U.S. exits WWII-era defence pact over Canada's "failed" progress
U.S. Undersecretary of War Elbridge Colby said Monday the Pentagon is pausing participation in the Permanent Joint Board on Defence, a Canada-U.S. defence advisory body established in 1940.
The Trump administration is exiting a key Canada-U.S. defence body, citing Canada’s failure to meet defence spending commitments, despite a Mar. 26 claim by the Liberal government that it had reached NATO’s two per cent target.
U.S. Undersecretary of War Elbridge Colby said Monday the Pentagon is pausing participation in the Permanent Joint Board on Defence, a Canada-U.S. defence advisory body established in 1940.
“Only by investing in our own defense capabilities will Americans and Canadians be safe, secure, and prosperous,” Elbridge Colby wrote on X, adding that Canada has not made credible progress on its defence commitments.
The board, made up of senior Canadian and U.S. defence and diplomatic officials, is a key symbol of the bilateral relationship. It was created in 1940 by President Franklin D. Roosevelt and Prime Minister William Lyon Mackenzie King.
Expected to meet annually, the board’s last publicly reported meeting was in Ottawa in November 2024, suggesting it has not met since President Donald Trump returned to office in January 2025.
