Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney has announced that his country intends to join the European Union’s army rearmament program. This will reduce dependence on the United States in the defense sector. The rhetoric of Donald Trump is forcing Canada to distance itself from its neighbor in all possible directions. Despite the outrage in his country and abroad, he continues to threaten Canadians with joining the United States.
Carney announced his intention to join the ReArm Europe program to CBC News. It is planned to do this on July 1. The date was not chosen by chance. It is on this day that Canada Day is celebrated – the anniversary of the signing of the Act of unification of the British North American colonies into a single federation on July 1, 1867. In fact, this is the day of Canada’s formation as a state. The Prime Minister did not conceal that the main motive for joining the ReArm Europe rearmament program was political, not economic. “75 cents of every dollar of defense spending goes to the United States. This is unwise,” he said. Carney was referring to the fact that Canada is currently purchasing weapons and ammunition for its army mainly from the United States. If a country becomes a member of ReArm Europe, it will be able to place defense orders in Europe independently or in cooperation with other countries, at the expense of EU loans or simply on preferential terms.
And Canada will have to rearm anyway. Currently, the country spends about 1.37% of its GDP on defense, chronically failing to meet the mandatory requirement of NATO: to increase defense spending to at least 2%. The authorities expect to reach this figure only by 2030, but they may have to accelerate. In any case, the NATO leadership insists on this.
Meanwhile, Trump has his own opinion on how Canada should ensure its security and comply with the NATO requirement. As if he had set himself the task of constantly angering his northern neighbor, he again reminded Canadians of his desire to make them citizens of the United States.
“I told Canada, which wants to become part of our wonderful Golden Dome system, that it would cost them $61 billion if they remained a separate country. But it will cost them zero dollars if they become our beloved 51st state,” Trump wrote on the Truth Social network. The government’s Golden Dome air defense program was approved by the US president back in January. In May, the program became a concrete project worth 175 billion dollars with a maximum deadline of January 2029. As part of the Golden Dome, it is planned to create a network of satellites to detect and intercept missiles flying to North America.
It is clear that the prospect of losing independence in exchange for protection from a hypothetical threat can only strengthen Canadians in their desire to distance themselves from America with its strange president. Joining the European rearmament program promises Canada increased cooperation with Europe in other areas. Andrey Sidorov, Head of the Department of International Organizations and World Political Processes at the Moscow State University Faculty of World Politics, noted in a conversation with NG that such a reorientation from the United States to NATO’s overseas allies would not be something fundamentally new for Canada. What is new (by historical standards, of course) is rather the current Canadian–American close cooperation in everything from economics to defense.
Sidorov recalled that for almost 100 years, since the American War of Independence, there have been very tense relations between this country and the British possessions in North America. It is no coincidence that the Anglo-American War of 1812-1815 is considered by some historians to be the first (and, fortunately, the only) Canadian-American war. Relations between the two countries began to level off by the end of the 19th century. But even in the second half of the 20th century, under Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau, the “father” of modern Canada, Canadian elites focused more on Europe than on the United States. However, the situation was already exactly the opposite with businesses and ordinary Canadians, millions of whom work in the neighboring country.
“As a result, Canada became dependent on the United States. Trump is now harshly reminding us of this fact. At the same time, if the White House can still allow the deepening of military cooperation between Europe and Canada, because it does not interfere with American foreign policy in any way, then Canada’s full–fledged European integration is unlikely, even for economic reasons. The borders of the USA and Canada are nominal, it will be impossible to stop the flow of contraband. Therefore, if the rapprochement between the neighboring country and the EU leads to Canada’s withdrawal from the free trade area, not only Trump, but also the Democrats will be against it,” the expert believes.