Harjit Sajjan

Senior defence officials have ordered a curb on non-essential activities across the department, as they look to free up millions of dollars for military operations and other more critical tasks.

The Liberal government has taken the next step towards buying 18 Super Hornet fighter jets on an interim basis, a purchase it hopes to make official by year's end.

The U.S. wants information identifying, to the extent possible, who the asylum seekers are, where they came from, what travel documents were in their possession & how they obtained them, Goodale said.

Key questions for Monday's meeting between Defence Minister Harjit Sajjan and his American counterpart: the ongoing commitment to NATO, defence spending levels and peacekeeping operations.

Canada sent about 200 troops to Ukraine in the summer of 2015 to help train government forces, but the mission is set to expire at the end of March.

The options include holding a competition, buying a new warplane without a competition, or purchasing an "interim" aircraft as a stop-gap measure until a future competition.

Defence ministers and senior military officers from various nations gathered in Halifax raise concerns about Trumps impact on global security.

U.K. Defence Secretary Michael Fallon said it's not unusual for an American president to push for other nations to pitch in more on military spending.

The government says the month-long exercise is critical for training Canadian fighter pilots to work alongside allies — and the planes will return to Canada immediately if they are needed.

Canada is sending hundreds of troops to Latvia for the long haul.

The move comes after reports last month that the Liberals were considering buying Boeing Super Hornet fighter jets without a competition.

Obama’s chiding of Canada on its commitment to NATO was one of the few discordant notes in an otherwise friendly visit to Ottawa.

He says the move is designed to show Canadian solidarity with NATO against Russia, which has annexed the Crimean Peninsula in Ukraine and backed pro-Russian separatist forces in that region.

The Department of National Defence will spend $36 million on new training facilities for identifying and disposing of improvised explosive devices and other explosive ordinance.

“Your dad put us in the constitution, gave us a box, but there was nothing in it. You have a chance to fill this void,” said Manitoba Métis Leader David Chartrand.