Canada’s defense investment in the Arctic puts it on track to meet NATO guideline, minister says

BRUSSELS (AP) — Canadian Defense Minister Bill Blair says his country looks on track to meet NATO’s military spending guideline. He says Canada notably plans to boost investment in the high Arctic near its shared border with Russia as the region warms quickly due to climate change. NATO allies agreed to halt national budget cuts in 2014 after Russia annexed Ukraine’s Crimean Peninsula. The aim was to move toward spending 2% of gross domestic product on defense within a decade. Canada was barely spending 1% at the time. Blair said Friday that his budget “will increase by 27% next year over this year.” With the extra investment, he says, “I believe it brings us inevitably to over 2% of defense spending.”