Defense Minister Anita Anand said the federal government is considering whether Canada should join the United States in actively defending against intercontinental ballistic missiles.
Ms Anand made the comment Tuesday morning as she provided some sort of update on Ottawa’s plans to modernize, with the United States, North America’s aging military defences.
Canada had withdrawn in 2005 from the American program of “land-based long-range ballistic missile interceptor system”, following an extremely heated national debate.
But the question of whether Canada should reconsider has resurfaced constantly since, amid concerns about North Korea’s growing nuclear arsenal and deteriorating relations with Russia.
At a conference hosted by the Canadian Global Affairs Institute, Minister Anand said Tuesday that the government was considering “a comprehensive review” of ballistic missile defense, as part of a broader review of what is needed. to better protect North America against possible attacks.
Anand also promised more details soon on how Canada and the United States will improve North America’s overall defenses, which military officials say are very outdated.
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