Former ambassador criticizes Canada for low defense spending and calls for urgent action

Former Canadian ambassador Derek Burney criticized Canada for its low defense spending, calling the country a "laggard" and "irrelevant" in global military contributions. He emphasized the need for Canada to enhance its defense capabilities to gain attention from the U.S. Burney's comments come as Canada aims to meet NATO's defense spending target of 2% of GDP by 2032. Currently, Canada is projected to spend 1.37% in 2024, with gradual increases expected. Burney argues that the government should expedite this process. He also highlighted the importance of prioritizing defense in the Arctic and suggested that Canada should find efficiencies in other government areas to boost defense funding.