Canada’s contributions to NATO should not be measured by percentage of GDP

Using a percentage of GDP to measure military readiness of nations is not an accurate method to gage the contribution of NATO members. This approach is meaningless as an expression of military effectiveness of nations and is certainly not an indicator of burden sharing or defence capabilities.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and then-prime minister of Latvia, Krišjānis Kariņš, who is now Latvia's foreign minister, at a joint press conference in West Block on May 12, 2022. Canada's military presence in Latvia is a key contribution to NATO operations, writes Roger Cyr. The Hill Times photograph by Andrew Meade

Opinion

BY ROGER CYR

December 26, 2023

The NATO alliance’s Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg indicated he expected member nations to regard two per cent of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) for defence not as a ceiling, but a minimum that all member states should meet. Using a percentage of GDP to measure militar...

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