Trudeau on a collision course with Trump on security?
The Trudeau liberal government seems increasingly inclined to place Canada on a collision course with the Trump administration on security issues.
During the Presidential election campaign, then candidate, Donald J. Trump, warned that NATO was an obsolete organization and that NATO countries had to start paying their fair share or the U.S. would reconsider its commitment to the alliance. The U.S. currently pays 70 percent of alliance shared costs and only four countries other than the U.S. meet the two percent of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) defense spending objective of the alliance, the U.K., Greece, Estonia, and Poland. On his first visit to NATO, Defense Secretary, Jim Mattis, reaffirmed the U.S. commitment to the alliance, but warned member countries to increase their defense spending to meet the two percent GDP goal. The Mattis visit, was followed by Vice President, Mike Pence’s own visit, where he delivered the very same message. Canada, currently, spends less than one percent of GDP on its defense, at .99 percent. So what does the Trudeau government do to start the process of increased defense spending to meet the two percent goal and show solidarity with the U.S. and our NATO allies? The Trudeau liberals deliver a $200 million in year cut to the Canadian Forces through the last fiscal quarter.
It would be easy for the Trudeau government to argue that it is moving in the right direction and that Rome was not built in a day. It announced an intention to buy F-18 Super Hornet when the U.S. has started to high-lite F-22 and F-35 in not so subtle ways. The Trudeau liberals have thrown open our southern border to anyone from the U.S. who wants to cross and claim refugee status. We have publicized that the gates are open and have let throngs of people banned from the U.S. enter the country as the ‘Dudley Doright’ of the North. The open border to Trump’s north has not gone un-noticed, nor has Canada’s limited defense spending. Sadly, the Canadian government needed to prevent us from becoming Mexico without snow in terms of the border, and they have failed abysmally. What can pass into Canada through our Southern border can flow into the U.S. through its northern border and greater security for the U.S. was a key campaign commitment of President Trump.
U.S. Homeland Secretary, John Kelly, is coming to Canada next week, and he is not coming to Canada for pleasures. When, someone like Secretary Kelly comes to Canada, it is not a good thing, or a sign of happy relations. It is a sign that the U.S. thinks that we are a security concern and we need access to the U.S. for trade and a host of other issues. Let’s truly hope for Canada, and Canadians’ sake, that the government has more in its pocket than a selfie and a promise of future defense spending.
