Canada unveils first national security strategy in more than 20 years

Mark Carney, Canada's prime minister and leader of Canada's Liberal Party, during an election night event at TD Place in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, early on Tuesday, April 29, 2025. Canada's Liberal Party is projected to win a fourth consecutive election, giving a mandate to former central banker Carney after a campaign in which he pledged to boost economic growth and stand up to US President Donald Trump in a trade war. Photographer: David Kawai/Bloomberg via Getty Images

WASHINGTON — Canada has released a national security strategy today focused on sovereignty — marking the first time Ottawa has released such a document in more than 20 years.

“Canada stands at a hinge moment in history,” Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney said in a statement today. “The world is increasingly defined by contested borders, authoritarian aggression, and acute global threats. The long-held belief that the combination of our geography, interconnectedness, and a rules-based international order could substitute for Canadian sovereign capacity to protect ourselves is no longer tenable.”

The strategy drives home that Canada “controls its own destiny,” and comes amid tension between Canada and its North American neighbor, the US, over tense trade negotiations. Specifically, the national security policy underscores several key priorities, including a “cooperative, clear-eyed relationship” with the US, and an “innovative” Canadian economy.

“To bolster our sovereignty and national security, we will build long-term economic strength through generational domestic investments,” Carney said. “We will develop a dense web of trading relationships that bolster our strategic capabilities. We will focus our diplomatic efforts on practical cooperation and partnerships that will help us influence the course of global events to serve the interests of Canadians. We will rebuild, rearm, and reinvest in the Canadian Armed Forces.”

Likewise, the proposal emphasizes that Canada aims to foster stability with international partners though a “global system” of partnerships.

“We will broaden our options and build our resilience by diversifying our economic and security ties around the world, including with new partners in the Middle East, Africa and elsewhere,” Carney said in his message.

Canada last released a national security strategy in 2004.

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Notably, the announcement comes less than a week after Canada received its first two F-35 fighter jets on Friday. In March 2025, shortly after Carney assumed his post as prime minister, Ottawa had put a hold on original plans to purchase 88 of the fighter jets due to trade disputes and President Donald Trump’s rhetoric about Canada becoming the 51st US state. Canada so far has purchased 16 F-35 aircraft.

Although Trump has reiterated his intention for Canada to join the US as recently as this month, he said today during a campaign rally in South Carolina that Ottawa has treated the US “extremely nicely recently,” Reuters reported .

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2025年4月29日星期二凌晨，加拿大总理兼自由党领袖马克·卡尼在加拿大安大略省渥太华的TD Place体育馆出席大选之夜活动。加拿大自由党预计将赢得连续第四次大选，赋予前中央银行家卡尼执政的权力。在竞选期间，卡尼承诺将促进经济增长，并在贸易战中对抗美国总统唐纳德·特朗普。摄影：David Kawai/Bloomberg via Getty Images

华盛顿——加拿大今天发布了一份以主权为重点的国家安全战略——这是渥太华20多年来首次发布此类文件。

加拿大总理马克·卡尼今天在一份声明中表示：“加拿大正处于历史的关键时刻。世界日益受到边界争端、威权侵略和严峻全球威胁的影响。长期以来，我们一直认为，凭借加拿大的地理位置、相互联系以及基于规则的国际秩序，可以取代加拿大自身的主权能力来保护自己，但这种想法已经站不住脚了。”

这项战略强调加拿大“掌握自身命运”，而此时正值加拿大与其北美邻国美国因贸易谈判而关系紧张之际。具体而言，该国家安全政策着重强调了几个关键优先事项，包括与美国建立“合作、务实的关系”，以及打造“创新型”加拿大经济。

卡尼表示：“为了加强国家主权和国家安全，我们将通过代际国内投资来建立长期的经济实力。我们将发展密集的贸易关系网络，以增强我们的战略能力。我们将把外交努力集中在务实的合作与伙伴关系上，以帮助我们影响全球局势，从而服务于加拿大人民的利益。我们将重建、重新武装并加大对加拿大武装部队的投入。”

同样，该提案强调，加拿大旨在通过“全球伙伴关系体系”促进与国际伙伴的稳定。

卡尼在致辞中表示：“我们将通过与世界各地的经济和安全关系多元化，包括与中东、非洲和其他地区的新伙伴合作，来拓宽我们的选择并增强我们的韧性。”

加拿大上一次发布国家安全战略是在2004年。

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值得注意的是，就在不到一周前，加拿大刚刚于上周五接收了首批两架F-35战斗机。2025年3月，卡尼就任总理后不久，由于贸易争端以及美国总统特朗普关于加拿大将成为美国第51个州的言论，渥太华暂停了原定购买88架F-35战斗机的计划。迄今为止，加拿大已购买了16架F-35战斗机。

据路透社报道，尽管特朗普本月还重申了他希望加拿大加入美国的意愿，但他今天在南卡罗来纳州的一次竞选集会上表示，渥太华最近对美国“非常友好”。

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