Canada must quickly ramp up its defense spending to reach the NATO target while also weaning itself off US-made equipment, contenders to replace Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said.
The four candidates — Mark Carney, Chrystia Freeland, Karina Gould and Frank Baylis — sparred over how fast Canada could realistically roll out the billions of dollars in new annual spending it would take to reach NATO’s threshold of 2 percent of GDP.
“We really need to act with the fierce urgency of now,” said Freeland, citing US President Donald Trump’s threats to make Canada the US’ 51st state. “I don’t think any of us wants to be the leader who was asleep at the wheel and didn’t get Canada defended.”
Photo: AFP
The government should spend as much of that money as possible within Canada, she added.
Canada must “protect our arctic, which is under threat not just now from the Russians and the Chinese, but from potential US incursions,” Carney said.
He agreed that Canada must boost its defense spending, but said it should also “leverage all of our assets from critical minerals to clean energy and well beyond to harden those partnerships in Europe and in Asia with like-minded countries.”
The comments came in the second and final debate of the Liberal Party leadership race, which is set to conclude on March 9.
Carney, a former governor of the Bank of Canada and Bank of England, is widely seen as the front-runner.
His chief rival is Freeland, a former finance minister whose resignation in December last year effectively finished Trudeau’s political career.
Canada last year was projected to spend about 1.33 percent of its GDP on defense.
Trudeau in July last year announced that Canada did not plan to reach the 2 percent target until 2032.
Freeland and Gould have promised to accelerate that deadline to 2027 and Gould attacked Carney for his own vow to get there by 2030.
“We don’t have time to wait for this,” she said.
Baylis said that he does not see 2027 as realistic.
“I don’t think that’s doable in an intelligent way,” he said, adding that it is difficult to do major procurement projects — especially if that procurement is restricted to Canadian firms.
Australia has announced an agreement with the tiny Pacific nation Nauru enabling it to send hundreds of immigrants to the barren island. The deal affects more than 220 immigrants in Australia, including some convicted of serious crimes. Australian Minister of Home Affairs Tony Burke signed the memorandum of understanding on a visit to Nauru, the government said in a statement on Friday. “It contains undertakings for the proper treatment and long-term residence of people who have no legal right to stay in Australia, to be received in Nauru,” it said. “Australia will provide funding to underpin this arrangement and support Nauru’s long-term economic
‘NEO-NAZIS’: A minister described the rally as ‘spreading hate’ and ‘dividing our communities,’ adding that it had been organized and promoted by far-right groups Thousands of Australians joined anti-immigration rallies across the country yesterday that the center-left government condemned, saying they sought to spread hate and were linked to neo-Nazis. “March for Australia” rallies against immigration were held in Sydney, and other state capitals and regional centers, according to the group’s Web site. “Mass migration has torn at the bonds that held our communities together,” the Web site said. The group posted on X on Saturday that the rallies aimed to do “what the mainstream politicians never have the courage to do: demand an end to mass immigration.” The group also said it was concerned about culture,
ANGER: Unrest worsened after a taxi driver was killed by a police vehicle on Thursday, as protesters set alight government buildings across the nation Protests worsened overnight across major cities of Indonesia, far beyond the capital, Jakarta, as demonstrators defied Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto’s call for calm. The most serious unrest was seen in the eastern city of Makassar, while protests also unfolded in Bandung, Surabaya, Solo and Yogyakarta. By yesterday morning, crowds had dispersed in Jakarta. Troops patrolled the streets with tactical vehicles and helped civilians clear trash, although smoke was still rising in various protest sites. Three people died and five were injured in Makassar when protesters set fire to the regional parliament building during a plenary session on Friday evening, according to
STILL AFLOAT: Satellite images show that a Chinese ship damaged in a collision earlier this month was under repair on Hainan, but Beijing has not commented on the incident Australia, Canada and the Philippines on Wednesday deployed three warships and aircraft for drills against simulated aerial threats off a disputed South China Sea shoal where Chinese forces have used risky maneuvers to try to drive away Manila’s aircraft and ships. The Philippine military said the naval drills east of Scarborough Shoal (Huangyan Island, 黃岩島) were concluded safely, and it did not mention any encounter with China’s coast guard, navy or suspected militia ships, which have been closely guarding the uninhabited fishing atoll off northwestern Philippines for years. Chinese officials did not immediately issue any comment on the naval drills, but they
RSS