Harjit Sajjan says NATO spending doesn't measure Canada's true contribution

Defence Minister Harjit Sajjan isn't expecting a giant cheque from Finance Minister Bill Morneauany time soon,even though Canada falls short of NATO's spendingcommitment that each country should spendtwo per cent of GDP on defence

In an interview with CBC Radio's The House, Sajjan said Canada's actions speak louder than its spending percentages.

• Canada ranks 23 out of 28 NATO countries on defence spending

• Canada should boost military spending, former NATO commander says

"We're stepping up in many regards," he told host Chris Hall. "But when it comes to the actual spending, we have a defence review going on. A defence review, and our spending, will be based on the needs for our nation."

New figures released by NATO ahead of this weekend's leaders' summit in Warsaw, Poland, showCanada occupiesthe lower third of NATO membership in terms of defence funding even though the government is planning to spend an additional .01 per cent ofGDPon defence.

To put that in perspective, NATO members have agreed that each nation should spend two per cent of GDP on defence as its annual benchmark. Canada is ranked23out of 28 member countries in the alliance by that measure, positioned between Hungary and Slovenia, whichhas beena source of frustration for some other members of NATO.

When U.S.PresidentBarackObamaspoke to Parliament last month, he called on the Liberalgovernment to meet the NATO measure because, he said, "the world needs more Canada."

Obama: 'The world needs more Canada'

8 years ago

Duration 1:21

Obama: 'The world needs more Canada'

Sajjansaid the two per cent of GDP spending commitment was set up to measure whatnationsspend, but doesn't account for every militaryefforta member state is making.

"If you look atwhat we are deliveringas a nation, we are stepping up from before," he said."Up to 830 troops in Iraq, increasing ournumber of troops and taking a leading role in NATO and we have more work to do in this because the last piece in this is peace keeping."

Ukraine agreement coming

Turning to Canada's new role in Latvia,Sajjan says the eventual goal is to open the dialogue with Russia. To that end,Canada will send a battle group of soldiers to Latvia by early 2017 as part of a NATO plan to counter fears of Russian aggression in eastern Europe.

"Believe it or not, there has been some dialogue [with Russia] and more are scheduled with NATO. I think Russia is also interested in dialogue," Sajjansaid.

After the NATO summit in Poland Prime Minister Justin Trudeauwill head to Ukraine.

Sajjan said Canada is on the cusp of finalizinga defence cooperation agreement with the country, but added Trudeau's trip will be more than just about the agreement.Thedeal would allow for more direct Canadian military and defence industrial support for Ukraine.

"At the end of the day, you want a nation to be more self sufficient and that is what this allows," he said. "It allows Ukraineto have greater access to our resources."