Canada will continue to keep a tight lid on defence spending, but remains committed to military missions aimed at curbing radicalism abroad, Prime Minister Stephen Harper told an audience in London Wednesday.
Harper made the comments during a discussion at Mansion House in London ahead of a NATO summit that gets underway Thursday.
鈥淐anada will stand by its allies to act鈥� to combat terror threats abroad, he said.
However, Canada is only prepared to offer limited funding to specific missions, despite a request from NATO to boost its defence spending by billions of dollars.
麻豆影视 has learned that 13 Canadian soldiers will be in Ukraine next week for military exercises. Ottawa has also promised financial help to the Iraqi government, but that鈥檚 not likely to satisfy NATO鈥檚 bottom line.
Canada鈥檚 defence spending represents approximately 1 per cent of GDP, while NATO expects its members to spend closer to 2 per cent.
In 2015, Canada鈥檚 military budget is set to shrink to $2.7 billion below what it was 2011.
Harper said countries, like Canada, that are below NATO鈥檚 threshold have agreed to 鈥渁im to spend more going forward.鈥� He noted that the federal government has focused recent defence spending on re-equipping the Canadian Forces.
However, his Conservative government is not going to make funding promises and figure out how to fulfill them later, he said.
鈥淭he bottom line is this: As a Conservative government we have the same philosophy on defence budgeting that we do on any other budgeting, which is we do not go out and just specify a dollar figure and then figure out how to spend it,鈥� Harper said.
鈥淲e go out and figure out what it is we need to do, and then we attempt to get a budget as frugally as possible to achieve those objectives.鈥�
Islamic State extremists in Syria, for example, may not only wage a regional holy war, but could turn the territory it controls between Aleppo and Damascus into a global terrorist training base.
鈥淎nd I don鈥檛 think we can sit still for this,鈥� Harper said. 鈥淣ot that all the actions that we should take are necessarily clear.鈥�
Asked whether Canada will contribute soldiers to an international mission against Islamic State militants, Harper replied: 鈥淲e will be addressing some of those issues in the days to come.鈥�
The Canadian government鈥檚 position remains that, 鈥淲here there is a common threat to ourselves and to our allies鈥� and our allies are willing to act鈥� we鈥檙e also willing to act and prepared to play our full part,鈥� he said. 鈥淎nd so obviously we鈥檙e speaking to our allies about how we can do that and what is the best strategy going forward.鈥�
Reaction from the other sides
NDP finance critic Peggy Nash agreed that Canada should play a role in international crisis response, but said the Harper government had mismanaged the defence budget.
鈥淚t鈥檚 clear that military spending so far has been a record of botched procurement promises with very little results, and very little commitment to our veterans when they return back home,鈥� Nash said on CTV鈥檚 Power Play.
鈥淭he spending that the government has already committed to has a pretty sorry record already, domestically.鈥�
Liberal MP Joyce Murray agreed, accusing the Conservative government of using 鈥渨easel words鈥� to discuss the budget.
鈥淚鈥檇 like (Harper) to explain exactly what he鈥檚 doing, because he鈥檚 losing the trust of Canadians,鈥� she said, adding that the prime minister had reduced military spending further than the Liberal government did in the 1990s.
鈥淭his is essentially a decade of deception in terms of this prime minister鈥檚 and this government鈥檚 relationship with military and armed forces.鈥�
Defending the Conservatives鈥� handling of the military budget, National Defence Parliamentary Secretary James Bezan cited an increase in funds since the government had been in power.
鈥淭he reality is that defence spending has gone up under this government by 27 per cent,鈥� he said.
Bezan also mentioned the purchase of new aircrafts, armored vehicles and tanks.
鈥淥ur men and women in uniform have served us proudly, and we really do appreciate all the work that they do in protecting the interests of Canada at home and abroad.鈥�
In response to the Islamic State
Bezan also said the government needed to continue taking a strong stand against the extremists of the Islamic State
鈥淭hese guys are brutal. They鈥檙e sadistic,鈥� he said. 鈥淚鈥檓 glad that Prime Minister Stephen Harper continues to lead with a very strong, principled approach to these foreign matters.鈥�
In London, Harper took a moment to address the beheading of journalist Steven Sotloff, the second U.S. reporter killed by Islamic State militants in as many weeks.
鈥淭he murder of Steve Sotloff is once again a reminder to us of just how barbaric and brutal this organization鈥� truly is. We鈥檙e obviously outraged,鈥� Harper said.
鈥淭he fact is, this is the tip of the iceberg of the tens of thousands of people who are being treated in this way.鈥�
As Harper was speaking, Foreign Affairs Minister John Baird, accompanied by his opposition critics, was arriving in Iraq for a top-secret visit.
After meeting with Iraqi officials, including President Fuad Masoum and prime minister-designate Haider al-Abadi, Baird pledged some $10 million in equipment and logistics support to Iraqi forces, and another $5 million to help curb the arrival of foreign fighters.
