Canada has been accused by its allies of being a slacker when it comes to defence spending—and with some justification. As a member of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), we committed to spending 2 percent of our GDP on defence. We are currently at about 1.4 percent.

Recently the pressure to up our game has intensified. Russia has decided to bring the fear of continental war back to Europe. Meanwhile the U.S. has said it is tired of bearing too much of the military burden and if its fellow member don’t ante up it will leave Europe to the mercy of Putin. Aside from Europe, we now have a threat closer to home with the U.S. President making noises about annexing us.

Our new Liberal government has leapt to the challenge. Prime Minister Carney has laid out a new vision for Canada’s national defence, saying the 2 per cent target will be met this fiscal year. The recent federal budget proposes an $81.8 billion increase in defence spending over five years “to rebuild, rearm, and reinvest in the Canadian Armed Forces.” This includes an increase of over $9 billion to help meet the 2 percent target this year and to set the foundation for reaching a target of 5 percent of GDP by 2035. 

Quite the muscling up, perhaps with a nod to Trump’s musing about a 51st state. Finance Minister François-Philippe Champagne touted the new budget as “a blueprint to defend our sovereignty.”

Canada did spend 2 percent of its GDP on defence in the past. Then the Cold War ended. The Berlin Wall crumbled and the Soviet Union collapsed under its own dead weight taking the Warsaw Pact with it. NATO had won without a shot fired.

The result was what some pronounced a “peace dividend.” We could now spend our money in more constructive ways. Within a decade our defence spending dropped from 2 percent of our GDP to one percent. The “dividend” helped us balance our budget, finance tax cuts, and expand our social safety net. It also helped pay for foreign aid, to meet our moral responsibilities to those around the world less fortunate than us.

And that brings to mind another target we have failed to meet. Back in 1970, in accordance with a goal endorsed by the UN General Assembly, we committed to spending 0.7% of our GDP on foreign aid. Currently we spend about half that.

And we have now decided to spend even less. The federal budget forecasts $2.7 billion in cuts to our foreign aid over four years, while also making deep cuts to Global Affairs, i.e our diplomatic corp.

We are not alone. A number of Western countries, including the U.K., France and Germany, are also retreating from their responsibilities. And, of course, the Trump administration dissolved USAID, its aid agency, rescinding billions in assistance it had previously committed.

Aside from morally irresponsible, this might seem short-sighted considering we are desperately seeking to improve our relations, particularly on trade, with countries across the globe, as the U.S. becomes an increasingly unstable partner.

As a small country now threatened by a great power we need all the friends we can get, and development aid is an investment in our collective security. It also helps to maintain a more equitable world and therefore a more stable and safer world.

Prime Minister Carney’s campaign slogan, the central theme of his government’s Throne Speech, and the title of the recent budget was build “Canada Strong.” To build Canada strong we should not forget abut our soft power even as we ramp up our hard power. Exercised through foreign aid and diplomacy it has always been a key source of our global strength and influence. To quote Carleton University professor of international affairs Valerie Percival, “In an increasingly complex world, Canada’s aid program is not a nice to have—it’s a need to have.” We need to meet that 0.7 percent.