No plans to invite Canada to join AUKUS: White House

U.S. National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby says there are no plans to re-evaluate the makeup of AUKUS — a trilateral security pact between Australia, the United Kingdom, and the United States — to include Canada.

The creation of AUKUS was announced in September 2021 to help Australia develop nuclear-propelled submarines, as Indo-Pacific countries worked on plans to deal with an increasingly adversarial China.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has said Canada is not in the market for nuclear-powered submarines. Despite this, Defence Minister Anita Anand said last month the federal government would be interested in co-operation with AUKUS members on matters involving quantum computing, artificial intelligence, and other technology, The Canadian Press has reported.

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Meanwhile the Canadian military and other defence experts have raised concerns about Canada being shut out of AUKUS, The Canadian Press has also reported.

But in an interview with CTV’s Question Period airing Sunday, Kirby told host Vassy Kapelos that “people are kind of looking at AUKUS in the wrong ways,” by describing it as an alliance, or “some sort of club” as opposed to simply a “consortium to help Australia develop this particular military capability.”

“We’re simply focused on making sure that (Australia) can get nuclear-powered submarines,” Kirby insisted. “That's where our focus is … and there really aren't discussions right now or plans to modify the AUKUS arrangement in the future.

“I can't be perfectly predictive of where things are going in the Indo-Pacific, but that's what this is focused on,” he added. “And that's where our heads are right now.”

Kirby added that while the U.S. recognizes “Canada as an Indo-Pacific power,” and that “there's a key role for Canada clearly in addressing Indo-Pacific challenges,” that does not include membership in AUKUS at this point.

“I just don't have anything to say on that,” Kirby said. “In terms of what AUKUS could look like going forward, again, we’re really tailoring it towards this nuclear-propelled submarine capability.”

He added the security pact is “just not there yet” in deciding whether it will ever be expanded to include other technologies and capabilities.

Former Canadian national security adviser Vincent Rigby told CTV News that Kirby’s comments are “surprising,” in light of media reports that both Canada and New Zealand would be interested in joining a “second (non-nuclear) pillar of AUKUS” focused on other capabilities, namely in cyber and tech.

Rigby has raised concerns about Canada’s lack of membership in the security pact.

“It begs the question whether Kirby was only referring to the first pillar, focused exclusively on nuclear-powered subs,” Rigby wrote in an email to CTV News on Friday.

“If it turns out that the U.S. has shut the door completely to possible future Canadian membership in AUKUS, it will mean Canada will continue to be left out of a major partnership among Five Eyes Allies while also being denied access to advanced defence technology,” he also wrote. “On both counts, this would be a major blow to Canada.”

With files from CTV’s Question Period Senior Producer Stephanie Ha and The Canadian Press