Quebec political, business leaders backing Montreal’s bid to host NATO defence bank
Global News
Montreal is the latest Canadian city vying to host the proposed International Defence, Security and Resilience Bank, with Quebec’s premier backing the bid.
Montreal has become the latest Canadian city to put its name forward to become the global headquarters for the proposed International Defence, Security and Resilience Bank (DSRB).
Quebec Premier François Legault and other government officials joined with Montreal business and political leaders on Friday to bolster the city’s candidacy to become the bank’s new home.
“We shouldn’t be ashamed to say: Montreal is the place, the destination,” Legault said Friday, adding the Quebec government is ready to invest in such a project. “We are ready to calculate a contribution based on the economic benefits. We obviously expect (Prime Minister) Mark Carney to do the same.”
The Defence, Security and Resilience Bank says it will be a multilateral bank owned exclusively by nation-states and designed to help “like-minded allies and partners finance their capabilities for the defence, security, and resilience of the democratic world.”
Spearheaded by NATO countries, the bank is meant to reduce borrowing costs for military spending by pooling credit strength.
The founding countries must first decide on which country will end up hosting the bank before a city will be chosen. In Canada, Toronto and Vancouver are also actively lobbying to host the bank’s headquarters and Ottawa has also been mentioned as a potential landing spot.
“The world has become uncertain,” Legault said. “It’s not for nothing that countries are investing heavily in defence because they feel that perhaps American protection is less certain than it once was.”
There are also several international contenders for the bank’s headquarters, which is expected to generate an estimated 3,500 well-paying jobs.
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