Canada is committing $2.6 billion in defence spending toward the Canadian Armed Forces’ (CAF) largest overseas mission, based in Latvia, amid consistent calls from NATO for member countries to spend at least 2 percent of their GDP on defence measures.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau made the announcement on July 10 in Riga, Latvia, ahead of the NATO Leaders’ Summit this week where Mr. Trudeau and Defence Minister Anita Anand will meet with a number of world leaders and NATO officials.
The $2.6 billion in federal funding will go toward CAF’s “Operation REASSURANCE,” which was established in Latvia in 2014 after NATO agreed on a series of military measures “based on the principles of defence, deterrence and de-escalation meant to reinforce NATO’s collective defence.”…