U.S. ambassador to NATO 'expects' Canada to have a plan to meet two per cent defence spending target

The U.S. Ambassador to NATO says the alliance expects Canada and other member countries to have a clear plan of how they will meet their defence spending targets when they meet this summer to renegotiate their spending goals.

The United States is one of only seven NATO member countries that hit and exceeded the spending target of two per cent of GDP on defence in 2021 — the agreed-upon goal as part of the Wales Summit Declaration in 2014 — according to the NATO secretary general’s last annual report.

With that 10-year commitment set to expire next year, members of the alliance are set to meet in Lithuania this July, with renegotiations of the spending target on the itinerary.

“Negotiations are still underway,” Julianne Smith told CTV’s Question Period host Vassy Kapelos, in an interview airing Sunday. “I can't say with certainty exactly what shape it's going to take, but my prediction is that will focus on making the two per cent target an enduring commitment.”

Smith echoed the sentiment of NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg, who has said it’s likely the two per cent target will become the floor, as opposed to a ceiling.

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Canada has long faced calls to increase its commitments as well, spending about 1.3 per cent of its GDP on defence in 2021, according to the Secretary General report, but the Washington Post reported last month that Prime Minister Justin Trudeau privately told NATO Canada will never meet the target.

Smith said that is not a conversation she has had with her Canadian counterpart.

“If we have a group of countries that cannot announce that they have hit the two per cent target by 2024, it is the expectation that countries will have a plan in place to meet the two per cent target,” she said. “And we say that because collective security is obviously something that requires resourcing.”

Smith said Canada is among other allies that have “made a major increase” in their defence spending, namely by boosting defence spending by $8 billion over five years, as announced in the 2022 federal budget.

That commitment will bring the country’s defence spending to 1.5 per cent of GDP by 2027, according to the federal government. The government has also announced plans to purchase new fighter jets, and to modernize Norad.

“We applaud those increases,” Smith said. “But of course, again, the expectation is that all allies will have plans in place to meet the two per cent target.”

“Canada is making major contributions across multiple fronts,” Smith also said, citing the country’s efforts in Ukraine and in the Baltic states, and adding she doesn’t want anyone to “underestimate the importance of that type of leadership.”

But, she said, NATO evaluates the commitments from member countries along three lines: its capabilities, its contributions to NATO missions and operations, and cash.

“So yes, Canada is making important contributions to NATO missions, and it's investing in its capabilities, but we do believe that the two per cent target is where countries should land in order to realize the plans that we're about to roll out,” Smith said. “So the two per cent is as important as the contributions to NATO missions and the new capabilities that countries are purchasing.”