The comments come amid questions about how Canada plans to find tens of billions of dollars doled out in recent months to support Canadians during the pandemic.

The federal government is predicting Canadian defence spending will inch closer to its NATO promises but not because Ottawa is sending new money the military's way.

Ignoring defence issues doesn’t make them go away, Rob Breakenridge says — quite the opposite, in fact.

The U.S. president also refused to commit to defending NATO allies that don't hit the spending target.

“You don’t sit back and not buy equipment until the whole world is starting to melt down," says Selkirk–Interlake–Eastman MP James Bezan.

She went on to praise Canada for its contributions in several missions, including its deployment to Iraq, it's role in Ukraine for several years and its presence on the borders of Russia and Latvia.

In a letter sent on June 19th, Trump criticized allies such as Canada who haven't increased their defence spending as promised, and cited the United States' "growing frustration."

As Prime Minister Justin Trudeau prepares to attend the upcoming NATO summit in Brussels, U.S. President Donald Trump is calling on Canada to meet the alliance's defence spending targets.

Since we haven't gotten our act together, like it or not, we are almost entirely dependent on the United States. That's a bad place to be when a country is locked in a testy trade dispute with its benefactor.

It’s not clear whether the spending spike would mean bigger federal deficits or spending cuts in other areas.