Canada is disentangling itself from the United States with the release of its new defence industrial strategy in February. Canada's new policy will benefit many job seekers across the country and appease many within the defence community.
The strategy aims to invest $470 billion into the Canadian military over the next 10 years and create jobs in the industrial sector.
This is a step in the right direction for Ottawa’s foreign policy, as the Trump administration’s rhetoric and our domestic industry require it.
Prime Minister Mark Carney’s government is working more closely with European allies like the United Kingdom and Sweden on the plan. This includes a potential purchase of Sweden’s Saab Gripen fighter jets and advancing the Canada-UK Economic and Trade Working Group with London.
This has historical precedent, albeit with a different scenario.
While former prime minister Pierre Trudeau may have pursued an independent foreign policy during the Cold War, he affirmed our strong ties with our southern neighbour.
“Canada is not only a close friend and neighbour of the United States of America, but also an ally in NATO and NORAD,” he said during a visit to the U.S.S.R. in 1971.
Carney is taking a similar yet distinct approach.
Christian Leuprecht, a political science professor at Queen’s University, told Humber Et Cetera he has a cautious optimism about the strategy.
“When you have a minority government, you always think about getting re-elected. So this was the easiest way to justify spending a lot of money. [Canada] is going to say to allies that, if you [can] agree to a deal, then we’re going to buy [from] them,” he lamented.
His position is valid, as the strategy is certainly the result of Carney’s minority government situation and his need to make Canada look strong in the face of a volatile U.S. administration.
The Carney government’s new policy also emphasizes the build-buy-partner approach, a new procurement strategy aimed at building military equipment in Canada.
On this, Leuprecht thought it was a superficial notion.
“We’re going to say to allies that, if you could agree to a deal, then we’re going to buy (from) them…But most of our companies don’t have sales, so we're going to pick up foreign-made products,” he told me over the phone.
Carney’s new policy plans to produce jobs for Canadians “across the entire supply chain,” both in blue-collar and white-collar roles, while touting the $7.4 billion it brought to Canada’s GDP in 2022 alone.
While this sounds good to job seekers and defence companies across Canada, the policy still needs to be coordinated with our major defence companies, such as CAE and General Dynamics Land Systems. Thus, it needs a strong implementation.
Leuprecht, for his part, worried it could result in “factory jobs that provide limited value to the Canadian economy.”
Canada has also recently signed an agreement with the European Union to join its Security Action for Europe (SAFE) program. The program offers loans to its members to invest in their defence procurement.
This may seem far-fetched due to our national geography, but given the current political situation, it makes a ton of sense.
Still, Canada is the only non-European country to join the program, and it shows that Ottawa is willing to work with anyone who shares its cultural and geopolitical values.
As a German by birth, it’s not surprising to see that Leuprecht praises the agreement.
“It will build our relationship with the European Union. It will allow for agreements with European companies and European procurement,” he said.
“We’ve neglected trade with Europe since 1971. And we’ve become even more dependent on the U.S. afterwards,” Leuprecht said.
Although the EU has its critics in Europe, the organization has obvious appeal to Canada. Although it’s a minor involvement, it is significant to Canada’s foreign policy stance and our relationship with Europe.
Canada is doing its best to disentangle itself from our biggest trading partner, and the defence industrial strategy is evidence of that. Still, there will be a new U.S. president in 2029, which could rearrange our foreign policy positions once more.
