Justin Trudeau defends spending record on military amid fresh criticism

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is defending his government's record on supporting national defence, following fresh criticism that Canada is failing to live up to its NATO defence-spending commitments.

Speaking at the 70th annual session of the NATO parliamentary assembly in Montreal, Trudeau said his government stepped up "big time" after it came to power.

He said the country is now on a "clear path" to spend the equivalent of two per cent of GDP on defence by 2032, something Canada committed to spend annually at the 2023 NATO summit in Vilnius, Lithuania.

The Trudeau government is coming under renewed criticism from U.S. lawmakers for falling behind what other alliance members spend, with Sen. Jim Risch (R-Idaho) saying at the Halifax International Security Forum over the weekend that Canada has to do better.

President-elect Donald Trump has bristled over other countries failing to meet the two per cent target, and in 2018 said it should be raised to four per cent.

Canada consistently ranks at the back of the pack among NATO allies when it comes to how much it shells out on its military as a share of its GDP, and is only expected to hit 1.37 percent of GDP this year, according to NATO estimates from the summer.