Amidst Donald Trump’s belligerence Canada continues to assist the US military and arms industry. In response to the president’s hostility, Canada should cancel the Lockheed Martin F-35 contract, end officer exchanges, and cease our participation in NORAD’s missile defence program.

Recently, outgoing Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said Trump wants to sabotage Canada’s economy in a bid to annex this country. “What he wants is to see a total collapse of the Canadian economy,” Trudeau said, “because that’ll make it easier to annex us.” Subsequently, the New York Times reported that Trump told Trudeau he wants to redraw the international boundary between Canada and the US.

Many Canadian media personalities have reacted to Trump’s threats by calling for a big boost in military spending. The National Observer’s lead columnist Max Fawcett recently said, “it’s probably time for Canada to bump its military spending to 5% of GDP,” while commentator Dean Blundell noted, “Canada needs to re-arm, recruit and sign strategic security deals worldwide while figuring out how to get the [atomic] bomb.” During the recent Liberal leadership debate both Chrystia Freeland and Karina Gould criticized eventual winner Mark Carney for not committing to their plan to boost military spending to two percent of GDP in two years (Carney committed to five years).

While each have slightly different arguments for jacking up defence spending, there is no credible anti-Trump, nationalist, argument for boosting the military that does not include decoupling from the US war machine. As I detail in Stand on Guard for Whom: A People’s History of the Canadian Military, Canada’s armed forces act as a virtual extension of the US empire. Last month, Université du Québec à Montréal political science professor Justin Massie told Le Devoir, “Our forces are designed like Lego bricks that fit into another piece.” A Canadian battalion, he noted, is designed to be inserted into a US or international brigade. “We have a sample army to ‘patch’ holes,” Massie added.

The man seeking to annex Canada appears to agree. Trump has repeatedly demanded that Ottawa increase military spending, and criticized Canada for being too dependent on the US for security.

Instead of echoing Trump’s call to increase military spending on a force structured to assist the Pentagon, Canadian nationalists should oppose paying $19 billion to US arms giant Lockheed Martin for fighter jets so Canada’s air force can be “interoperable” with its US counterpart. The US controls the F-35s software and hardware upgrades required to continue operating the planes. As a result, some have suggested the US will effectively have a “kill switch” on Canada’s purchase, which will cost an estimated $70 billion over the life of the planes.

During a press conference last week, Bloc Québécois leader Yves Francois-Blanchet told me that he is open to cancelling the fighter jet deal in response to Trump’s belligerence. For his part, former Liberal Foreign Affairs Minister Lloyd Axworthy added his voice to a rapidly growing number of Canadians speaking out on the jet deal. Since March 11, over 4,000 individuals have emailed new Prime Minister Mark Carney to call on him to end the contract for the offensive, nuclear-weapons-capable airplanes.

As US Pres threatens to annex ?? Ottawa is set to pay a US arms giant $19B for fighter jets so ?? military can better assist US empire. Today Bloc Québécois leader ⁦@yfblanchet⁩ told me he’s open to canceling Lockheed Martin F35 contract in response to Trump’s belligerence pic.twitter.com/bMnX9StrxT

— Yves Engler (@EnglerYves) March 11, 2025

So far, however, the NDP is not willing to even consider cancelling the contract. On February 25 I asked Jagmeet Singh if he’d support nullifying it as part of his plan to take a hard line with Trump. The NDP leader refused to answer directly.

It should not be controversial to reconsider a $19 billion outlay to a US military giant as a retaliatory measure against an annexationist president’s economic siege. Halting the payment would send a message to the most powerful arms firm in the US. It would also communicate a firm position to the Pentagon since Canada chose the F-35 largely to be more “interoperable” with the US Air Force.

According to the Department of National Defence, there are “80 treaty-level agreements, more than 250 memoranda of understanding, and 145 bilateral forums on defence” between the Canadian and American militaries. Ottawa should pause or cancel some of these accords to communicate disapproval with US trade and annexation threats. Under NORAD the Colorado-based US commander of the accord could deploy Canadian fighter jets based in this country without any express Canadian endorsement. Instead of continuing the Liberals’ plan to spend tens of billions of dollars on bolstering NORAD, shouldn’t we be questioning Canada’s participation in the accord?

While pulling out of NORAD may be a step too far for most Canadian politicians, there are a host of less controversial, cost-free measures Ottawa can adopt to signal displeasure to the Pentagon. How about a pause in officer exchanges until Trump stops threatening annexation? Or what about halting US arms testing in Canada until the president stops his trade war and tariff threats? Or how about discontinuing joint naval patrols in far-flung oceans until Trump stops referring to Canada’s prime minister as governor of his fantastical 51st state?

It makes little sense to remain integrated with the military of a hostile country whose president wants to annex Canada

Please take a minute to ask new Liberal Prime Minister Mark Carney to halt plans to buy F-35s.

Yves Engler has been dubbed “one of the most important voices on the Canadian Left today” (Briarpatch), “in the mould of I.F. Stone” (Globe and Mail), and “part of that rare but growing group of social critics unafraid to confront Canada’s self-satisfied myths” (Quill & Quire). He has published nine books.