Hello everyone. The NATO summit is wrapping up today here in Washington. With our allies, we have spent the last few days working together, and we’ve made a lot of progress. Of course, I want to thank President Biden for his leadership, and the Americans for their welcome. In an uncertain world, it’s important to gather together like this to strengthen our relationships.

On top of numerous meetings with NATO allies this week, I had the opportunity to meet with many politicians and business leaders here in D.C., including members of Congress, senators and governors. In a moment of deep, global uncertainty, Canada and the U.S. know that they can count on each other, and that’s really important. Our partnership is forged by shared geography and values, common interests, connections between our people, and of course, incredibly strong economic ties.

Canada and the U.S. share one of the largest trading relationships in the world, which supports billions of- … millions of good jobs on both sides of the border. We will keep working to strengthen and deepen this relationship. As an example, our two countries reached a key milestone this week with the negotiations on the Columbia River Treaty. We’ve reached an agreement on the terms of a new modernized treaty with the support of Indigenous nations and British Columbia. This will protect communities from flooding, advance clean energy goals, and promote Indigenous priorities. 

As you’ve all seen, it … it’s been a productive NATO Summit this week. We discussed ways to bolster collective defence and deterrence capabilities, the importance of countering misinformation and disinformation, ongoing and evolving threats to global peace, prosperity and the rules-based order, and we, of course, discussed ways to further support Ukraine.

This afternoon, President Zelenskyy will join us at a meeting of the NATO-Ukraine Council. As I discussed with him when we sat down yesterday, Canada will be providing further support so that Ukraine can continue to defend its freedom and ours. This includes an additional $500 million in military support as part of NATO’s long-term pledge for Ukraine, supporting the launch of NATO security assistance and training for Ukraine, and up to $389 million to enhance F-16 pilot training, something Canada will be leading on in the coming year. The message is clear: we’re here to support Ukraine, to victory and beyond. 

This year, NATO turns 75. Canada helped establish this alliance, which is now made up of 32 countries. Our support is unwavering. Faced with an increasingly unstable and dangerous world, Canada is determined to do much more to defend Canadians, defend our values, and defend our allies.

Before our government took office, Canada was spending less than 1% of our GDP on defence, but we vowed to rapidly change that, and we followed through on our word. Canada is now in the top five NATO allies when it comes to absolute spending on defence increased since 2015. In 2017, we released a $49 billion plan to ensure long-term predictable funding with, for example, investments in new warships, aircraft, and armoured vehicles. In 2022, we went even further by announcing an investment of $38 billion in Canada’s NORAD modernization plan, and we just recently released, a defence policy update which invests $73 billion in defence over the next two decades.

All that means that in Canada, since 2015, we’ve added $175 billion in defence spending. Our North, Strong and Free also identifies areas of future investments in capabilities to respond to today’s threats and challenges. As part of this work, Canada is taking the first step towards the procurement of up to 12 conventionally powered submarines. A larger modernized submarine fleet will help us detect and deter threats on all three coasts, and protect Canadians and Canadian interests.

As we continue such investments, Canada fully expects to reach NATO’s 2% of GDP spending target by 2032. We have built in a regular cycle of review in Canada’s defence, including a new defence policy update in 2028. Through that process, we will continue to explore opportunities that will further increase defence spending and advance Canada’s strategic interests.

Canada expects to reach NATO’s 2% of GDP spending target by 2032. We are committed to a regular cycle of review in Canada’s defence, including a new update in 2028. We will continue to explore opportunities that will further increase defence spending and advance Canada’s strategic interests.

This week, we also landed a new historical agreement between Canada, the United States and Finland to form an enhanced partnership called the ICE Pact. This new arrangement builds on the world-class expertise of our three countries to further strengthen our abilities to produce polar capable vessels to meet the emerging needs for icebreakers in the decades ahead. This is a strategic imperative for us and for our allies.

NATO is more united than ever. Canada is a strong voice within the Alliance for peace, to defend our values, to combat disinformation, to support Ukraine, and to fight against environmental threats with our new Climate Change and Security Centre of Excellence in Montréal.

Again, I want to thank the United States for hosting the summit here in Washington. And I want to thank my friend, the Secretary General of NATO, Jens Stoltenberg, for his steadfast and outstanding leadership and collaboration over the past ten years. I look forward to working with my successor, another friend, Mark Rutte, to further strengthen the Alliance.

Thank you for being here today.