Canada isn’t back, but don’t worry, it was never here to begin with. A Wall Street Journal editorial that mocked Ottawa for being a NATO free rider by contributing only 1.38 per cent of GDP to defence spending was entertaining, suggesting as it did that Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s view is that the “military is more of a social project than fighting force.” Some modest social media excitement notwithstanding, the editorial didn’t tell us much new, though it did highlight that the lofty way in which Canada views itself does not match how it is seen outside the country.
