The NSPS costs 54% more than the entire 2012 Canada defence budget of $22.8 billion! See Table 1, Public Accounts of Canada, Volume II, 2012.
On January 25th, Tamara Lorincz stood in front the eternal flame of Canada's Parliament at noon with her signs: 'No Warships, Green Jobs Now' and 'Action on Poverty and Climate Change, No Warships'. I joined her protest and got 14 photos.
Lorincz also delivered open letters to all the political leaders: Stephen Harper, Thomas Mulcair, Bob Rae and Elizabeth May, calling on them to reverse their support for the warship contract. 'Sadly,' she says, all four political parties have supported the National Shipbuilding Procurement Strategy'. Those letters are posted on Lorincz's web site Demilitarize.ca
The National Shipbuilding Procurement Strategy is the largest defence procurement in Canadian history. Lorincz believes that the federal government should be spending Canadian tax dollars on urgent social and environmental needs not on warships. Lorincz predicts that the warship contract will be 'in much worse' financial risk than the stealth fighter fiasco F-35.
Over the past year, Lorincz has written letters to the editor, met with Members of Parliament, handed out hundreds of fact sheets, organised events to denounce Canada's Shipbuilding Procurement Strategy, but realized that it wasn't enough. So, beginning on December 19, 2012, she decided to protest every Wednesday from 12:00-1:00 p.m., at the entrance to Irving Shipyard, while it is still light and while her two boys (6 and 8) are in school. See: Wednesdays Against Warships Blog.
- I was really glad to be out there standing for peace even in the cold, pouring rain. I thought about the brave women and men on Jeju Island, South Korea who have been arrested, threatened and imprisoned trying to stop the building of a naval base on their UNESCO world heritage island. Go to their web site to learn more about their brave five year struggle Save Jeju Now. I thought of my friends in the Global Network Against Nuclear Power and Weapons in Space who protest every week outside the shipyard in Bath, Maine that manufactures the Aegis destroyers for the U.S. I thought of my friends in England with the Campaign for the Accountability of American Bases. They have protested against the American spy base Menwith Hill for 20 years. I thought of the committed folks in Wolfville who stand for peace outside the post office every Saturday. They just passed their 10-year anniversary!
- I'm in solidarity with all the courageous and compassionate people in the world who are striving for a world without weapons and war and who want to create a culture of peace and sustainability.
Tamara Lorincz is a small lady, a lawyer and environmentalist, with a strong elegant voice. She has degrees in business and law, certificates in Environmental Law and Environmental Management. She is a member of the Nova Scotia Voice of Women for Peace, the Halifax Peace Coalition, the Ecology Action Centre, Sierra Club of Canada-Atlantic Chapter; and is on the national board of the Canadian Voice of Women, and on the international advisory committee of the Global Network Against Nuclear Power and Weapons in Space with Dr. Helen Caldicott.
I first met Tamara Lorincz May 27-28, 2009 at Lansdowne Park, Ottawa, where a peace coalition protested the holding of CANSEC — Canada's largest arms bazaar. Lorincz was there with her sign 'Canada's War in Afghanistan — Illegal and Immoral'. I wrote about her as a person who persistently and courageously expressed her heart-felt rage by confronting from the sidelines military, embassy, business and other persons who entered the gates of CANSEC with the following:
I first met Tamara Lorincz May 27-28, 2009 at Lansdowne Park, Ottawa, where a peace coalition protested the holding of CANSEC — Canada's largest arms bazaar. Lorincz was there with her sign 'Canada's War in Afghanistan — Illegal and Immoral'. I wrote about her as a person who persistently and courageously expressed her heart-felt rage by confronting from the sidelines military, embassy, business and other persons who entered the gates of CANSEC with the following:
- 'The arms show is a racket. It is a sham!'
- 'It's bad for the kids and it's bad for the environment, and it should be shut down.'
- 'The arms show is wrong! This is a shameful racket!'
When asked why she persists when so few people come around, Tamara Lorincz said that her conscience leaves her with no other choice. Like Martin Luther King Jr. on his Beyond Vietnam speech April 4, 1967, she felt that 'a time comes when silence is betrayal'.
See her 11-minute video talk at: Global Network Against Weapons and Nuclear Power in Space, Cachcia Hall, Merrimack College, North Andover, Massachusetts USA, June 18, 2011.
Listen to her 9-minute radio interview: Wednesdays against Warships protest, 'Maritime Morning' with Jordi Morgan, 95.7 FM , January 2, 2013. She explains that big money spent in the U.S. could employ many more Canadians to repair our infrastructure and provide early education to develop our future generations. 'Tackling climate change and tackling poverty — those should be our priorities.' Discussion follows.
Hear a longer interview online: No to War Ships, Yes to Climate Action and Affordable Housing: An Interview with Tamara Lorincz, (23 minutes, audio file type: ogg) January 15, 2013
See her 11-minute video talk at: Global Network Against Weapons and Nuclear Power in Space, Cachcia Hall, Merrimack College, North Andover, Massachusetts USA, June 18, 2011.
Listen to her 9-minute radio interview: Wednesdays against Warships protest, 'Maritime Morning' with Jordi Morgan, 95.7 FM , January 2, 2013. She explains that big money spent in the U.S. could employ many more Canadians to repair our infrastructure and provide early education to develop our future generations. 'Tackling climate change and tackling poverty — those should be our priorities.' Discussion follows.
Hear a longer interview online: No to War Ships, Yes to Climate Action and Affordable Housing: An Interview with Tamara Lorincz, (23 minutes, audio file type: ogg) January 15, 2013
The message is clear. The building of combat warships must stop and alternatives must be found for militarism and military spending. [How about the Canadian Dept. of Peace Initiative and Centre for Global Nonkilling?] 'Who is the 'enemy'? Why are the politicians creating an atmosphere of fear with their propaganda? Let's 'stop inventing enemies', as Robert C. Koehler wrote in an article about the U.S.A. on 'Controlling Lucifer'. Canada's Prime Minister Harper ought to know that the Cold War is over. Let's work together nonviolently with Russians, Norwegians, Americans and others in northern development.
In sum, 'the federal government should sink the combat warship strategy,' she advised. Here, here!
By Tamara Lorincz
- Rethinking Development: Outcomes and Follow-Up, December 16, 2005
- NSEN Statement, Nova Scotia Environmental Network, December 12, 2008
- Mother's Day is peace day, May 10, 2009
- TamaraLorincz.ca, November 2009
- Suspended Afghan MP speaks out: Malalai Joya writes A Woman Among Warlords, January 17, 2010
- The Black Book of Canadian Foreign Policy, February 2010
- Ottawa off course on jets, December 12, 2010
- Global Network Against Weapons and Nuclear Power in Space, June 18, 2011.
- Sink the ship strategy, September 12, 2011
- Delay decision on old Halifax West site, November 7, 2011
- Canada treats the world badly, November 11, 2012
- City should rethink use of public lands, January 9, 2012
- The Passion for Peace, February 17, 2012
- Healthy environment a ‘right’, February 19, 2012
- Press Release - Canadian Voice Of Women For Peace Opposes Harper’s Radical Bill C-38, June 13, 2012
- War resister Tamara Lorincz, radio interview, Rick Howe Show, News 88.9, 5 pm, September 19, 2012 (Off line)
- Charting a dangerous course: Canada’s new International Policy Statement, November 9, 2012
- Tamara Lorincz interview, (minute 7-16) radio, Rick Howe Show, News 88.9, 5 pm, 4 pm, November 16, 2012
- Don't be Idle = Stand for Peace; Write for Peace on Dec. 26 at noon, December 24, 2012
- Don’t be idle, December 31, 2012
- Wednesdays against Warships protest, interview, 95.7 FM radio, Maritime Morning, January 2, 2013
- No to War Ships, Yes to Climate Action and Affordable Housing: An Interview with Tamara Lorincz, (23 minutes, audio file type: ogg) January 15, 2013
- Canadian warships should get out of the Middle East, says peace activist, Press Release, January 16, 2013
- Canadian warships should get out of the Middle East, says peace activist, January 17, 2013
- Canadian warships should get out of the Middle East: Peace activist, January 25, 2013
About Tamara Lorincz
- Defence Industry Cheers; Protest over Lockheed's $16 billion contract, September 10, 2010
- Wikileaks reveals intense PR push to sell US war planes; NS activists urge MacKay to cancel plan to buy F-35s, December 18, 2010
- 'We can have it all': Fairview residents prepare to fight for public land, May 17, 2011
- Area residents ready to fight development proposed for former Halifax West site, October 20, 2011
- Should Halifax West site go to community or private development?, October 25, 2011
- Council OKs development in Fairview, November 16, 2011
- F-35 jet purchase fought by few, January 19, 2012
- Where have all the peaceniks gone?, August 23, 2012
- Two-day Halifax security forum cost $2.49 million, November 19, 2012
- Protesters slam security session, November 20, 2011
- Irving contract must shape up, or ship out – activist, December 5, 2012
- Need for new warships questioned, December 7, 2012
- Peace activist launches weekly protest against warships, Press Release, December 19, 2012
- Protests Start Here, December 20, 1912
- Halifax activist's protest against shipbuilding contract growing in numbers, January 9, 2013
- Woman protests building of war ships in Halifax, Evening News video, January 9, 2013
- An Unpopular Fight : Ditch the warships, opt for green jobs, affordable housing and early education, January 15, 2013
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