Carney to make defence announcement amid push for NATO spending hike – National [Video]

Prime Minister Mark Carney is set to make an announcement on Monday that his office says is related to “defence and security priorities.”

While the Prime Minister’s Office did not provide further detail in his itinerary, the announcement comes days after NATO defence ministers endorsed new spending targets to as much as five per cent of GDP.

Last week, Canada’s Defence Minister David McGuinty said Ottawa was reviewing its defence spending from “top to bottom,” amid ongoing pressure to ramp up spending levels.

He did not directly say if an increase by Canada was coming, but did say the federal government would have more to say “very soon” about its spending commitments to the alliance.

Since the spending target of two per cent of GDP was set in 2006, Canada has never met that goal, and where member countries stand will be a big topic when NATO leaders meet later this …