Canadian and U.S. Defence ministers meet today at Halifax security forum
Posted Nov 18, 2011 05:29:53 AM.
This article is more than 5 years old.
HALIFAX – Defence Minister Peter MacKay will discuss defence and security issues with his American counterpart today in Halifax.
MacKay and U.S. Secretary of Defence Leon Panetta will be meeting at the Halifax International Security Forum.
Their talks come just days after Panetta threatened to cancel the costly F-35 fighter jet program — which both Canada and the U.S. are buying into — unless the Republican-controlled Congress agrees to a series of spending cuts elsewhere in the Pentagon.
Assistant defence minister Julian Fantino has denied the program is on verge of being scrapped south of the border and said Canada has no second thoughts about the F-35.
The Halifax forum, which is in its third year, will also feature a speech by Israeli Defence minister Ehud Barak on Saturday.
Barak was in Ottawa earlier this week where he pressed the international community to boost efforts to block Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons. He warned Canada that all options for deal with Iran were on the table.
Last week, the UN’s atomic watchdog agency said Iran was more than likely on the way to acquiring nuclear weapons. MacKay described the UN report as “stark” and a potential wake up call for the international community.
