United States President Donald Trump’s Undersecretary of War Elbridge Colby announced yesterday that the Americans will be pausing a joint defence policy board because he claimed Canada “has failed to make credible progress on its defense commitments.”
This is despite the Mark Carney government’s promises to spend an additional $81.8 billion on the military over the next five years and to reach the Trump regime’s demand that all NATO members spend 5 per cent of their GDPs on the military by 2035.
For Canada, that figure amounts to $150 billion in annual spending on the military and related infrastructure.
Writing on X, Colby said: “A strong Canada that prioritizes hard power over rhetoric benefits us all. Unfortunately, Canada has failed to make credible progress on its defense commitments. DoW is pausing the Permanent Joint Board on Defense to reassess how this forum benefits shared North American defense.”
“We can no longer avoid the gaps between rhetoric and reality. Real powers must sustain our rhetoric with shared defense and security responsibilities,” he added, including a link to Prime Minister Mark Carney’s speech at Davos in January, in which he spoke of the fading “rules based order.”
The Permanent Joint Board on Defense was established during the Second World War in 1940 and constitutes a key piece of Canada’s deep military integration with the U.S.
In addition to demanding that Canada hike its military spending, the Americans are also aggressively lobbying Canada to purchase a full fleet of U.S.-made F-35 fighter jets, a procurement that has raised concerns because Washington will retain ultimate control over key software updates for the jets.
Emma Paling
Meanwhile, Carney has given halting support to the U.S. and Israel’s unprovoked war on Iran, and Canada has committed to offering support to U.S. allies in the Gulf region that were affected by Iran’s defensive strikes.
Since taking office last year, Trump has repeatedly threatened to turn Canada into the “51st” American state.
White House officials also reportedly met with leaders from Alberta’s separatist movement, allegedly discussing the feasibility of providing an independent Alberta with a $500 billion line of credit.
Despite these moves against Canada’s sovereignty, the Carney government has announced no plans of its own to suspend any military accords with the U.S.
In an interview with Al Jazeera broadcast on May 17, Foreign Affairs Minister Anita Anand said:
“Our defense and security of North America are deeply integrated. Our people-to-people ties are so very strong and longstanding. We do have a very close relationship with the United States. And we need to keep working to address some of the outstanding issue.”
