The Globe and Mail reports in its Friday edition that the United States government decided to freeze a joint defence board with Canada due to Ottawa's lack of a detailed strategy for increasing military spending to 5 per cent of GDP by 2035 and its reconsideration of purchasing Lockheed Martin's F-35 fighter jets. The Globe's Adrian Morrow writes that Elbridge Colby, the U.S. undersecretary of defence for policy, announced that Canada had "failed to make credible progress on its defence commitments." Both Prime Minister Mark Carney and Defence Minister David McGuinty have pushed back on Mr. Colby's criticism. Last year, Canada fulfilled its NATO commitment to spend 2 per cent of gross domestic product on defence and announced $80-billion of new money for the military over five years. Mr. Carney downplayed the significance of the board established in 1940. Former Conservative Party leader Erin O'Toole said the F-35 is the best aircraft for Canada's needs, but that the government should not go through with the purchase while Mr. Trump maintains punitive tariffs on Canadian steel, aluminum, autos and other products. "The reality is, why would we say that we're buying that when we're being treated this way?" he said.