Re: NATO

by **Accer** Wed 19 Apr 2023, 5:18 pm

U.S. report claims Trudeau told NATO Canada will never meet its military spending target

Alexander Panetta · CBC News · Posted: Apr 19, 2023

CBC News

by Covert Fri 21 Apr 2023, 7:24 am

'A perfect example of what not to do': ex-U. S. envoy on PM's reported NATO comments

Published April 21, 2023

The Canadian Press

by Firefox Fri 30 Jun 2023, 11:24 am

U.K. defence secretary urges Canada to hit NATO military spending target

Murray Brewster · CBC News · Posted: Jun 29, 2023

CBC News

by Tracker Fri 15 Sep 2023, 11:27 am

Sep 15, 2023 ĀDAŽI MUNICIPALITY

Every army in NATO has its own field ration, commonly known as MREs (meals-ready-to-eat). While perhaps not the height of culinary expression, these rations give soldiers the calories they need to power through a hard day in the field. From Ally to Ally, their contents differ in small, interesting ways.

Watch a Canadian and Slovenian soldier swap their ration packs at NATO’s multinational battlegroup in Latvia. There’s a lot of beef on the menu, from jerky to goulash and ravioli, with some Tabasco sauce on offer for that extra heat!

The multinational battlegroup in Latvia is led by Canada and has troops from 10 other Allied countries, including Albania, Czechia, Iceland, Italy, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Poland, Slovakia, Slovenia and Spain. Our participants are Canadian Army Master Corporal Michael Vernon and Slovenian Army Private Teja Tropan.

by **Joker** Thu 07 Mar 2024, 6:16 am

State of Canadian Armed Forces' combat readiness growing worse, government report warns

Department of National Defence report also says almost half of military's equipment is 'unserviceable'

Murray Brewster · CBC News · Posted: Mar 07, 2024

CBC News

by Jackson Today at 6:27 am

Canada could exceed NATO’s defence spending target after approval of planned projects, Blair says

May 10, 2024

Canada’s Defence Minister Bill Blair said he’s confident Canada will eventually exceed NATO’s defence spending target once planned submarine and missile projects are approved.

Speaking after meeting with the German Defence Minister in Ottawa ahead of the July NATO summit, Mr. Blair said he wanted to assure allies that Canada’s defence spending is on the rise. Just last week, however, he said it has been difficult to convince his cabinet colleagues of the merits of increasing it to 2 per cent of Canada’s gross domestic product, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization’s goal.

The Canadian Global Affairs Institute estimated in April that Canada’s defence spending sits at 1.33 per cent of the country’s GDP. The most recent defence policy shows the government expects that will increase to 1.76 per cent by 2029-30.

Mr. Blair said the country will soon need to replace an aging submarine fleet and improve air defence systems, but these expenses were not included in the defence budget projections released in April.

He added that Canada remains committed to defending the Arctic and the North Atlantic, and being present and effective in the Indo-Pacific.

“All of those things are going to require additional investments,” Mr. Blair said.

In 2014, Canada and other NATO countries committed to spending 2 per cent of their GDP on defence and 20 per cent of their defence budget on equipment. Canada is the only country in the alliance that did not meet either commitment by March 2024, a report by the Canadian Global Affairs Institute shows.

“I want to acknowledge our new defence policy does not quite get us to 2 per cent,” Mr. Blair said, “but it’s a remarkable new investment in defence. Our defence budget next year over this year is going to rise by 27 per cent.”

Germany’s Minister of Defence, Boris Pistorius, said he has “no reason at all” to complain about Canada’s engagement as a military partner.

“We have all the same challenges in our domestic politics. We need to find money. We need to find personnel. We need to increase our production capacities as industries,” he said. “Everyone is working as hard as possible to face the challenges and to solve the problem.”

Germany reached the NATO target this year – the first time Germany has spent 2 per cent of its gross domestic product on defence since the 1990s, Mr. Pistorius said. “I’m absolutely convinced that 2 per cent can only be the floor but not the ceiling.”

Almost two-thirds of Canadians believe the country should increase its defence spending to meet the 2 per cent target, according to a Nanos Research survey commissioned by The Globe and Mail. (The poll is based on phone surveys of more than 1,000 randomly selected Canadians between Feb. 28 and March 2. It has a margin of error of plus or minus 3.0 percentage points, 19 times out of 20.)

The Globe and Mail

by Sponsored content