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Assemblée parlementaire de l'OTAN
HomeMEDIA RESOURCES200530 September 2005 - NATO PARLIAMENTARIANS VISIT CANADA [Press Release]
30 September 2005 - NATO PARLIAMENTARIANS VISIT CANADA [Press Release]
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The Defence and Security Committee Subcommittee on Transatlantic Security and Defence Cooperation visited Canada from 25-28 September. Led by Subcommittee Chair Sven Mikser (Estonia), the delegation of fifteen members of parliament from member and associate countries met with military commanders, government officials and independent analysts. The delegation also toured several vessels at the Canadian Forces Base in Halifax, Nova Scotia. |
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Most of the discussion focused on Canada's ongoing plan to revitalize its military over the next five years. The government plans to spend an additional 12 billion Canadian dollars over the next 5 years. A significant part of this plan is to increase the active duty force by 5000 and the reserves by 3000. The military is being restructured to better cope with emerging dangers and improve jointness between the services and improve its ability to work with other government ministries that may be involved in security operations. Other meetings focused on the peculiar situation of Canada as a country with a huge land and sea area, middle-sized population and proximity to the United States. The delegation was repeatedly made aware of the consistent efforts of Canada to maintain a distinct foreign and security policy from that of the United States, while at the same time accommodating the reality of the tremendous degree of interdependence between Canada and the United States. The vast majority of Canada's foreign trade is with the US and maintaining a free flow of people and goods across the border is of the highest importance.
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