Well, howdy there, Internet people, it's Bell again.

So today, we're going to talk about a U.S. lawmaker, wanting $300 billion from Canada.

Over the weekend at the Halifax International Security Forum,

Senator Tom Tillis of North Carolina seemed to dismiss Canada's move

to up its defense spending in support of NATO and simultaneously dismiss Canada's contributions

to the United States. The whole thing started with Canadian Defense Minister David McGinty, talking about how the country

is on track to hit NATO's target defense expenditure by the end of the fiscal year. At one point,

saying, quote, we are rebuilding, re-arming, and reinvesting in the Canadian Armed Forces on a massive scale and at speed.

We're making generational investments into our security, our sovereignty, and our resilience.

Senator Tillis said, quote,

Can we do a make-up payment for the 20 years of shortfalls as well?

And then went on to say,

It's fine to say you're about to catch up,

but it's not fun to look past a 300 billion shortfall.

And then later, he recalled a meeting with Trudeau, saying, quote,

I said, Mr. Trudeau. I've looked back over the last 20 years, and every prime minister has said the same thing. We're going to get to it,

and they never got to it. As a result, there's a 300 billion shortfall in our mutual defense over the last 20 years.

The idea that Canada isn't pulling its weight when it comes to NATO is laughable.

Unless you think about it too much, then it becomes insulting.

When it comes to commitment to NATO,

Article 5 has only been invoked once by the United States, and Canada came to our defense.

Thousands of Canadians were wounded and more than 150 were lost fighting our war in Afghanistan.

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