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Canada is near the back of the pack when it comes to defence spending among NATO members — a trend that is expected to worsen under the Liberal government, and which could cause trouble with our allies.

Like all NATO members, Canada has repeatedly committed to spending two per cent of its gross domestic product, or GDP, on defence spending. And like most of its allies, Canada has repeatedly failed to fulfil that commitment. Only the United States, United Kingdom and a few others have consistently met the target.

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But a new NATO report estimates Canada spent just one per cent of GDP on defence last year, leaving it in the bottom third of allies. Only Italy and Spain, whose economies have been struggling, Luxembourg Belgium, and Eastern European members Slovenia, Hungary and the Czech Republic ranked lower.

Canada’s lagging performance is not especially new, as it has hovered around the one-per-cent mark for the past few years. But the Liberals themselves have predicted the figure will decline even further under their watch over the next few years.