Poilievre promises a military base in Iqaluit, would cut foreign aid to pay for it

OTTAWA — A Conservative government would build a permanent military base in Nunavut and pay for it by “dramatically cutting” Canada’s foreign aid budget, party leader Pierre Poilievre said Monday in Iqaluit.

Speaking at a press conference, Poilievre said CFB Iqaluit would serve as a base for Royal Canadian Air Force operations in the Arctic and for search and rescue missions. He said the base would be operational within two years of his Conservatives being elected to government.

“One hundred per cent of the cost of the base will come from the foreign aid budget,” he said. “In fact, today’s announcement will actually reduce the deficit because I plan to cut foreign aid more than the full cost of the announcement that I’ve made today.”

According to a parliamentary report tabled last year, Canada spent $15.5 billion on foreign aid in the 2022-23 fiscal year. That included international assistance in conflict zones like Ukraine, Gaza and Sudan, along with Canada’s response to large-scale climate disasters.

Poilievre criticized foreign aid spending, saying much of it goes to “dictators, terrorists and global bureaucracies.”

“We’ve got our own problems at home. We have our own backyard to protect,” he said.

When asked what the Conservative leader meant by his reference to “dictators” and “terrorists,” Sebastian Skamski, Poilievre’s spokesperson, pointed to a speech Poilievre gave to the Conservative caucus in January 2024.

In that speech, Poilievre criticized the government for helping to fund the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA).

Multiple countries, including Canada, paused funding for UNRWA last year in response to claims that some of the agencies’ employees took part in the Hamas-led Oct. 7, 2023 attack on Israel.

Last year, UNRWA investigated 19 staff members after claims were raised about their alleged connections to Hamas. In August 2024, UNRWA said that while the allegations against 10 of the staff members could not be substantiated, it was terminating the employment of nine of the employees because evidence suggested they “may have been involved” in the Oct. 7 attack.

The Canadian government gave UNRWA $39 million in 2023. It restored its 2024 payments after seeing an interim report looking into the allegations about alleged UNRWA ties to Hamas.

Poilievre did not offer a concrete estimate of the total size of his proposed “massive” cut to the foreign aid budget.

Nunavut Premier P.J. Akeeagok said in a statement Monday afternoon that he is “heartened” to see political interest in the Arctic, but reminds Poilievre that decisions about the region can’t occur without “significant input” from northerners.

During his press conference, Poilievre said local residents and Inuit groups would be consulted on the construction of the new base.

Akeeagok said it’s more important “than ever” to make significant Arctic investments as the region’s geopolitical profile rises, and to ensure that community needs are met in the process.

Poilievre said Monday’s announcement is only part of his Arctic strategy and he will have more to say on other issues, like the regional economy, in the future.

Canada’s military operates several outposts and training centres in the North.

Poilievre also pledged to double the number of Canadian Rangers to 4,000 and to purchase four heavy icebreakers — two each for the Canadian Coast Guard and Royal Canadian Navy.

The government announced construction of two new icebreakers for the Coast Guard last year; those projects are currently listed as in the design phase.

Poilievre said those Coast Guard vessels will be complete by 2029 if he becomes prime minister.

The Conservative leader said his Arctic defence strategy is being driven by a number of foreign threats, including the growing presence of Russian military units and Chinese vessels in the region.

Poilievre said he supports current Norad modernization initiatives and would continue that work if his party is elected, but added that Canada can no longer count on the U.S. to protect the Canadian Arctic.

“We cannot rely on the Americans to do it for us anymore. This is the reality, this is the wake-up call,” Poilievre said.

Poilievre also said he would respond to U.S. President Donald Trump’s threatened 25 per cent tariffs on aluminum and steel imports with matching retaliatory tariffs on American steel and aluminum.

Trump announced the tariffs later Monday, saying they would start in March.

Poilievre’s office tells The Canadian Press all revenue collected from counter-tariffs must be used to help affected industries and the workers in them, as well as to cut taxes.

In addition to this, Poilievre’s office says none of the money should stay in government coffers, nor be used by the current Liberal government on “other priorities.”

— With files from Dylan Robertson.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Feb. 10, 2025

David Baxter, The Canadian Press