Trudeau insists Canada spending enough on defence

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says Canada hasn’t committed to spending new money on defence, despite U.S. President Donald Trump’s comments that he convinced NATO allies to dramatically hike spending.

Instead, Trudeau said at the wrap of the summit in Brussels that Canada has reaffirmed its commitment to work toward contributing two per cent of its gross domestic product to military spending — the military alliance’s benchmark —and reverse any cuts.

Trudeau said Canada has been “taking the right approach” on defence spending, pointing to the Liberals’ plans to increase the defence budget by 70 per cent over the next decade to $32.7 billion.

“The president has been consistent that he wants to see people spending more on defence in their countries and we are very pleased we are doing that,” Trudeau told reporters.

“We’ll always step up, with cash yes but also with commitments and capacity. That’s what NATO is looking for.”

Trudeau went into the summit saying Canada was not prepared to double its defence budget to meet the NATO target.

New figures released by the military alliance just ahead of the summit show Canada only hits 1.23 per cent of GDP.

Trump said Thursday he had convinced NATO allies to increase defence spending to meet the alliance’s benchmark and perhaps go higher.

He spoke at the closing of the two-day summit, which was punctuated with insults, arguments and high drama behind closed doors.

“It all came together in the end,” Trump said.

He went into the meeting questioning the value of the 70-year-old institution, but came out extolling its solidarity and the willingness of leaders to co-operate, work together and bow to his wishes.