(Cleveland) It’s an all-too-common “mistake” to judge Canada’s commitment to global military security solely on the basis of its military budgets, President Joe Biden’s ambassador to Ottawa said Friday.
David Cohen declined to comment on an article by washington post that Prime Minister Justin Trudeau privately told NATO officials that Canada would never meet the 2% of GDP spending target imposed on members of the Atlantic Alliance.
But the US ambassador had a lot to say about whether Canada deserved its old reputation as a cash grab when it comes to military spending.
I think that would be a big mistake, that too many people make, in my opinion. […] that Canada’s commitment should somehow be measured by a single indicator. I don’t think that’s fair.
David Cohen, United States Ambassador to Canada
Cohen was the keynote speaker on Friday among several past and present U.S. ambassadors, trade lawyers and academics from both countries gathered for the Canada-US Law Institute’s annual conference in Cleveland.
Canada makes its own decisions about priorities and budget envelopes, he said. In 2014, it voluntarily agreed, along with a host of other allies, to aspire to the 2% target originally set in 2006 by the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO).
But Mr. Cohen suggested that Canada’s support for Ukraine in its war against Russia and its plans to strengthen Arctic defenses should carry more weight in the political debate. “Whenever there was a need, Canada stepped in,” he said.
Ex-minister MacKay still hopes
Mr. Cohen’s defense contrasts with the assessment of one of his predecessors, David Jacobson, who said at the awards banquet the day before that he feared the consequences of what Mr. Trudeau allegedly said. .
Mr. Jacobson, who served as Barack Obama’s ambassador to Ottawa from 2009 to 2013, said the article in the washington post could make it more difficult for Canada and the United States to resolve future bilateral irritants.
PHOTO ERICK LABBÉ, LE SOLEIL ARCHIVES
Former Federal Defense Minister Peter MacKay
Peter MacKay, who served as Canada’s Minister of National Defense for six years under Stephen Harper’s Conservative government, points out that Mr. Trudeau did not deny the content of the article in the Post.
“It is remarkable that the Prime Minister has not taken the opportunity to clarify or contextualize or say that is simply not true. And so this whole thing escalates,” MacKay said in Cleveland.
I still hold out some hope that we will hear someone in government say, in effect, that we will achieve our 2% (target), or we will continue to aspire to achieve it.
Peter MacKay, former Minister of Defense
The article of Post was based on a document from secret Pentagon documents leaked in recent weeks to an online discussion forum for video game enthusiasts.
THE Post said the unsigned and undated document, which The Canadian Press has not seen, mentions “widespread” military shortcomings in Canada that are causing friction with its partners and allies.
“Pay for these parasites”
While NATO has long urged many of its members to meet its 2% target, military spending in the United States represents about 3.3% of a GDP that is 13 times that of Canada. By comparison, the Canadian government currently spends about 1.4% of GDP on defence.
What’s going to happen is that the American people are going to think, why should we defend the world? “At some point, people are going to say, Well, we have all these parasites — I hate to use that term — and we’re not going to do that anymore.
David Jacobson, former United States Ambassador to Canada
This turn of phrase is reminiscent of Donald Trump, who has frequently berated NATO allies for compromising the alliance — and who is running again for the US presidency next year.
The article of Post did not detail Trudeau’s comments, but he did refer to complaints from a number of allies about perceived shortcomings within the Canadian military.
NATO, for example, is said to be “concerned” that Canada has not reinforced the ranks of its battle group in Latvia, which is part of a multinational deterrence mission in Eastern Europe.
Meanwhile, Turkey was reportedly “disappointed” by Canada’s apparent “refusal” to help transport aid after the massive earthquake earlier this year, while Haiti is “frustrated” by the reluctance of the Canada to mount a security mission there, wrote the Post this week.
Latvia and Haiti
But Ambassador Cohen believes that the “trajectory” of Canada’s military spending has gradually improved over the past few years.
The Liberal government has pledged nearly $40 billion for NORAD modernization and North American defense, and announced $8 billion in military spending in Budget 2022.
“In Joe Biden’s worldview, no country should be judged or evaluated solely for what it does in the defense sector,” Mr. Cohen said. The question is: what kind of partner are you? We believe that Canada and the United States are inextricably linked. »
As for Latvia, Defense Minister Anita Anand indicated that Canada had launched an urgent call for tenders to equip its troops with anti-tank, anti-drone and anti-aircraft defense systems.
THE Post also writes that the Canadian military had warned in February that a major military operation would currently be impossible, given the deployment in Latvia and Canada’s continued military support for Ukraine in its war against Russia.
The United States is also eager to find someone to lead a multinational support mission in Haiti, a country ravaged by criminal gangs, and officials have even named Canada as a valid option.
But former Ambassador Jacobson believes that the question of Canada’s role in Haiti is less a bilateral disagreement than a serious question about Canadian military capacity. “You have even fewer tanks, soldiers and bullets if you spend 1.4% of your GDP. »