Mark Carney presented his election program [Carney zastąpił na stanowisku premiera Justina Trudeau, który podał się do dymisji, ale 28 kwietnia br. w kraju mają się odbyć wybory parlamentarne]emphasizing new military expenses and Strengthening Canada in connection with the expansionist vision of Donald Trump. “In this crisis we must prepare for American threats to our sovereignty. They want our land, our resources, want our water, want our country,” he said on Saturday morning in the suburbs of Toronto.
“President Trump is trying to break us so that America can possess us, but it will never happen. Canada is not America and it will never be, but we have to do more to confirm it. We need a plan to deal with this new reality.”
If the liberals win the fourth term, Carney claims that his government will spend $ 30.9 billion. Canadian [83 mld 990 mln 62 tys. zł] to defend in the next four years and will achieve the goal of NATO defense expenditure in the amount of two percent. GDP until 2030 – two years earlier than according to current findings. In 2024, Canada spent 1.37 percent GDP for defense, much below the target.
A significant part of new expenses will be used to strengthen the Canadian North to stop China's influence, which are trying to interact with native communities in the Arctic.
“North stands in the face of existential threats, because countries are trying to use new shipping routes open by climate change, exploit our key minerals and violate our boundaries” – we read in the plan. “We will keep Canada strong, free and sovereign.”
Half of the expenses will be allocated to new military equipment and weapons for the Canadian armed forces, such as submarines and icebreakers for monitoring and coastal protection, including in the Arctic, before Russian and Chinese aggression. This also includes new drones in the seas and heaven.
The plan provides for three tranches of expenses:
The first will be allocated to the recruitment of new members to the Canadian armed forces, wage increases for military staff and new residential premises in the bases.
The second will finance new equipment for soldiers and soldiers, such as self -propelled Artillery systems and ground air defense capabilities for use in Canada or for distribution in Europe. The liberal government has previously announced that it cooperates with Australia to develop early warning radar defense systems.
The third pool of expenses will be allocated to quantum calculations and artificial intelligence, a field in which Canada leads in research. The army can use artificial intelligence in autonomous vehicles, war games and processing intelligence, explained a liberal party clerk during a briefing before the program was published.
The party said that it would cooperate with native infrastructure partners and build communities and energy projects in the north, which will make Arctic a place where people want to live and work. Carney also promised cooperation with Europe in the field of Arctic safety.
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Defense expenses priority in Canada. “I will tell the Americans …”
His main political rival, the leader of the Conservative Party Pierre Poilievre, also promised to defend a priority if he won the election on April 28.
On Friday, his party revealed more details of the plan, which promises the modernization of Norad [Dowództwa Obrony Północnoamerykańskiej Przestrzeni Powietrznej] And a new permanent arctic military base in IQalit, the capital and the largest community in Nunavut. The party also promises to build another base in Inuvik, about 125 miles [200 km] North of the Arctic Circle in Canadian north-west territories to allow “quick capture of Russian and Chinese attacks.”
At the beginning of this month, in the NATO headquarters, the secretary of state Marco Rubio said that he expected that members of the military alliance would undertake to “increase expenses up to five percent”.
“If the threats are really as serious as I think they are – and members of this alliance believe that they are – these threats should be faced through a full and real commitment to have the ability to face them,” Rubio told Rubio to journalists in Brussels before meeting the Secretary of NATO Marek Rutte, which took place on April 3.
Asked the next day about the goal that Rubio pointed out, Pailievre said that Canada would decide “how much we would spend” on its army. – I will tell the Americans that if we manage to quickly end this absurd commercial dispute in a way that protects our sovereignty, which will end duties, I will devote all the influence of this additional trade to the reconstruction of our armed forces for a change – he promised.
The Canadian Press / PAP
The leader of the Conservative Party Pierre Poilievre during the election campaign at the Grimsby Training Center, April 11, 2025.
“Unjustified and reckless trade war”
Liberals said that their program was designed to protect Canada's sovereignty and culture against the United States and “unjustified trade war” by Trump, which Carney described as an attempt to weaken Canada.
– The American unjustified and reckless trade war threatens Canadian labor places, companies and our lifestyle. In the face of this threat, we have a plan to build the strongest economy in the G7 group, said Carney.
The plan also focuses on breaking the trade barriers between Canada provinces to help balance Trump's customs, providing support for the agricultural sector, which is located in the middle of the trade war with the USA and China, and developing the supply chain of the automotive sector in Ontario, the province in which 500,000 are at risk. jobs.
The party also wants to build new trade relations with Europe and Asia, while taking into account new trade agreements with the Union Mercosur, a South American regional alliance of economic integration, and ASEAN, a regional group of 10 countries of Southeast Asia.
While Carney plans to increase defense expenses, he also said that the liberal government would reduce expenses, mainly as part of the Federal Public Service and the use of consultants' services, in order to balance the operating budget by 2028, while promising to protect services such as healthcare, retirement and employment insurance.
Carney also undertook to use the Canadian presidency in G7 to promote Canadian values in the world arena, “including work to protect the international order based on the principles of those who want to destroy it.”
I’m Ashley Davis as an editor, I’m committed to upholding the highest standards of integrity and accuracy in every piece we publish. My work is driven by curiosity, a passion for truth, and a belief that journalism plays a crucial role in shaping public discourse. I strive to tell stories that not only inform but also inspire action and conversation.
