OTTAWA — Canada’s new Arctic foreign policy stresses deeper cooperation with the United States and allies against threats from Russia, China and climate change, but offers no new defense spending to bring it closer to its elusive NATO targets.
The report identifies the Arctic as a “strategically important region” for the NATO alliance and recognizes Canada’s essential partnership with the U.S. in ensuring a “well-defended North American homeland.”
But it does not offer any additional spending commitments that would bring Canada closer to reaching the NATO benchmark for defense spending of 2 percent of GDP.
The strategy announced that Canada will open consulates in Anchorage, Alaska, and Nuuk, Greenland. The policy document released Friday morning calls for greater cooperation with allies such as the United States, NATO and “Nordic allies” across Europe.
