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

Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre speaks during a news conference in Vancouver, on Monday, Feb. 3, 2025. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Ethan Cairns

OTTAWA — A Conservative government would built a permanent military base in Nunavut and pay for it by “dramatically cutting” Canada’s foreign aid budget, 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 defending Canada’s Arctic and for search and rescue missions. He said the base would be operational within two years of him becoming prime minister.

“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,” he said.

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.

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

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 said Sunday he would officially announce the tariffs Monday.

Poilievre said that all proceeds from those tariffs “would be given back” to the Canadian steel and aluminum industry, and any surplus would be used for “tax relief.”

Later in his press conference, however, when asked about northern food prices, Poilievre said “every penny” collected by counter-tariffs would be used to reduce other taxes to counter cost-of-living pressures.

By David Baxter

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