Latest news with #MunkSchoolofGlobalAffairsandPublicPolicy
Ottawa Citizen
11 hours ago
- Business
- Ottawa Citizen
Canada to meet 2 per cent NATO spending pledge this year: Carney
Article content OTTAWA — Prime Minister Mark Carney is pledging that Canada will achieve NATO's spending target of two per cent of GDP on defence this year — five years ahead of his prior commitment which promised to meet the mark by 2030. Article content Carney, who is set to attend the NATO Summit later this month, made the announcement in a speech at the Munk School of Global Affairs and Public Policy in Toronto on Monday. Article content Article content He said Canada's strategy is focused on four pillars: investing in the men and women who serve, expanding and enhancing military capabilities, strengthening the government's relationship with the defence industry and diversifying Canada's defence partnerships. Article content Article content 'We will ensure every dollar is invested wisely, including by prioritizing made-in-Canada manufacturing and supply chains,' he said. Article content 'We should no longer send three quarters of our defence capital spending to America.' Article content Carney said the government will invest in new submarines, aircraft, ships, armed vehicles and artillery, as well as new radar, drones and sensors. He also committed to a larger and sustained Canadian Armed Forces presence in Canada's north, year-round. Article content He said the government will expand the reach and security mandate of the Canadian Coast Guard and integrate those investments into Canada's defence capabilities. And he said members of the Canadian Armed Forces will receive a 'well-deserved' salary bump. Article content Article content 'We will further accelerate our investments in the years to come, consistent with meeting our new security imperatives,' he said. Article content Article content 'Our goal is to protect Canadians, not to satisfy NATO accountants,' he added. Article content Carney said the Department of National Defence will 'immediately' design a new defence policy, 'informed by experts and the experience of allies and partners, including Ukraine.'
Edmonton Journal
12 hours ago
- Politics
- Edmonton Journal
Canada to meet 2% NATO spending pledge this year: Carney
Article content OTTAWA — Prime Minister Mark Carney is pledging that Canada will achieve NATO's two per cent target this year — five years ahead of his prior commitment which promised to meet the mark by 2030. Carney, who is set to attend the NATO Summit later this month, made the announcement in a speech at the Munk School of Global Affairs and Public Policy in Toronto on Monday.
Calgary Herald
12 hours ago
- Business
- Calgary Herald
Canada to meet 2% NATO spending pledge this year: Carney
Article content OTTAWA — Prime Minister Mark Carney is pledging that Canada will achieve NATO's two per cent target this year — five years ahead of his prior commitment which promised to meet the mark by 2030. Article content Carney, who is set to attend the NATO Summit later this month, made the announcement in a speech at the Munk School of Global Affairs and Public Policy in Toronto on Monday. Article content Article content Article content He said Canada's strategy is focused on four pillars: investing in the men and women who serve, expanding and enhancing military capabilities, strengthening the government's relationship with the defence industry and diversifying Canada's defence partnerships. Article content Article content 'We should no longer send three quarters of our defence capital spending to America.' Article content Carney said the government will invest in new submarines, aircraft, ships, armed vehicles and artillery, as well as new radar, drones and sensors. He also committed to a larger and sustained Canadian Armed Forces presence in Canada's north, year-round. Article content He said the government will expand the reach and security mandate of the Canadian Coast Guard and integrate those investments into Canada's defence capabilities. And he said members of the Canadian Armed Forces will receive a 'well-deserved' salary bump. Article content Article content 'We will further accelerate our investments in the years to come, consistent with meeting our new security imperatives,' he said. Article content Carney called on all parties in Parliament to support these 'critical investments in our security and sovereignty.' Article content He will be taking questions from reporters this afternoon.
Vancouver Sun
30-04-2025
- Politics
- Vancouver Sun
What's next for Canada's newest minority government?
With the election count all but finalized, it looks as though the governing Liberals under Prime Minister Mark Carney will be forming a minority government. Here's what that means for the party and the country. Article content What is a minority government? Article content It's simply a government in which no party holds more than 50 per cent of the seats in Parliament. The magic number in this case is 172, but the Liberals, who went into the election with 152 seats, emerged with 169, three short of a majority. Thus, any piece of legislation will require some opposition votes, in addition to all the Liberal members of Parliament. Article content Article content Can they do that? Article content Article content Yes, they can. Akaash Maharaj, a senior fellow at the Munk School of Global Affairs and Public Policy, points out that Bloc Québécois leader Yves-François Blanchet has already said he does not intend to bring down the current government 'for at least a year.' Article content 'That was a remarkable thing for him to say, because he played his hand and gave up any influence he might have to try to extract things from Carney,' said Maharaj. 'But it does mean that Carney can, in all probability, govern as if he had a majority for the first year. After that, especially once there is a new leader for the NDP, and the provincial elections in Quebec start to put pressure on the Bloc Québécois, the dynamics will change.' Article content Article content The New Democratic Party, thanks to its poor showing in the election — just seven seats, a loss of official party status, and the announced resignation of its leader, Jagmeet Singh — has little power and even less desire to rock the boat and potentially trigger another election. Article content Article content But the Conservatives, despite their 144 seats in the House of Commons, are in a somewhat weakened position as well. Article content 'They are likely to find themselves without any dance partners in the political ballet of Parliament,' said Maharaj. 'Having said that, I don't think that they are powerless. More than 41 per cent of Canadians voted for them, and that suggests a significant hold on the public imagination. Conservatives will retain the power to influence public sentiment (and) to hold the government to account.'
Yahoo
22-04-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Pundits offer mixed reviews on 'ambitious' Conservative platform
OTTAWA — It charts an ambitious course, but do the numbers add up? Pundits were having their say about the newly released Conservative platform on Tuesday, which held few surprises but spelled out party Leader Pierre Poilievre's answer to the past decade of the Justin Trudeau Liberals. 'It's certainly consistent with their values, there's no dramatic break from what Pierre Poilievre has been saying for much of his political career,' said Akaash Maharaj, a senior fellow with the Munk School of Global Affairs and Public Policy. 'Some of their numbers rely on what I would call very optimistic ideas about growth and stimulus to the economy, but that's often the case for all parties — they tend to be very bullish on how much capital their measures are going to generate, and very modest when they talk about how much their new programs are going to cost.' EDITORIAL: Mark Carney's fun with deficit numbers Conservative platform aims to trim deficit by 70%: Poilievre Tories expected to release platform as federal election campaign nears end Among the promises within the Tory platform include a 70% deficit cut — a policy Stephen Taylor describes as both ambitious and necessary. 'It's going to take some time to undo the damage the Trudeau government has done to Canada,' said Taylor, a partner at Shift Media. 'So a 70% reduction in the deficit over the next four years is a good target.' Taylor feels the platform is reflective of how Canadians are feeling and where their anxieties lie. 'The extra spending portions are focused on rebuilding Canada's military and providing incentives for building homes, which I think are key priorities that Canadians have shown everyone running that they're very invested in,' he said. Maharaj feels the Conservative platform isn't as substantive as the Liberal one, which he said covered a broader range of topics. 'There is certainly an effort in the Conservative platform to be more fiscally responsible — the Liberal and the NDP platforms call for really unprecedented expansions in spending that might be justifiable,' he said. 'One can make a case they are necessary, especially going into a potential trade war with the United States, but there is no overstating how much money those platforms will cost if they proceed.' Maharaj also questions why the parties waited so long in the campaign to release their platforms with advance polls closing Tuesday at 6 p.m. 'Historically, parties issued their platforms much earlier in the hopes that those platforms would influence voter intentions,' he said. 'It suggests to me that parties think Canadians are being driven not by a careful weighing of policies, but by their emotional response to leaders. 'They are probably right.' bpassifiume@ X: @bryanpassifiume
