 "A warning for Canada from former American envoy, ‘buckle up’ and pay if Trump beats Harris")
Former US Ambassador to Canada Kelly Craft said that Ottawa will have to “buckle up” and “pay up” if her boss and ex-US President Donald Trump comes back to office. Craft served as the top US envoy in Canada between 2017 and 2019.
On Thursday, the American diplomat maintained that a future Trump administration will expect Ottawa to meet its NATO military spending commitment. She said that targets should be met quickly under the timeline set by the country’s Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. Canada’s ruling Liberal party is currently facing its own share of pressure to conduct elections quickly amid declining popularity.
“It’s going to be another conversation, a very firm conversation that Canada needs to pay their fair share,” Craft, who also served as a Trump-era United Nations ambassador, said at a policy forum in Canada. “The United States does not need to have most of the weight on their shoulders. That is not fair to the American taxpayer,” she added.
Canada avoids the bill
It is pertinent to note that Canada has been dodging its commitment to NATO for a decade, spending just 1.37 per cent of its gross domestic product on defence this year. The figure is well below the 2 per cent GDP target set up by the member nations, Politico reported. Craft emphasised that it is important for Canada to scale up its defence, particularly in the Arctic.
Earlier this year, when the NATO leaders met in Washington to celebrate the alliance’s 75th anniversary, Trudeau pledged to meet the minimum spending target by 2032. However, Craft told a gathering in Ottawa that it is “not fast enough”.
Impact Shorts
More Shorts“President Trump will be elected. People need to buckle up and get ready because we’re going to demand that all of the democracies work together to make this world a safer place, Canada is one of them,” she said. Craft emphasised that the North American nation would be ruining its reputation among the Eastern Alliance should it not speed up spending.
Craft’s comments on the matter came as she took part in a panel discussion at the Public Policy Forum’s Fall Lecture 2024 on the cross-border relationship.
During the event, Craft also defended Trump from the allegations made by his former chief of staff John Kelly, who claimed the former president is an authoritarian who is disdainful of military service — and lacks empathy. “I have never heard him speak disparagingly. I have never heard him speak about Hitler,” she said, referencing Trump’s alleged praise of Hitler. “Never, never.”
With inputs from agencies.
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