those conversations.”

NATO allies – including Canada – agreed in 2014 to a target of two per cent of GDP on defence spending. Canada spent 1.29 per cent of its GDP on defence in 2022, according to NATO’s annual report.

Stoltenberg’s comments come after The Washington Post reported on April 19 the prime minister privately told NATO officials Canada will never meet the two per cent target. The reporting is based on U.S. intelligence.

At the time of that report, the prime minister also didn’t deny it but insisted, “I continue to say and will always say that Canada is a reliable partner to NATO, a reliable partner around the world.”

STOLTENBERG EXPECTS CANADA WILL AGREE TO NEW TARGET

Power Play host Vassy Kapelos asked Stoltenberg twice whether Trudeau specifically admitted to him Canada will not reach its spending targets. Stoltenberg did not deny the comments were made both times he was asked.

He said the alliance is in the process of working on a new defence spending target for NATO’s upcoming July summit in Vilnius, Lithuania. Stoltenberg has previously said he wants NATO members to see two per cent of GDP as the ‘floor’ and not the ‘ceiling’.

“Canada will be part of that agreement,” he said, “I also expect Canada to deliver on the agreement we will make.”

You can watch Vassy Kapelos’s Canadian exclusive interview with Jens Stoltenberg in the video at the top of this article.