Defence Minister Bill Blair says Canada could hit its NATO defence spending target within just a few years if need be but didn't commit to doing so.

Facing U.S. President Donald Trump's ongoing criticism of Canada's military spending, Defence Minister Bill Blair says it's possible for the country to meet NATO's military investment benchmark of two per cent of gross domestic product in two years.

Defence Minister Bill Blair says it could take ‘as much as two years to get to that level of capability.’ Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said last summer that he expected Canada to reach the alliance’s defence spending target by 2032.

Becoming a satellite of the United States has been a fear Canadians have had to contend with throughout their history. The country avoided that fate, a big reason being that it could rely on the goodwill of American governments and the American people. Today, both are missing.

It may be too extreme for Canada or Denmark to view the U.S. as an enemy in the wake of Trump annexation threats, but the line between enmity and amity is currently blurred.

Canada's political leadership has found rare unanimity in recent weeks: nobody wants the country to become the "51st state," as U.S. President Donald Trump has repeatedly pitched. The heads of all major political parties resoundingly reject the idea,

While Canada’s spending on defence is less than 2 per cent, no NATO member spends as much as what Trump is requesting

Enmity or amity? Trump has departed from the NATO and UN principles and agreement not to threaten the use of force against allies. It’s too extreme for Canada or Denmark to view the U.S. as an ...

SPINNING PLATES — DOMINIC LEBLANC is not lacking for priorities. Cabinet’s pointman on government finances, Canada’s premiers and key players in the Trump transition is starting to prepare an annual budget — and, according to the Globe, a bulky tariff relief package.

Russia and China have stepped up military activity in the Arctic, while NATO states in the region are reporting more acts of sabotage on energy and communications lines. President Donald Trump has recently revived U.

Mads Petersen, owner of Greenland-based startup Arctic Unmanned, sat in a car to keep warm while he tested a small drone at minus 43 degrees Celsius (minus 45 degrees Fahrenheit).

The U.S. is the only NATO member to ever activate the defense alliance. Yet the U.S. has the audacity to lecture Canada on our domestic spending