Manitoba premier urges Trudeau to move up NATO spending timeline to save Canada-U.S. relationship

Manitoba Premier Wab Kinew is urging the federal government to speed up its plan to reach NATO's spending benchmark in order to save the Canada-U.S. trade relationship ahead of potentially shifting sands south of the border.

After years of criticism from allies — most notably the United States — the Liberal government announced last week that it hopes to meet NATO's military investment commitment of two per cent of alliance members' gross domestic product by 2032.

Speaking on the last day of the premiers' annual summer meeting, Kinew said Prime Minister Justin Trudeau should reach two per cent spending in four years.

«I want Canadians to see this as a national security thing. It's an investment in the Canadian Armed Forces, but I encourage Canadians to think about this also as an investment in trade,» Kinew told reporters before going into closed-door meetings.

«If we're not meeting our responsibility to our NATO allies, it is going to have an impact on [the Canada-United States-Mexico Agreement] renewal. It is gonna have an impact on the relationship.»

Premiers have been discussing the Canada-U.S. relationship during the Council of the Federation meeting in Halifax this week, with an eye to the U.S. presidential election in November.

Nova Scotia Premier Tim Houston, chair of this year's meetings, said Tuesday the provinces are working to maintain that relationship, no matter who wins, given the U.S. buys about three-quarters of Canada's exports.

Kinew said the premiers, and the economic success of their economies, need the federal government to see defence as a trade issue when it comes to Canada's neighbour to the south.

«The point that I'm making is we need to invest in national security, but we also need the federal