Canada responds to Trump’s musings on NATO: ‘We’re stepping up’

OTTAWA — Donald Trump’s comments that, if elected president, the U.S. wouldn’t automatically come to the aid of allies are “not helpful,” Canada’s defence minister says.

The Republican nominee caused a stir this week when he said some NATO members aren’t spending enough on defence, and are instead relying on the U.S. to protect them. That would change if he’s elected, Trump told the New York Times.

“We’re talking about countries that are doing very well,” he said.

“I would absolutely be prepared to tell those countries, ‘Congratulations, you will be defending yourself.’”

While Trump appeared to be directing his comments at European allies, Canada spends less than one per cent of its gross domestic product on defence. That is half the NATO target and puts Canada near the back of the pack among the alliance’s 28 members.

In an interview with The Canadian Press Thursday, Defence Minister Harjit Sajjan defended Canada’s military contributions and NATO. He pointed to Canada’s recent promise to lead a NATO force in Latvia and its role in the fight against the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant as proof the country is pulling its weight.

“We’re stepping up in a much bigger way,” Sajjan said. “When you put everything together, we have nothing to be embarrassed about. In fact, we actually can be very proud of the fact of how much we’re doing.”

Article 5 of the NATO treaty enshrines the concept of collective defence, in which an attack on one member is an attack on all. The only time it was invoked was after the terrorist attacks on Sept. 11, 2001, which led to the war in Afghanistan.

Some Eastern European members have worried Article 5 will not be honoured if Russia takes action against them.

Trump’s comments have the potential to stoke fresh concerns about the alliance’s unity, particularly as it faces a new Cold War with Russia.

Sajjan said collective defence is central to the alliance, which itself has been instrumental in helping bring peace and stability to Europe and other parts of the world.

“So those comments that are made are not helpful,” Sajjan said. “But I understand there’s an election campaign and that’ll take its course.”

Sajjan was speaking from Washington, where defence and foreign affairs ministers spent the past two days talking about the campaign against ISIL — and what will come after.

The immediate challenge is the liberation of Mosul, Iraq’s secondlargest city, which ISIL, also known as ISIS or Daesh, has occupied since June 2014.

The minister announced in Washington that Canada will send up to 60 military personnel to lead a nearby field hospital in support of the Mosul assault. That is in addition to the 200 special forces troops already in the area, many of whom are training Kurdish peshmerga forces in preparation for the attack on Mosul.

Sajjan would not comment on the role Canadian troops would play when the Mosul assault begins, citing operational security.