Summit criticizes Canada's defence spending

Decade-old target would require Ottawa to commit billions to military

- ALEX BALLINGALL

Justin Trudeau shares a laugh with Estonian Prime Minister Kaja Kallas at a ceremony celebrating NATO's 75th anniversary on Tuesday in Washington. Less jovial was her defence minister, who said NATO members should be able to expect fellow members will respect the rules, in reference to spending targets.

WASHINGTON Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s government was still trying to figure out how to show when Canada can finally hit its decade-old NATO commitment on defence spending as the trans-Atlantic alliance opened its annual summit Tuesday, sources said.

One government official told the Star that discussions continued Tuesday over how Canada could demonstrate a timeline to hit the higher defence spending target — something that would require Ottawa to devote billions of extra dollars to the military at a time when the Trudeau Liberals are preaching fiscal restraint and spending big money on domestic social programs.

The source, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said Canada’s failure to hit the NATO target came up in meetings Trudeau held Monday and Tuesday with American politicians, and that the government was aware that Canada is being “called out” for falling short as the alliance gathered in Washington to mark its 75th anniversary at a time of global tensions.

Three other Liberal sources said Tuesday that what Defence Minister Bill Blair has called a “credible, verifiable plan” for Canada to hit the NATO spending target was still being worked on.