The call by the Trump administration for all members of NATO to pay their full share for running the organization comes as no surprise to Selkirk-Interlake-Eastman MP James Bezan.

He's the Opposition defence critic, and says it was expected because of what was said during the American election campaign. He sees this as important, to ensure NATO continues in an effective way.

"Things have changed over the last couple of years. We are dealing with a much more aggressive Russia. Canada has always been a major contributor to NATO, but now it's time to make sure that we are spending this 2% of GDP on our military."

Bezan notes only 5 NATO countries spend that much on their military, and Canada's contribution is 23rd of 28.

"Under the Liberals, now, we are spending less than 1% of GDP on our military. In the last budget, we saw the Liberals cut 3.7 billion dollars from the capital budget for purchasing and procuring military equipment. We need to have better planning on how we move forward in making sure that out troops always have equipment that is ready to go into theatre."