New India-Pakistan ceasefire agreement mediated by U.S., other nations
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Retired Major General David Fraser tells CTV News that many countries have played a role in helping negotiate the current ceasefire.
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Globe and Mail
20 minutes ago
- Globe and Mail
Carney to announce Canada's defence spending will hit NATO's target of 2% of GDP this fiscal year, sources say
Prime Minister Mark Carney is set to announce what his government is billing as the largest increase in defence spending since the Second World War, measures that sources say would enable Canada to meet NATO's 2-per-cent military expenditure target this fiscal year, well ahead of any previously announced schedule. Two senior government sources told The Globe and Mail that Mr. Carney will unveil a new security and defence investment plan during a Monday speech at the University of Toronto's Munk School of Global Affairs. It will commit the government to rapidly procuring the equipment and technology needed to protect Canada, assert the country's sovereignty and meet its obligations to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, the sources said. The Globe is not identifying the sources, as they were not authorized to speak publicly on the matter. For years, NATO member countries have agreed they should spend the equivalent of 2 per cent of gross domestic product on defence. But Canada has been a persistent laggard, spending an estimated 1.45 per cent in 2024, according to a recent NATO report. Canada's existing level of investment has been criticized as insufficient at a time of increasing global threats. Among the critics is U.S. President Donald Trump, who argues his country has devoted too many of its resources to protecting NATO allies. Mr. Carney's coming plan will allow Canada to meet the 2-per-cent target in the 2025-2026 fiscal year ending next March and exceed it in future years, the sources said. This represents a rapid shift in Canada's commitment to defence – already a significant portion of the federal budget – as it moves up the timeline to reach the 2-per-cent target by several years. The spending increase, worth billions of dollars, is set to be announced ahead of the NATO leaders' June 24-25 summit. At The Hague gathering, member countries are expected to raise the Western alliance's military spending target to 3.5 per cent of GDP, plus another amount equivalent to 1.5 per cent for security-related investments. The sources said the new spending will include higher pay for members of the Canadian Armed Forces; new aircraft, armed vehicles and ammunition; new drones and more sensors to monitor the seafloor and the Arctic; repair and maintenance commitments for existing ships, aircraft and other assets; more health care funding for Forces personnel; and funding to boost the Canadian Coast Guard's reach and capabilities. There will also be commitments to increase Canada's defence industry capacity as well as capabilities in artificial intelligence, cyber, quantum and space technologies, the sources said. The expedited effort to meet the NATO 2-per-cent target this fiscal year represents a marked change from as recently as 12 months ago, when then-prime minister Justin Trudeau announced it would take Canada until 2032. He also publicly criticized the target as a 'crass mathematical calculation' that didn't properly account for a country's contributions to NATO. During the recent federal election campaign, Mr. Carney's Liberals pledged to accelerate efforts and reach the 2-per-cent threshold by 2030. The government will provide dollar figures for the announcement on Monday, the sources said. Canadian experts have previously estimated Ottawa would require $15-billion to $20-billion in additional annual military spending to reach the 2-per-cent target. NATO to back 5% spending target in June, Secretary-General says One persistent problem Canada has faced in acquiring new military equipment is a slow and unwieldy procurement process. Mr. Carney's Liberals in the recent election campaign promised to create a stand-alone defence purchasing agency to speed up military equipment procurement, and to prioritize buying Canadian gear and materials whenever possible. It's also expected that the Canadian Coast Guard, currently a civilian operating agency under the Department of Fisheries and Oceans, will be moved under the Department of National Defence. (The move would mirror the U.S. Coast Guard, which is a branch of the U.S. Armed Forces.) The Canadian Coast Guard's annual budget is about $2.5-billion, a small fraction of the Department of National Defence's yearly spending, which exceeds $41-billion. It's not clear whether moving the Coast Guard under the Canadian military would change it from a civilian fleet to a military fleet. The defence spending will also support key capabilities, including the Arctic over-the-horizon radar system investment announced in March, a counter-drone program, joint support ships, long-range precision strike weapons, increased domestic ammunition production and additional armoured vehicles, among other priorities, the sources said. U.S. ambassador to NATO says the military alliance must outspend Russia on defence Monday's new commitment may not be enough for allies, including the United States under Mr. Trump. Over the past two decades, an agreement among NATO countries to reach the 2-per-cent target has evolved from a guideline to the minimum acceptable obligation. Moscow's all-out-assault on Ukraine – the first large-scale land war in Europe since the Second World War – has reignited fears of Russian expansionism and driven many NATO countries to make historic increases in defence spending. NATO's top civilian official, Secretary-General Mark Rutte, said recently he expects leaders of member countries at the coming summit to agree to raise military spending and related security expenditures to 5 per cent of GDP. 'Strong defences send a clear message – no one should ever think of attacking us,' Mr. Rutte said in a speech in Brussels on Wednesday. He told reporters later that 'if we think that we can keep ourselves safe sticking with the 2 per cent, forget it.'
CTV News
an hour ago
- CTV News
Carney set to make defence announcement in Toronto as NATO eyes spending boost
Prime Minister Mark Carney speaks during a news conference in Ottawa, Friday, May 2, 2025. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Adrian Wyld OTTAWA — Prime Minister Mark Carney's office says he will be in Toronto today to make an announcement related to 'defence and security priorities.' The announcement is slated for 10 a.m., after which he is set to tour a local military facility before holding a news conference at 1 p.m. Defence ministers from NATO countries met in Brussels last week to discuss raising the member spending target on defence to as much as five per cent of GDP. Canada has never met NATO's existing spending target of two per cent since it was established in 2006, and the topic will loom large when NATO leaders meet later this month in the Netherlands. Carney promised during the recent election campaign to move up Canada's deadline for meeting the two per cent threshold from 2032 to 2030 or sooner, but hasn't yet revealed a plan for meeting that figure. The NATO secretary-general's annual report released this past April says Canada's defence spending likely hit 1.45 per cent in 2024. This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 9, 2025. Canadian Press staff, The Canadian Press
CBC
an hour ago
- CBC
Municipalities, residents decry gaps in N.S. coastal protection as 'death by 1,000 cuts'
When Jessica Bradford first spotted a square patch of dirt infill as she drove along the Queens County coastline in Western Head, N.S., she had one thought. "That's not going to last very long," Bradford recalled thinking, standing last week near the section of infill as waves washed up on a rocky beach just steps away. It's unclear whether the infill project on private property along Shore Road follows proper guidelines. But even if it does, Bradford and some municipal leaders say the situation represents a major gap in Nova Scotia's approach to coastal protection. Bradford said she first noticed work being done on the small strip of land along the roadside beside the beach two weeks ago. She said trees and grasses were removed to allow for heavy equipment to spread dirt over the site. The move made her concerned the loss of established root systems would speed up erosion and worsen flooding on the road, Bradford said, which often becomes submerged during storms. "We know the importance of living shorelines," Bradford said. "It made me wonder, how was this allowed to happen?" When Nova Scotia's Progressive Conservative government decided to not proclaim the Coastal Protection Act that would have brought in provincewide rules last February, it said municipalities could enact own bylaws on the issue. It also released mapping tools and information, so property owners could make an "informed decision" about protecting their land and buildings from sea-level rise and erosion. But Bradford said the Region of Queens Municipality — which has land-use bylaws that address coastal setbacks — told her it was not aware of the Shore Road project, and had not received any permit applications for the site. Provincial staff have told Bradford they are looking into whether the project followed their rules and had the correct permits. CBC News reached out to the property owner but did not receive a response. Scott Christian, Queens mayor, said legislation allows municipalities to regulate infill and removal of vegetative buffers on a coastline — but only when it's related to development. If a property owner doesn't plan to build anything on their land right away, infill projects fall under provincial jurisdiction. "I think that's problematic because I think it opens up the door where people could just say, 'Well, I'm not planning on developing,'" Christian said. "Even if a structure isn't envisioned on a property, I think we need to protect against the problematic removal of natural vegetation along our shoreline. So we need to do better." Christian said he's had residents complain of seven current Queens County projects where vegetation was removed or infill brought in, including Western Head. "I appreciate their advocacy, but we simply don't have a leg to stand on," Christian said. Christian also said municipalities can only govern private property above the high-water mark. Anything happening below that, such as armoured walls reaching into the water, falls under provincial jurisdiction. If infill stretches farther into navigable waters or fish habitat, federal regulations could also apply. A large infill project featuring a rock wall on Little Crescent Beach in Lunenburg County brought many complaints from residents, and helped push the Municipality of the District of Lunenburg to bring in its own coastal bylaws last summer. Recent work on the site shows two wooden buildings coming up to the edge of the wall. The municipality's mayor, Elspeth McLean-Wile, said the new bylaw requires setbacks of 30 metres from the water's edge, but the project's development permits were issued before the new rules came in. However, McLean-Wile said there's still nothing the municipality can do to prevent a similar armoured wall project if it falls below the high-water mark like in the Crescent Beach case. "I think this is a misstep on the part of the provincial government," McLean-Wile said. "There are probably other issues as well, but infilling is one that really frustrates our residents. "These are the holes that continue to exist." Nicolas Winkler, coastal adaptation co-ordinator for the Ecology Action Centre in Halifax, said he continues to see coastal infill cases around Nova Scotia he's concerned about. But he said the full extent of the issue is difficult to know, because many are only visible from the water and are "out of sight, out of mind" for residents or government officials. "That is death by 1,000 cuts. It's these small, consistent … changes to our coastline that, over time, will add up to a coast that we may not recognize," Winkler said. Both McLean-Wile and Christian said they would prefer to see provincewide rules, and don't agree with the provincial government's comments that municipalities are best fit to handle the file because they know their communities best. If the province won't bring in the Coastal Protection Act, Christian and McLean-Wile said there needs to be a fulsome conversation between both levels of government about addressing the gaps left behind. "There's problematic infilling along our shoreline now. And so we need like pretty urgent action on this," Christian said. If legislation is changed to allow municipalities to regulate infill projects regardless of development plans, Christian said the move must come with far more financial and staffing resources than what has been offered so far. The province has provided template bylaws, and $1.3 million to the Nova Scotia Federation of Municipalities for local governments to use on consulting fees for climate change and sustainability analysts. CBC News asked the Department of Environment and Climate Change to respond to the concerns about municipalities having no power over many infill and armoured rock projects, but they did not answer the question. "We have moved forward to what we feel is a better approach to protecting our 13,000 [kilometres] of diverse coastline," department spokesperson Cindy Porter said in an email.
