Massive increase in military spending imposed by U.S. with little media pushback [video]

Ottawa’s multibillion dollar increase in military spending has been met with practically no pushback from mainstream media, even as the federal government shifts funding from public services to American war contractors under an increasingly belligerent Trump administration.

That was one of the takeaways from a recent talk by Alex Cosh, managing editor of The Maple, during the NB Media Co-op’s 17th annual keynote address, titled Silencing Dissent on the Military-Industrial Complex.

Full talk by Alex Cosh, managing editor of The Maple:

“What we’re witnessing at the moment is the beginning of a massively accelerated transfer of wealth towards the global war industry,” Cosh said during the talk, which took place on Sept. 23 via Zoom.

“Given the huge sums involved, and especially given the Carney government’s very corporate-friendly disposition, we’re almost certainly going to see more of these funds drawn away from public services in the coming years.”

In January 2025, Prime Minister Mark Carney announced that Canada would join other NATO countries in committing five per cent of gross domestic product annually towards military spending by 2035.

That’s more than double the current level of military spending, which already reflects a $9 billion increase under the Carney government at a time when other federal departments face budget cuts.

Proponents of this approach sometimes argue that it’s “necessary to defend Canadian sovereignty against Donald Trump’s recent threats against Canada,” said Cosh, who frequently writes about the military-industrial complex for The Maple.

“The reality however, is that this drive is actually being pushed by the Americans and will largely benefit American war contractors and policy makers,” Cosh said.

He said the new spending targets meant to appease the U.S. and to remain “firmly in lockstep with the American Empire and its campaigns of aggression around the world.”

For example, he noted that Carney expressed support, “albeit with a few caveats,” for the U.S. and Israel after they launched the ongoing war against Iran in late February.

In the opening hours of that war, more than 150 civilians were killed in the Minab school attack, including 120 schoolchildren and a pregnant woman.

Against this backdrop, Cosh said, “legacy media has kept itself firmly in line with calls to massively increase war spending.”

Exceptions include an article in the Globe & Mail last year in which Jason Kenney, who served as Minister of National Defence under the Harper government, expressed doubt about the new NATO spending targets.

“Even though I’m a defence and security hawk, I have to express a degree of skepticism about the new 5 per cent target that’s suggesting all of NATO should be back to full Cold War levels of spending,” Kenney said at the time.

“You’d be very hard-pressed to find any such voices of dissent now,” Cosh said.

He also noted that critical independent outlets including The Maple and The Breach were recently barred from access to the CANSEC military trade show in Ottawa.

Guests at that event included Premier Susan Holt, who met with military contractors and promoted New Brunswick as “uniquely positioned to seize the generational opportunities arising from Canada’s focus on defence investments.”

David Gordon Koch is a staff reporter with the NB Media Co-op. This reporting has been made possible in part by the Government of Canada, via the Local Journalism Initiative.