Canada Officially Joins EU Defence Procurement Financing Program

https://www.theepochtimes.com/world/canada-officially-joins-eu-defence-procurement-financing-program-5986236?ea_src=ca-frontpage&ea_med=canada-officially-joins-eu-defence-procurement-financing-program-0

Canada’s Defence Minister David McGuinty says Ottawa has officially joined the European Union’s Security Action for Europe (SAFE) program that offers loans to member states to boost their military capabilities.

It comes about a year after Prime Minister Mark Carney signed a strategic defence and security partnership agreement with the EU, and just over two months since Canada’s role in the program was finalized. In a joint statement issued in December, Carney and President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen said that Canada joining the SAFE program was “symbolic of the shared priorities” of the EU and Canada.

After his recent visit to Europe, McGuinty said in a Feb. 15 news release announcing Canada has joined SAFE that his meetings with allies reinforced the importance of unity between Canada and its partners in Europe.

“The agreement strengthens our collective security, supports the development of key defence capabilities, and gives Canadian industry access to European defence markets while contributing to European and Ukrainian security,” McGuinty said in a statement to media outlets. Continue…

Carney Appoints Chief Trade Negotiator to Oversee Upcoming USMCA Review

https://www.theepochtimes.com/world/carney-appoints-chief-trade-negotiator-to-oversee-upcoming-usmca-review-5986246?ea_src=ca-frontpage&ea_med=medium-0

Prime Minister Mark Carney has appointed former Clerk of the Privy Council Janice Charette to lead Canada’s negotiations in the review of the United States–Mexico–Canada Agreement (CUSMA/USMCA) this year.

Charette is appointed as Chief Trade Negotiator to the United States, the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) said in a Feb. 16 news release.

She will be a senior adviser to Carney and Canada–U.S. Trade Minister Dominic LeBlanc on the trade deal review, and on “strengthening the trade and investment relationship between Canada and the United States,” according to the PMO.

The PMO also said Charette will work closely with Ambassador of Canada to the United States Mark Wiseman. Wiseman began his new role as Canadian ambassador on Feb. 15, replacing former ambassador Kirsten Hillman, who announced in December she would step down in the new year to make way for a team that would “see the CUSMA Review through to its conclusion.”

Carney says Charette brings “extraordinary leadership, expertise, and a deep commitment to advancing Canada’s interests,” with four decades of experience in public policy and diplomacy.

“As Chief Trade Negotiator, she will advance Canadian interests and a strengthened trade and investment relationship that benefits workers and industries in both Canada and the United States,” Carney said in a Feb. 16 statement. Continue…

Carney's 'Buy Canada' defence plan targets billions in new domestic investment

https://nationalpost.com/news/canada/carney-buy-canada-defence-strategy-domestic-investment

Canada will spend more of its growing military budget with domestic firms under a defence-industrial strategy that’s meant to unleash more than $500 billion (US$369 billion) in investment over a decade.

The government wants to more than triple Canadian defence industry revenue, boost defence exports by 50 per cent and create 125,000 jobs over a 10-year period. A centrepiece of the policy is a goal to boost the share of defence acquisitions awarded to Canadian firms to 70 per cent, a big shift for a country that has long relied on U.S. military contractors for much of its equipment.

Prime Minister Mark Carney had planned to unveil the strategy last week but postponed it after one of the deadliest mass shootings in Canadian history occurred in British Columbia.

The government’s aims are to signal military-spending priorities to investors, give a lift to Canada’s tariff-hit manufacturing base and reduce reliance on the U.S. for security.

“Long-held assumptions have been upended — about the end of imperial conquest, the durability of peace in Europe, and the resilience of old alliances,” the document says. “It is more important than ever that Canada possess the capacity to sustain its own defence and safeguard its own sovereignty.” Continue…