Inarguably bigger and more seasoned than it was when it was born from the ashes of the Second World War, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization — the West’s great military alliance — celebrated a milestone Thursday: three-quarters of a century of keeping the peace in Europe.
NATO formally came into being with the signing of the Washington Treaty in the U.S. capital 75 years ago, when 12 western democracies — including Canada — banded together against what they saw as Soviet Russia’s expansionism in Europe.
Its creation helped to inaugurate the Cold War and, six years later, brought about the creation of the rival Warsaw Pact of communist countries, led by the Soviet Union.
The contest between those two alliances brought the world to the brink of nuclear war on several occasions, notably in October 1962 and November 1983.
NATO now faces multiple external and internal challenges — ranging from a resurgent Russia to the possibility of Donald Trump regaining the White House and pulling the United States out of the alliance.
Canada was one of the founding members of NATO and pushed at the time to make it a political and economic forum as well as a military alliance.
But while Canada still contributes to and plays important roles within NATO, Ottawa has appeared increasingly off-side with its NATO allies on the political and policy issues of defence spending and preparation.
That has led some allies and critics to wonder whether Canada’s influence inside NATO is on the wane.
Sweden as the model NATO nation
There are more voices around the table now, bringing with them a new dynamic. Sweden’s accession to NATO after two centuries of neutrality offers a good example of that.
Formally admitted in February, the Nordic country, with one-quarter of Canada’s population, came through the door with a well-equipped military three-quarters the size of the Canadian military — proportionally larger, in other words. Sweden also has a firm plan to meet the alliance’s national benchmark for military spending — two per cent of GDP — and a well-organized civil defence structure.
Canadian soldiers take part in NATO military exercises at a training ground in Kadaga, Latvia on Sept. 13, 2021. (Roman Koksarov/The Associated Press)
Canada, meanwhile, struggles to recruit and manage aging fleets of military equipment and hasn’t even begun to wrap its head around civil defence preparedness and resilience in the face of war and unrest beyond our borders.
Gen. Wayne Eyre, the outgoing chief of the defence staff, has used almost every one of his appearances before House of Commons committees to warn about what might happen next on the international stage, and to draw attention to the declining readiness of his own troops.
“I will tell you that the military we have today is not the military that we need for the threats that are appearing in the future,” Eyre told the House of Commons committee on public safety and national security on Oct. 6, 2022.
WATCH: Gen. Wayne Eyre warns of ‘deteriorating’ global security climate
Canada’s top soldier worried about ‘deteriorating security situation’ worldwide
5 months ago
Duration 0:45
Chief of the Defence Staff Gen. Wayne Eyre says Canada must be ready to respond to global crises that will impact the country directly. ‘The study of our military history could almost be considered a study in unpreparedness,’ he told CBC’s Hannah Thibedeau.
With war raging in Ukraine, European NATO members are increasingly nervous. Some nations have reintroduced conscription and have directed the construction of bomb shelters.
“We need to understand, as a society, that war and fighting is not only something of the military. I think a nation needs to understand that when it comes to a war, as we see in Ukraine, it is a whole-of-society event,” said Dutch Admiral Rob Bauer, who heads the NATO Military Committee.
“The issue is that Russia has larger ambitions than Ukraine. We know that. And therefore, the alliance as a whole needs to be ‘readier.'”
But Canadian military readiness has declined substantially, as CBC News reported last month. If NATO declared an emergency tomorrow, only 58 per cent of army, navy and air force units designated to respond would be in any shape to do so.
An internal Department of National Defence presentation shows that 45 per cent of Canadian military equipment set aside for the defence of Europe faces “challenges” and is considered “unavailable and unserviceable.”
Canada’s allies have taken notice, said the country’s former ambassador to NATO.
“We won’t get kicked out of NATO, but when you make a point at the North Atlantic Council table, your voice carries less weight because you need to put your money where your mouth is,” said Kerry Buck. She said Canada’s silence on how it plans to meet the organization’s defence spending target is undermining its clout in the alliance.
Canada currently spends the equivalent of 1.38 per cent of its GDP on defence, putting it sixth from the bottom in a list of all 32 NATO members in terms of military spending.
Neither the governing Liberals nor the opposition Conservatives have laid out firm plans to meet the target. Both parties have said only that Canada will work toward it.
The ‘quadrant of shame’
The pressure on Canada has only increased since Trump vowed that, if he becomes U.S. president again, he would not protect NATO allies that don’t meet the target and would encourage Russia to “do whatever the hell they want” to countries he considers delinquent.
“We’re the only ally, the lone ally that sits in that quadrant of shame where we don’t either meet the two per cent of GDP … target and we don’t meet the target of 20 per cent of our defence spending on research and development and equipment procurement,” said Buck.
“So it hits us politically, it makes us a target when the whole alliance is rowing towards this goal of two per cent because they recognize that the world is a more dangerous place. And then there’s Canada sitting there, not doing that.”
It is a curious place for Canada to find itself. Liberal Prime Minister Lester B. Pearson helped to shape the alliance’s founding charter to include a clause that made NATO more than just a military alliance but also a forum for political and economic dialogue among like-minded allies.
Prime Minister Lester B. Pearson with U.S. President Lyndon Johnson at a joint news conference at Uplands Airport in Ottawa at the end of Johnson’s whirlwind visit to Canada in May, 1967. (Canadian Press)
University of Toronto historian Tim Sayle said that, given what Canada spent in blood and treasure in two world wars, the postwar generation of political leaders in Ottawa was determined to ensure Canada had a say in matters of war and peace.
“In the late 1940s, with the possibility of [another] war looming, Canadian officials were not ready to leave that decision for war to others without at least having their say and trying to influence things,” he said.
“And so the Canadian experience fighting alongside the Americans and the British and the Second World War had convinced them that sometimes Canadian wisdom should be a part of the conversation, that Canadians needed to be at the table.”
‘No tanks, no trade’
Former Canadian diplomat Colin Robertson said Canada has for decades demonstrated an aptitude for navigating the political and economic waters at NATO and can do so again, even with a bigger alliance.
In the 1970s, detente with Soviet Russia was in the air. A new Liberal government and a new generation had grown skeptical of NATO and had reduced Canada’s contingent in Europe. At the same time, the government of Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau was courting trade with West Germany under Chancellor Helmut Schmidt.
Schmidt forced Trudeau to reconsider his government’s position on military spending, said Robertson.
“Schmidt said to Trudeau, ‘No tanks, no trade,'” he said.
“And so at that point,” he added, “Pierre Trudeau says, ‘OK, this NATO really does have value.'” And he boosted the defence budget and bought German Leopard tanks.
“We sometimes forget this,” Robertson said.
Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau addresses the Senate Chamber in June, 1974. To his left is NATO Secretary General Joseph Luns. (NATO)
Retired general Ray Henault, a former chief of the defence staff, said Canada’s clout at NATO has often derived from what it contributes in troops and equipment, rather than what it spends on defence. He pointed out that Canadian troops spent more than 12 years in Afghanistan, much of the time under the NATO flag.
Its leadership and ongoing efforts to build a NATO brigade in Latvia to deter possible future Russian attacks is a another good example of what Canada still brings to the NATO table, he said.
The political and economic dialogue about Canada’s contribution is still important, said Henault, but it’s not everything.
“I still support that NATO target, but I don’t think it detracts from the respect and the high regard which Canada and its military has held in the NATO forum, not by any means,” said Henault, who served as Canada’s last head of the NATO Military Committee in the early 2000s.
WATCH: How Canada lost its NATO edge
How Canada lost its NATO edge
11 hours ago
Duration 7:58
Seventy-five years after helping found the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), Canada is now openly chastised over its defence spending and commitment. CBC’s Murray Brewster examines how the country lost its edge in alliance and what it would take to turn it around.
Quebec legislature member Youri Chassin has announced he’s leaving the Coalition Avenir Québec government to sit as an Independent.
He announced the decision shortly after writing an open letter criticizing Premier François Legault’s government for abandoning its principles of smaller government.
In the letter published in Le Journal de Montréal and Le Journal de Québec, Chassin accused the party of falling back on what he called the old formula of throwing money at problems instead of looking to do things differently.
Chassin says public services are more fragile than ever, despite rising spending that pushed the province to a record $11-billion deficit projected in the last budget.
He is the second CAQ member to leave the party in a little more than one week, after economy and energy minister Pierre Fitzgibbon announced Sept. 4 he would leave because he lost motivation to do his job.
Chassin says he has no intention of joining another party and will instead sit as an Independent until the end of his term.
He has represented the Saint-Jérôme riding since the CAQ rose to power in 2018, but has not served in cabinet.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 12, 2024.
MONTREAL – NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh says he will not be taking advice from Pierre Poilievre after the Conservative leader challenged him to bring down government.
“I say directly to Pierre Poilievre: I’m not going to listen to you,” said Singh on Wednesday, accusing Poilievre of wanting to take away dental-care coverage from Canadians, among other things.
“I’m not going to listen to your advice. You want to destroy people’s lives, I want to build up a brighter future.”
Earlier in the day, Poilievre challenged Singh to commit to voting non-confidence in the government, saying his party will force a vote in the House of Commons “at the earliest possibly opportunity.”
“I’m asking Jagmeet Singh and the NDP to commit unequivocally before Monday’s byelections: will they vote non-confidence to bring down the costly coalition and trigger a carbon tax election, or will Jagmeet Singh sell out Canadians again?” Poilievre said.
“It’s put up or shut up time for the NDP.”
While Singh rejected the idea he would ever listen to Poilievre, he did not say how the NDP would vote on a non-confidence motion.
“I’ve said on any vote, we’re going to look at the vote and we’ll make our decision. I’m not going to say our decision ahead of time,” he said.
Singh’s top adviser said on Tuesday the NDP leader is not particularly eager to trigger an election, even as the Conservatives challenge him to do just that.
Anne McGrath, Singh’s principal secretary, says there will be more volatility in Parliament and the odds of an early election have risen.
“I don’t think he is anxious to launch one, or chomping at the bit to have one, but it can happen,” she said in an interview.
New Democrat MPs are in a second day of meetings in Montreal as they nail down a plan for how to navigate the minority Parliament this fall.
The caucus retreat comes one week after Singh announced the party has left the supply-and-confidence agreement with the governing Liberals.
It’s also taking place in the very city where New Democrats are hoping to pick up a seat on Monday, when voters go to the polls in Montreal’s LaSalle—Émard—Verdun. A second byelection is being held that day in the Winnipeg riding of Elmwood—Transcona, where the NDP is hoping to hold onto a seat the Conservatives are also vying for.
While New Democrats are seeking to distance themselves from the Liberals, they don’t appear ready to trigger a general election.
Singh signalled on Tuesday that he will have more to say Wednesday about the party’s strategy for the upcoming sitting.
He is hoping to convince Canadians that his party can defeat the federal Conservatives, who have been riding high in the polls over the last year.
Singh has attacked Poilievre as someone who would bring back Harper-style cuts to programs that Canadians rely on, including the national dental-care program that was part of the supply-and-confidence agreement.
The Canadian Press has asked Poilievre’s office whether the Conservative leader intends to keep the program in place, if he forms government after the next election.
With the return of Parliament just days away, the NDP is also keeping in mind how other parties will look to capitalize on the new makeup of the House of Commons.
The Bloc Québécois has already indicated that it’s written up a list of demands for the Liberals in exchange for support on votes.
The next federal election must take place by October 2025 at the latest.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 11, 2024.
Montreal Mayor Valérie Plante is defending her decision to turn off comments on her social media accounts — with an announcement on social media.
She posted screenshots to X this morning of vulgar names she’s been called on the platform, and says comments on her posts for months have been dominated by insults, to the point that she decided to block them.
Montreal’s Opposition leader and the Canadian Civil Liberties Association have criticized Plante for limiting freedom of expression by restricting comments on her X and Instagram accounts.
They say elected officials who use social media should be willing to hear from constituents on those platforms.
However, Plante says some people may believe there is a fundamental right to call someone offensive names and to normalize violence online, but she disagrees.
Her statement on X is closed to comments.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 11, 2024.
