Defence spending: Bill Blair ‘ready to go faster’ to meet target [Video]

OTTAWA –

Defence Minister Bill Blair said Monday that he’s ready to work with the incoming Donald Trump administration to speed up Canada’s timeline to meet its NATO alliance spending targets.

Canada committed last year to meet the NATO members’ pledge to spend at least two per cent of GDP on national defence and in July Prime Minister Justin Trudeau committed to hitting that target by 2032.

At a Canada Global Affairs Institute conference on that commitment in Ottawa Monday, Blair told military industry representatives that Canada will need some outside assistance to do it faster.

“They want us to go faster, and I’m ready to go faster,” he said, when speaking about dealing with the next administration.

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Blair said he is asking the defence industry and American officials for “help” because much of what the Canadian …