{"id":14105,"date":"2025-01-24T23:59:55","date_gmt":"2025-01-24T23:59:55","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/torontotribune.ca\/index.php\/2025\/01\/24\/blair-says-canada-can-hit-nato-spending-target-sooner-but-doesnt-commit-national\/"},"modified":"2025-01-24T23:59:55","modified_gmt":"2025-01-24T23:59:55","slug":"blair-says-canada-can-hit-nato-spending-target-sooner-but-doesnt-commit-national","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/torontotribune.ca\/index.php\/2025\/01\/24\/blair-says-canada-can-hit-nato-spending-target-sooner-but-doesnt-commit-national\/","title":{"rendered":"Blair says Canada can hit NATO spending target sooner but doesn\u2019t commit – National"},"content":{"rendered":"


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Defence Minister Bill Blair<\/a> says Canada could hit its NATO<\/a> defence spending<\/a> target within just a few years if need be but didn\u2019t commit to doing so.<\/p>\n

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NATO members have all committed to spend the equivalent of two per cent of its GDP on defence but Canada has consistently failed to reach that target.<\/p>\n

Last summer, following backlash from Republican lawmakers in the U.S., Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said Canadian defence spending would hit the two per cent marker in 2032.<\/p>\n

But there was no clear plan to get there, and some military analysts have questioned whether 2032 was possible.<\/p>\n

Today when Blair was asked by a reporter if Canada could reach that mark in two years, Blair replied that is \u201cabsolutely achievable\u201d but didn\u2019t say it would happen.<\/p>\n

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He has previously suggested he wants to see the time frame accelerated, but did not offer any clues about how much it could be sped up.<\/p>\n

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Blair made the comments as the Liberal caucus huddles on Parliament Hill to talk Canada-U.S. relations and next steps for the party.<\/p>\n

He said while Canada can hit two per cent, his concern is about managing the spending in a \u201cresponsible way.\u201d<\/p>\n

Blair says Canada is looking at how to accelerate its plan to ramp up investments in the Canadian Armed Forces and wants to \u201cget this job done as quickly as possible,\u201d but made no new commitments on Friday.<\/p>\n

President Donald Trump has thundered about NATO allies not paying their fair share and now insists they should spend five per cent.<\/p>\n

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He has also threatened to slam Canada with 25 per cent tariffs on all imports as early as next week which deal a blow to Canadian GDP.<\/p>\n