There are a lot of items within the defence policy review that are under exploration. The government came out and said that if those items were costed and put within the defence policy update, it could arrive at close to a 2% number. We don't know for sure, because it needs to cost out those items and actually create a path and a plan year over year for us to see whether we can arrive at the 2% number. We're under no illusions that it will take decisions, a sort of reconciliation, if you will, among all the aspirations we have as a nation—health care, pharmacare, etc.—and in some cases weighing those against what it would take to meet not only our NATO commitments but that floor of 2% to 2.5% of GDP and, then, what our expectations will be coming back from our partners for that return on investment. I think there are bones in this defence policy that, if actualized, could show a plan for us to get to 2%, but the way in which they are in the exploration phase isn't a plan; it's merely an announcement. We need to do the process of actually costing them out, putting them in a budget framework and then showing how that budget will arrive at 2%—over the next 20 years, for example.
On September 24th, 2024. See this statement in context.