NATO

… The laggards include several of NATO’s, and the world’s, wealthiest nations — among them Canada, Italy and Spain. The economic output of those three countries alone is nearly triple that of Russia. Yet each remains far from meeting NATO’s target of spending 2 percent of gross domestic product annually on defense — a goal all member countries agreed nearly a decade ago to reach by next year. What’s more, the alliance now regards that spending level as a minimum to address the mounting perils it faces.

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Lester B. Pearson — Canada’s 14th prime minister, Nobel Peace Prize winner and Liberal icon — is most likely spinning in his grave this week.

For a number of reasons.

You probably know him as the venerated, even celebrated, architect of peacekeeping, that cherished instrument of Canadian political and foreign policy, which in the current global context seems quaint and uncomplicated.

So Pearson infected NATO with the period’s version of WOKE.  I always said he was a communist.

OTTAWA – NATO allies are twisting Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s arm to step up and invest more in defence. The Wall Street Journal on Thursday slammed Canada as a “military free-rider in NATO” in a scathing editorial, calling its contribution to the alliance, currently estimated at 1.29 per cent of its GDP, “pathetic.”

They all might be surprised to learn that the man who hopes to replace him, Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre, hasn’t committed to achieving NATO’s spending targets of two per cent of GDP if he replaces Trudeau as prime minister.

As NATO leaders meet in Vilnius this week, the big news is that Sweden is finally going to join the club. After over a year of resistance, Turkey dropped its opposition and agreed to let the Nordic national become the 32nd member of the defense pact. Sweden isn’t over the finish line yet but is expected to finalize its status soon, adding additional heft together with NATO’s other new member, Finland.

According to a newspaper, not this one, as Prime Minister Justin Trudeau attends the NATO summit in Vilnius, Lithuania, this week “pressure will be on” to make a meaningful contribution to the alliance. Pressure being a colourless, odourless gas whose only known effect is to cause journalists to write headlines.

We’ve been free-riding on American defence spending since Trudeau Sr. scorned “pressure” to be less of a frivolous peacenik. No matter who’s in power, usually the Liberals, we never reached our oft-promised 2 percent of GDP on defence, mostly because we never tried. Nor will we.

Britain’s defence secretary delivered a polite but pointed reminder Thursday of NATO’s expectations of its member states — including Canada — when it comes to defence spending.

And Ben Wallace did it in front of his Canadian counterpart, Defence Minister Anita Anand.

The two met in London as part of Anand’s visit to the United Kingdom this week ahead of the July 11-12 NATO leaders’ summit in Vilnius — where the issue of defence investments is expected to be a major topic of discussion.

NATO is currently wrapping up its largest-ever air defence exercise, and Canada is notably absent.

The 11-day event, Air Defender 23, is taking place in the skies over Germany. Twenty-five nations are participating – 23 NATO members, one NATO hopeful (Sweden) and Japan. More than 250 aircraft and 10,000 troops are involved. Planning began four years ago, after Russia’s first invasion of Ukraine in 2014.