Defence minister to address industry as Canada eyes new European partnership

OTTAWA — Just a day after the Liberal government confirmed plans to join a major European defence procurement pact, Defence Minister David McGuinty is set to deliver a state-of-the-union style speech to defence industry representatives.

McGuinty is speaking this morning at the CANSEC trade show in Ottawa, just a week before he travels to Brussels for a meeting of NATO defence ministers.

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On Tuesday, Prime Minister Mark Carney’s government confirmed its intention to join the ReArm Europe plan — an effort to leverage massive loans and redrawn fiscal rules to pump funds into rearming European nations and building up domestic defence industries.

The initiative was launched after U.S. President Donald Trump suspended U.S. military aid supporting Ukraine’s defence in its ongoing war with Russia, which has recently intensified.

Trump’s former secretary of state Mike Pompeo is also set to speak at the CANSEC trade show.

Carney’s government has said joining ReArm will help boost the domestic defence industry as Ottawa looks to rebuild the Canadian Armed Forces.

Carney spoke about the ReArm plan with EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen in March, not long after he first took office. He also quickly arranged a trip to the U.K. and France to bolster relationships with those major arms-producing nations.

Canada’s commitment to ReArm comes at a time of profound trade tensions with the U.S., which has long been its most important trading and security partner and remains a key part of its military supply chains.

It also comes as Trump continues to pressure Canada and other NATO allies to ramp up defence spending.

NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte said Monday that he expects NATO allies to commit to spending five per cent of their GDP on defence at the NATO meeting in The Hague next month.

That would amount to a massive hike in Canada’s defence budget requiring tens of billions of dollars in new spending.

Roughly 1.5 per cent of that five per cent commitment may end up being accounted for through broader security investments in things like defence infrastructure and cyber security.

Some experts warn Canada’s persistent low level of defence spending is making it increasingly isolated in NATO.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published May 28, 2025.

Kyle Duggan, The Canadian Press