Canada Shifts Defence Focus, Diversifies Partnerships

0:00I'm Cory with the story, bringing you the latest from Sydney News Today. Canada's Defense Minister David McGuenty says it's unlikely the country will join the Aukas defense pact. Canada had shown interest before in the technology-sharing pillar 2, but now it's shifting focus to deeper bilateral ties with middle-power nations, like Australia. Earlier this week, McGinty explained in an interview that Canada wants to build stronger links, first with countries such as the Philippines, South. Korea, Japan, and India. This comes as Canada seeks more defense deals from non-US suppliers to create some distance in its military relationship with the United States. One key example is last year's $600,500,000 deal to buy Australia's join over the horizon radar system. Canada has also joined a European Union Defense Procurement Program and plans to acquire new conventionally-powered submarines from South Korea or A. German Norwegian partnership. McGinty highlighted Canada's deep continental ties with the U.S., including shared bases

1:04and the NORAD command, but noted they're different from. Australia's setup, he stressed the need to keep Canadians safe by diversifying partnerships and urging middle powers to counterbalance bigger influences like China. Meanwhile, Canada is ramping up defense spending to hit 5% of GDP by the middle of the next decade in line with NATO goals. McGinty was an Australia for talks on security issues, leaving the door open for future shifts on AACAS. This episode is brought to you by our sponsor, see the episode description, comfort, you can hear, sound you can relax into, S-O-L-L-I-SOLIPILO.com.