Ottawa, ON – Bob Zimmer, Conservative Shadow Minister for Northern Affairs and Arctic Sovereignty; Canadian Northern Economic Development Agency, the Hon. Kerry-Lynne Findlay, Conservative Shadow Minister for National Defence, and Pierre Paul-Hus Conservative Shadow Minister for Public Services and Procurement, released the following statement in response to the NDP-Liberal budget: 

“Despite earlier hints from the Prime Minister and promises of ‘robust’ investments by the Minister of Defence, the NDP-Liberal budget contained no new commitments to defend our Arctic sovereignty and security. 

“Instead, all Canadians got was a reannouncement from Budget 2021 and vague promises to ‘consider options’ for modernizing NORAD. The Liberal-NDP government promised a review of defence spending, but there are no timelines or plans for when this review will take place, nor any indication of how much funding will eventually go towards protecting our northern border.  

“For years, military experts have been warning Trudeau’s Liberal government that Canada needs to boost its defence capabilities in the North to counter the Arctic aspirations of Russia and China. With Russia’s illegal invasion of Ukraine, it is clear that the world has changed and we can no longer take our Arctic sovereignty and security for granted.  

“What we needed from this NDP-Liberal budget was an understanding that urgent action and firm commitments are required to match today’s geopolitical realities. The fact that the budget contains neither of these is unacceptable and further shows that Justin Trudeau still does not take this issue seriously. 

“Conservatives will continue to call on the NDP-Liberal government to put forward a robust plan to defend Canada’s Arctic sovereignty and security.”