Mark Carney’s European Mission: Canada’s Defence Reckoning Has Finally Arrived

After wrapping up the G7 summit on home soil in Alberta, Prime Minister Mark Carney is heading to Europe this weekend with a briefcase full of priorities and promises — and not a moment too soon.

First stop: Brussels, to meet with European leaders and reaffirm Canada’s commitment to strengthening ties with the EU. On the agenda? Everything from trade to defence, as the global order grows more fragile by the week.

Then it’s on to The Hague for the NATO summit, where Carney will face perhaps his toughest international audience yet: defence-hardened allies growing impatient with Canada’s historic underperformance in military spending. And rightly so. For years, Canada has talked a good game about shared security, but hasn’t backed it with dollars — or a real plan. That’s starting to change.

Just last week, Carney announced a significant move: Canada will accelerate its military spending timeline to finally reach the long-promised NATO target of two per cent of GDP, starting with a $9 billion injection this year. That’s a big leap from the current 1.45 per cent — a number that hasn’t budged meaningfully in decades.

Let’s be honest: this shift isn’t happening in a vacuum. NATO is reportedly preparing to raise the bar to an eye-watering five per cent of GDP — a level unseen since the 1950s. With Canada’s GDP forecast at $3.1 trillion, that would mean spending over $150 billion a year on defence.

That may sound extreme, but the world has changed. Ukraine remains under siege. China and Russia are asserting power more aggressively. And let’s not ignore the elephant in the room: the increasingly unreliable nature of Canada’s largest ally, the United States.

Carney was blunt about that last week. Canada has become too dependent on a U.S. security umbrella that’s fraying under the weight of isolationism, political division, and uncertainty over what — or who — comes after the next presidential election.

There’s also the issue of where Canada’s current defence dollars are going. Much of it is being spent south of the border. If we’re going to take our sovereignty seriously, we need to build at home, not just buy abroad.

Carney’s message as he heads into these European summits is clear: Canada can no longer afford to coast on goodwill and good intentions.

“We recognize that our leadership will be defined not just by the strength of our values but the values of our strength,” he said Tuesday. It’s the kind of statement that marks a turning point — if the actions match the rhetoric.

For too long, Canada has relied on diplomacy and moral clarity to punch above its weight on the world stage. That’s no longer enough. In an era where deterrence matters as much as dialogue, Carney’s push to finally bring Canada’s defence policy into the 21st century deserves support — and scrutiny.

This trip isn’t just another diplomatic tour. It’s a litmus test for whether Canada is ready to take its role in global security seriously. We’ll soon find out if Carney’s bold talk is backed by a sustained commitment — or just more of the same.