Trudeau, Canada getting free ride on NATO’s back: GOP Sen. Dan Sullivan

Alaska Sen. Dan Sullivan on Sunday accused Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and his country of being a “free rider” for skirting their responsibility to provide adequate military funding for NATO.

The Republican senator called Canada “one of the biggest laggards” in the North Atlantic Treaty Organization by failing to cough up 2% of its gross domestic product to fund the Western alliance.

Trudeau “has been heard to say he’s never going to hit” the 2% NATO minimum requirement, said Sullivan, a Marine reservist who is a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, during an interview with John Catsimatids on the “Cats Roundtable” WABC 770 AM radio.

“The Canadians landed on Juno Beach [on D-Day during World War 11].  Did an incredible job. But right now, they’re not doing a good job with regards to their obligations in NATO,” Sullivan griped.

“Canada is a military free rider in NATO. It’s true I’m a fan of the Canadians. They’re our only neighbor in Alaska, if you don’t include Russia. But with regard to the NATO-member agreed-upon requirements — to hit 2% of gross domestic product on defense … Canada is one of the biggest laggards. Not even close. A little bit above 1.3%,” the pol said.

He said Canada’s failure to hit the 2% funding target was a burning issue during a NATO summit last week in Lithuania,  which he attended.

Sullivan said a recent Wall Street Journal editorial calling out Trudeau was spot-on.

But Trudeau last week defended Canada’s military spending record and funding for the North American Aerospace Defense Command and NATO.

“We’ve invested massively in NORAD modernization just earlier this year. We’re continuing to step up in our NATO commitments,” Trudeau told the Anchorage Daily News..

“We’re going to continue to step up in this time of increased concerns around security everywhere around the world,” he said.

Recently, 31 NATO allies pledged to spend “at least” 2% of GDP on the alliance.

Last year, only seven member countries directed at least 2% of their GDP to defense spending.

Sullivan also claimed that President Biden is trying to shortchange the US defense budget during one of the “most dangerous periods” since World War II, after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and a bellicose China bullying its neighbors.  

“One of the things we have to do is have a professional, strong, lethal military.  Everybody normally agrees with that, except the Biden administration,” he said.