Canada’s defense investment plans put it on track to meet NATO guideline, minister says

By LORNE COOK
Associated Press

BRUSSELS (AP) — Canadian Defense Minister Bill Blair says his country looks on track to meet NATO’s military spending guideline by 2030. He says Canada notably plans to invest in the high Arctic near its shared border with Russia as the region warms quickly because of climate change. NATO allies agreed to halt national budget cuts in 2014 after Russia annexed Ukraine’s Crimean Peninsula. The aim was to move toward spending 2% of gross domestic product on defense within a decade. Canada was barely spending 1% at the time. Blair said Friday that with the extra investment plus an update of Canada’s aging submarine fleet he believes it brings the country “to over 2% of defense spending.”