Prime Minister Mark Carney has pledged to meet Canada’s NATO obligation to invest two per cent of GDP in defence by the end of the year. But at a time of growing political instability, it’s important to remember that soldiers are not the only ones protecting Canada.
Working in the shadows, Canada has a civilian army of more than 6,400 intelligence practitioners in the Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS) and the Canadian Security Establishment (CSE) — both with headquarters in Ottawa, where most of their staff are — working around the clock to keep us safe. Unfortunately, according to a Public Safety Canada survey in 2021, 54 per cent of Canadians don’t know what they do. Also, despite the vital role they play in Canada’s defence, their budgets are not included in NATO’s calculation of Canada’s defence spending.
