Canadian Defence Minister David McGuinty told reporters at the Farnborough Airshow in the United Kingdom on Monday that there’s “really little daylight” between Canada and the United States on military and intelligence affairs.
McGuinty said: “On the security and intelligence and defence front, from our perspective, there’s really little daylight. We continue to work together continentally. We work domestically and we work internationally at the NATO level.”
He added: “We trust each other. We work together. That will not stop in my view. I don’t think it can stop for Canadians.”
His comments came in response to a question about whether or not the Liberal government would be providing an update on its review of plans to purchase a full-fleet of American-made F-35 fighter jets.
Experts have raised concerns about the fact that Washington will maintain control over key software updates that are vital to keeping the planes operational. Canada has so far committed to purchasing 30 F-35s.
McGuinty said a final decision about whether or not to buy all 88 jets for an estimated lifetime total cost of $74 billion remains under review.
McGuinty’s comments stating that Canada remains closely aligned with the U.S. on military and security affairs come after more than a year of President Donald Trump repeatedly threatening to annex Canada and Greenland, in addition to the U.S. waging a war of aggression against Iran and conducting an illegal kidnapping of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro.
The U.S. has also maintained a brutal oil blockade on Cuba aimed at forcing regime change there, and this past weekend hosted a forum, which Canada attended, urging U.S. allies to treat left-wing “extremism” as a top national security threat.
McGuinty’s comments also came shortly after Trump announced a new 50 per cent tariff on Canadian goods amid strained efforts to renew a free trade agreement between Canada and the U.S. The new tariff will take effect in 30 days.
Polling from the Pew Research Center in June found that just 33 per cent of Canadians view the U.S. favourably, down from 34 per cent in 2025 and 54 per cent in 2024.
