Canada to review calculations on military spending

OTTAWA — Defence Minister Harjit Sajjan said he has ordered officials to look at how Canada calculates military spending compared to other NATO members, to ensure all allies are comparing “apples to apples.”

“We have to be cognizant that different nations use a different formula,” Sajjan told the House of Commons defence committee on Thursday. “So right now the deputy minister is working with our closest partners to look at exactly the formula that they were using so we can have a good comparison.”

The comments come as Canada and other NATO allies are facing pressure from the Trump administration in Washington to increase defence spending. While all NATO members agreed in 2014 to work toward spending two per cent of their gross domestic product, or GDP, on defence, only five have reached that goal.

Canada is not one of them, and is actually near the back of the pack. It currently spends less than one per cent of GDP on defence, which ranks it 23rd among 28 NATO members.

Sajjan would not say whether the government is actually prepared to change its defence-spending math to include such items as the coast guard and veterans programs, like the U.S. and other NATO allies.

“But at the same time, we do need to look at what our closest allies are actually using so that we can then compare apples to apples in terms of that commitment,” he said after the meeting.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau appeared to all but dismiss the two per cent target during a visit to Germany last month.