OTTAWA -- NATOās Secretary General is not denying that Prime Minister Justin Trudeau privately told the alliance Canada will never meet a defence spending target of two per cent of GDP.
āIām talking and Iām consulting and Iām meeting with heads of state and government, prime ministers and presidents, across the lines almost every week,ā Jens Stoltenberg said in a Canadian exclusive interview on CTVās Power Play with Vassy Kapelos Tuesday. "Thereās no way I can continue to sit down, discuss, with them if I start to report from each and every of those conversations.ā
NATO allies ā including Canada ā agreed in 2014 to a target of two per cent of GDP on defence spending. Canada spent 1.29 per cent of its GDP on defence in 2022, according to NATOās annual report.
Stoltenbergās comments come after The Washington Post reported on April 19 the prime minister privately told NATO officials Canada will never meet the two per cent target. The reporting is based on U.S. intelligence.
At the time of that report, the prime minister also didnāt deny it but insisted, āI continue to say and will always say that Canada is a reliable partner to NATO, a reliable partner around the world.ā
STOLTENBERG EXPECTS CANADA WILL AGREE TO NEW TARGET
Power Play host Vassy Kapelos asked Stoltenberg twice whether Trudeau specifically admitted to him Canada will not reach its spending targets. Stoltenberg did not deny the comments were made both times he was asked.
He said the alliance is in the process of working on a new defence spending target for NATOās upcoming July summit in Vilnius, Lithuania. Stoltenberg has previously said he wants NATO members to see two per cent of GDP as the āfloorā and not the āceilingā.
āCanada will be part of that agreement,ā he said, āI also expect Canada to deliver on the agreement we will make.ā
You can watch Vassy Kapelosās Canadian exclusive interview with Jens Stoltenberg in the video at the top of this article.
