U.S. President Donald Trump announced Tuesday aspects of his plan for a "Golden Dome" missile defence shield and said "it automatically makes sense" for Canada to be involved.
"Canada has called us and they want to be a part of it," Trump said. "So we'll be talking to them. They want to have protection also, so as usual we help Canada.”
The president claims the complex multilayered system will cost $175 billion and that it will be completed within his term, which ends in 2029. He said it will "deploy next generation technologies across the land, sea and space, including space-based sensors and interceptors."
Trump said the system will be able to intercept missiles launched from the other side of the world, or from space.
Trump campaigned on a plan to create a "Golden Dome," based on Israel's "Iron Dome" defence network — but some critics have said it would be too costly and too difficult to deploy over such a large land mass.
Despite Trump's cost claims, the Congressional Budget Office estimated earlier this month that the space-based components of the program could alone cost as much as $542 billion over the next 20 years.
Trump said Tuesday his administration will work with Canada on "pricing" and "they’ll pay their fair share."
“We are dealing with them on pricing. They know about it very much," he said.
The Prime Minister's Office said in a statement that Canadians gave Prime Minister Mark Carney "a strong mandate to negotiate a comprehensive new security and economic relationship with the United States."
"To that end, the prime minister and his ministers are having wide-ranging and constructive discussions with their American counterparts," the statement said. "These discussions naturally include strengthening Norad and related initiatives such as the Golden Dome."
Canada and the United States already work together through the North American Aerospace Defense Command, or Norad. It's unclear what role Canada would play in the "Golden Dome" or what price tag would accompany the collaboration.
Canada has long been criticized by multiple U.S. administrations for not meeting the NATO membership defence spending target.
Trump has repeatedly claimed the U.S. protects Canada and has called for more Arctic security to push back on an increase in Russian and Chinese presence in the region. Some experts have said the president's threats of annexation toward Greenland and Canada are partially rooted in Arctic concerns.
Ottawa has also indicated the need to expand its defence investing. Carney has pledged to hit that NATO target — the equivalent of two per cent of gross domestic product — by 2030.
In March, Carney announced a $6 billion radar purchase from Australia and an expansion of military operations in the Arctic. The Over-the-Horizon Radar system is expected to provide early warning radar coverage from the Canada-United States border into the Arctic, the prime minister's office said at the time.
Last year's defence policy update committed to an investment in integrated air and missile defence.
Trump seemed to take notice of Canada's efforts during a meeting with Carney at the White House earlier this month. The president said "Canada is stepping up the military participation."
Picture Courtesy: AP Photo/Alex Brandon
