Carney says Canada will meet 2% NATO spending target by March

Saying that the era of the United States' dominance on the world stage is over, Prime Minister Mark Carney committed his government on Monday to meeting the NATO benchmark target of two per cent of the country's gross domestic product by the end of the current fiscal year in March.

The prime minister outlined his vision of Canada moving more closely toward European allies in a speech in Toronto this morning.

"We stood shoulder to shoulder with the Americans throughout the Cold War and in the decades that followed, as the United States played a dominant role on the world stage. Today, that dominance is a thing of the past," Carney told an audience of foreign policy thinkers, national security officials and defence industry business leaders.

Carney said the world is at a turning point — a hinge moment — and that it's time for Canada to chart its own path.

"The United States is beginning to monetize its hegemony: charging for access to its markets and reducing its relative contributions to our collective security," Carney said.

"In parallel, the world's trade routes, allegiances, energy systems and even intelligence itself are being rewired. Rising great powers are now in strategic competition with America. A new imperialism threatens. Middle powers compete for interests and attention, knowing that if they are not at the table, they will be on the menu."

A senior federal source who spoke to Radio-Canada says the biggest element of Monday's announcement will be the unveiling of a new defence industrial strategy, which will focus on meeting Canada's military through homegrown production.

Carney reiterated pledges made during the election campaign to rearm the Canadian military with new submarines, armoured vehicles, drones and other technology. He provided no additional specifics during the speech.

Military members are also expected to get a pay raise, which the Liberals promised in the last election campaign.

In addition, the Liberal government is expected to fold the Canadian Coast Guard entirely into the Department of National Defence — something other countries do. The coast guard is currently a special operating agency under the Fisheries Department with an annual budget of $2.5 billion.

Federal ministers have been quietly signalling the pathway to a two per cent commitment for the last couple of weeks. 

The former head of NATO, George Robertson, speaking on CBC's Rosemary Baron Live on June 1 said Industry Minister Mélanie Joly had assured him that Canada would reach the alliance goal, which was first agreed upon in 2014, by the end of the year. 

Last week, at NATO headquarters in Brussels, Defence Minister David McGuinty signalled Carney would address Canada's defence spending targets before the upcoming leaders' summit in The Hague.

Hitting the two per cent NATO target would require an investment of between $18 billion and $20 billion.