By Harinder Mahil
Prime Minister Mark Carney has committed that Canada will invest five per cent of GDP on defence by 2035, a pledge that will mean billions more in spending per year and the biggest increase since the Second World War. This pledge was made to appease Donald Trump.
President Trump called this outcome “a monumental win for the United States,” and claimed credit for putting pressure on alliance members to increase their defense spending.
This increase in defence spending is designed to line the pockets of arms-industry executives and their shareholders. However, they do little to help defend NATO countries or their citizens.
Earlier this month, Carney had announced that Canada would spend an additional $9.3 billion on defence spending and meet NATO’s previous target of two percent this fiscal year, after years of pressure to do so. Up until then, Canada had never hit that mark despite its 2014 pledge to do so. It is expected that the Canadian government will spend about $62 billion on defence this year.
Carney stated in an interview with CNN that five per cent of Canada’s GDP currently equates to $150 billion annually. It is likely to be much more by 2035.
Where will the additional funds come from? There are two choices: increase taxes on Canadians or cut spending from other areas such as transfer payments to provinces -funds that are needed for health, education and other social services.
According to some estimates, in 2024 NATO spent $1.5 trillion on the military – more than half of global military spending. If NATO members spend 3.5 percent by 2030, that would mean a total of $13.4 trillion in military expenditure. This is a huge sum of money. It is enough to provide a cash bonus of $1,674 to every person on the planet.
Social spending is already on the chopping block. In February, the UK government announced it would reduce its foreign aid budget to 0.3 percent of GDP to pay for military spending increases – a year after it won an election committing to increase foreign aid. Many European countries followed suit, announcing aid cuts of 25 to 37 percent. The United States, under Trump, has decimated its overseas aid and reduced healthcare funding while proposing a record $1 trillion expenditure on the Pentagon.
What is NATO’s justification for increased defence spending? It says the increase is needed to confront the threats of “Russia” and “terrorism”. Yet there is no rationale behind the 5 percent target or details on why threats to NATO have so drastically increased. It is 5 percent because Donald Trump said so.
It is true that Russia has increased military spending, but it still spends 10 times less than NATO. Nor could it catch up militarily with NATO’s 32-strong alliance, given its economy: $2 trillion in 2024 (nominal GDP), compared with $26 trillion for non-US NATO countries and $29 trillion for the US alone.
This increase in defence spending is taking place when according to the most recent estimates, in 2024 almost 700 million people around the world were subsisting on less than $2.15 per day. For nearly 700 million people living in extreme poverty worldwide is a harsh reality.
My question to Mr. Carney and the Canadian government: why are you doing it when it only enriches the arms industry and its executives?
Harinder Mahil is a human rights activist and is secretary of Dr. Hari Sharma Foundation.
