I am not opposed to those sorts of operations, but many of those operations pre-date the current Liberal government. (And its not like Canada is spearheading any of these initiatives.)
under the Liberal government, significant commitments in Iraq and the Baltic... Operation Impact playing important roles in Iraq, Jordan, and Lebanon; almost 600 troops in Latvia leading one of 3 NATO battle-groups.
in any case, back to the original theme, towards meeting the NATO 2% GDP commitment on military spending, Canada (and other countries) get no allowance/consideration for troops/monies deployed in service of NATO initiatives.
The U.S. spends so much on defense that, even if they took out the cost of the cost guard or veterans programs, they would still probably greatly exceed the 2% standard.
of course; however, the reference was not offered in that regard... it was simply to showcase yet another disparity in how calculations are made by some countries in how they calculate that said 2% commitment. There are clearly no standards, guidelines, rules, etc., for countries to follow in their calculations; more pointedly, there is no actual NATO "audit" of any measures and money figures respective countries put forward.
Plus, lets face it... even the government itself doesn't seem to be making the argument that "we meet our defense spending through border patrol and search and rescue".
not to that granular level - no! However, when that imbecile Trump was on his tirade over NATO spending, PM Trudeau pushed back several times when questioned by weak/lame-assed media looking to foment a "dust-up" between Canada/PM Trudeau & the U.S./imbecile Trump who perpetually and ignorantly spoke of, "NATO invoices... and the U.S. expecting a refund"!
PM Trudeau: "I think the two per cent metric is an easy shorthand … it is a very specific and, to a certain extent, limited tool".
However, Trudeau said he considers tangible and consistent resources and leadership, which Canada continues to demonstrate, to be more important. "Ultimately, the more important metrics are always, ‘Are countries stepping up consistently with the capacities that NATO needs? Are we leading in different opportunities? Are we contributing the kinds of resources and demonstrating the kind of commitment to the alliance that always needs to be there?" His message, of course, is that in Canada’s case, the answer is yes.