One of the country's leading business voices is warning that Canada faces "diplomatic isolation" if it's not prepared to deliver a concrete plan next month to raise defence spending to meet NATO's benchmark. One of the country's leading business voices is warning that Canada faces "diplomatic isolation" if it's not prepared to deliver a concrete plan next month to raise defence spending to meet NATO's benchmark.
"The consequences that would result from this diplomatic isolation, in terms of both our security and economic partnerships, will have broad ramifications for all Canadians," says the two-page letter to the prime minister, dated June 7, 2024. "This is an area where we have been called out," Goldy Hyder, president and chief executive officer of the Business Council of Canada, told CBC News. "It used to be called out quietly in Washington. Now, it's being done very publicly."
She said Canada's potential purchase of new submarines, and other equipment not yet costed in the defence policy, will go a long way toward meeting the NATO commitment.