New Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney, in an interview with CBC, said he hoped Canada would sign on to ReArm Europe - an EU plan to dramatically increase defence spending on the continent in the next five years. Carney added that he hopes to sign on to the major European defence rearmament plan by July 1.
Which begs the question - why would the North American nation want to be part of what the European Union is doing?
Carney sees this as a step toward reducing his country's dependency on the US for weapons and munitions. You see, 75% of Canada’s defense purchases are from the US, and Carney does not think it's smart.
Makes sense, considering President Donald Trump in March said the US may not defend NATO allies like Canada if they were “delinquent”.
For context - the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation or NATO, formed in 1949, consists of 32 member sovereign states with Canada being one of the 12 founding members.
The mutual assistance clause called the Collective Defence, enshrined in Article 5, declares that an attack against one ally would be considered an attack against all Allies. This means NATO members are duty-bound to defend each other.
At the moment, Canada spends about 1.37% of its GDP on defence, a far cry from the existing target of 2%. This gives Trump an out, if Canada were ever to go to war. So understandably, Carney has his hopes pinned on Europe instead.
King Charles III, Canada's monarch, opened the Canadian Parliament with a speech that outlined the government's goal of “protecting Canada’s sovereignty by rebuilding, rearming, and reinvesting” in the Canadian Armed Forces.
He added that Canada will “participate in the ‘ReArm Europe’ plan and will thus contribute, together with European partners, to trans-Atlantic security".
Carney must be itching to find out if the grass is indeed greener on the other side, and finally be rid of accusations like "riding on America's coattails".
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