Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney says the careless leaks of classified military programs by senior US officials mean that allies are increasingly “looking for themselves” as their trust with their former allies break.
A day after it was revealed that journalists were mistakenly included in group chats about air strikes against Yemeni rebels, Carney said that the intelligence breach is “a serious and serious issue and we must take all the lessons.” He said it’s important to see how people react to those mistakes and how they tighten them up.
Canada, alongside Australia, New Zealand and the UK, is one of the members of the Five Eyes Intelligence sharing network, and leaks of classified information could put an additional burden on the group as the current US administration takes the handling of top secret information seriously.
The revelation came as Canada tackles a rapidly deteriorating relationship with the US, its biggest trading partner and closest military ally.
“My responsibility is to plan the worst. I think about the most challenging evolution of the new threat environment, what it means for Canada, and how to best protect Canada,” Carney said at a campaign stop on Tuesday. The Prime Minister called for a snap election on Sunday.
“Part of that response is to be increasingly Canadians in our defense capabilities and becoming more and more Canadians in our decisions. We have to look at ourselves.”
Asked about Tuesday’s incident, British military minister Luke Pollard told the Commons Defense Committee that the British service personnel were not at risk as a result.
He added: “All UK service personnel are subject to the usual approach to operational security, and we understand that the Commission does not understand the details of how to maintain involvement in supporting military operations in the Red Sea or elsewhere (safe).
“But we are confident that measures with allies, including the US, will remain the same.”
A spokesman for Prime Minister Keir Starmer spoke at length, describing the contributions Britain will make to joint military operations with the Americans. However, the spokesman refused to directly criticize the European records on defense, the figures of the two most critical of Vice-President JD Vance and Secretary of Defense Pete Hegses. The spokesman also claimed that the UK is happy to share information with the US despite the leak.
The New Zealand government declined to comment on the issue. When asked by parents whether security violations raised concerns about Trump’s administration, New Zealand’s prime minister Christopher Luxon’s job and the sharing of sensitive Intel, Defense Minister Judith Collins said the situation was “a problem with the US administration.”
In closed rooms, government officials may discuss the risks of sharing intelligence with the United States amid what could be seen as a decline in protocol standards, but violations do not break the contract.
“Our relationships transcend individual administrations and individual political leaders. There are things that this government member wants, just like the members of this government. But I think it’s about managing relationships in the long run,” Little said.
So far, New Zealand has been responsible for managing US relations, Little said, but now it has been a “relationship that requires constant vigilance.”
Robert Patman, a professor at the University of Otago in Dunedin, calls security violations “extraordinary” and “cavaliers.” “A lot of us see that many of us feel that Trump chose people according to loyalty and not abilities. This was an almost complete storm waiting for it to happen,” Patman said.
But the broader issue for New Zealand and the other five-eyed nations knew how to respond to the Trump administration’s “radical departure” from a rule-based order. This included territorial claims against liberal democracy and oversight with Russian President Vladimir Putin over negotiations in Ukraine.
“We should be friendly to the Trump administration, where profits are converging, but this administration is fundamentally a challenge to the national interests of (New Zealand).
In Australia, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade said: “This incident is a US issue. Australia and the US are regularly involved in implementing mutually recognized standards for the protection of classified materials.”
Ben Doherty provided additional reports
