Canada has unveiled an ambitious plan for massive investment in defense industry and military technology research. The new strategy is intended to significantly reduce dependence on the US and strengthen the country’s domestic security.
Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney on Tuesday unveiled a new plan to strengthen the country’s defense capabilities to reduce dependence on the United States. TASR writes about it according to the AFP agency and the Politico portal.
Over the next decade, Ottawa wants to increase the share of contracts for Canadian arms firms to 70 percent, increase military exports by half and invest significantly more in research and development of military technology.
Defense in your own hands
According to Carney, Canada has not implemented sufficient measures to strengthen its defense capabilities in an increasingly dangerous world in which reliance on US protection is no longer sustainable.
“We have relied too much on our geography and on others to protect us,” he said. “It has created a vulnerability we can no longer afford and a dependency we can no longer sustain,” Carney said. According to him, Canada needs to build a domestic defense industrial base so that “it is not held hostage to the decisions of others.”
Massive investments
The office of the head of the Canadian government reported that the new strategy by 2035 envisages investments in the defense industry in the amount of more than half a trillion Canadian dollars (309 billion euros) in “security, economic prosperity and sovereignty”. C$180 billion will be earmarked for defense purchases and another C$290 billion for defense and security-related infrastructure.
Despite increasingly strained relations with the United States, Carney declared that Canada should not rely on itself for its defense. Therefore, it seeks closer cooperation with the EU and has joined its defense program SAFE. The prime minister also sees potential for cooperation in Asia, especially with South Korea.
