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MacKay demands NDP drop candidate over military remarks
Halifax Chronicle-Herald, 8 Sept 08
Article link
OTTAWA – Defence Minister Peter MacKay has called for NDP Leader Jack Layton to fire a Nova Scotia NDP candidate for her behaviour Thursday at a Halifax peace protest.
But the party says the candidate did nothing wrong.
Halifax West NDP candidate Tamara Lorincz was among a group of Halifax Peace Coalition protesters demonstrating outside the Cunard Centre on Marginal Road. They were protesting the DEFSEC Atlantic 2008 exhibition, a trade show for defence contractors.
Ms. Lorincz hollered at some uniformed members of the Canadian Armed Forces as they drove by.
"This is a racket and it should be shut down," she yelled. "We need a peace economy, not a military economy."
That shows that Ms. Lorincz is "unfit for public office," said Mr. MacKay.
"I felt physically ill," he said Sunday in an interview. "I thought it was just one of the most disgusting things I’ve heard in a long time. I honestly believe Jack Layton should pull that woman’s nomination papers."
Mr. Layton did not respond to Mr. MacKay’s attack, and Ms. Lorincz was not available for comment Sunday, but she issued a news release defending her actions.
"I was protesting the presence of major American military contractors’ attempts to influence the type of equipment our Armed Forces purchases," she said. "Our ongoing in mission in Afghanistan is building a military that works in Afghanistan’s deserts and we need our soldiers focusing on peacekeeping and protecting Canadians.
"I was not protesting the Canadian Armed Forces. In fact, I have the utmost respect for the women and men serving our country proudly; and any suggestion that I would purposely offend veterans is clearly politically motivated."
Mr. MacKay said he can’t believe the NDP would harass members of the Forces, and he can’t recall his old rival, former Halifax NDP MP Alexa McDonough, ever behaving like that.
"Obviously, Alexa and I differed on a number of issues, but I can’t ever imagine Alexa McDonough showing that kind of public disdain for our veterans."
Sackville-Eastern Shore MP Peter Stoffer, the NDP veterans affairs critic, said Sunday he wouldn’t approve of someone showing disrespect for members of the Forces, and he believes Ms. Lorincz was not doing that. And Mr. Stoffer said that Mr. MacKay should worry about the record of his government.
"If Mr. MacKay wants to look in the mirror, maybe he wants to revoke his own nomination papers because his government made an awful lot of promises to our veterans and to our military personnel and they’ve failed to keep them," he said.
( smaher@herald.ca)
MacKay demands NDP drop candidate over military remarks
Halifax Chronicle-Herald, 8 Sept 08
Article link
OTTAWA – Defence Minister Peter MacKay has called for NDP Leader Jack Layton to fire a Nova Scotia NDP candidate for her behaviour Thursday at a Halifax peace protest.
But the party says the candidate did nothing wrong.
Halifax West NDP candidate Tamara Lorincz was among a group of Halifax Peace Coalition protesters demonstrating outside the Cunard Centre on Marginal Road. They were protesting the DEFSEC Atlantic 2008 exhibition, a trade show for defence contractors.
Ms. Lorincz hollered at some uniformed members of the Canadian Armed Forces as they drove by.
"This is a racket and it should be shut down," she yelled. "We need a peace economy, not a military economy."
That shows that Ms. Lorincz is "unfit for public office," said Mr. MacKay.
"I felt physically ill," he said Sunday in an interview. "I thought it was just one of the most disgusting things I’ve heard in a long time. I honestly believe Jack Layton should pull that woman’s nomination papers."
Mr. Layton did not respond to Mr. MacKay’s attack, and Ms. Lorincz was not available for comment Sunday, but she issued a news release defending her actions.
"I was protesting the presence of major American military contractors’ attempts to influence the type of equipment our Armed Forces purchases," she said. "Our ongoing in mission in Afghanistan is building a military that works in Afghanistan’s deserts and we need our soldiers focusing on peacekeeping and protecting Canadians.
"I was not protesting the Canadian Armed Forces. In fact, I have the utmost respect for the women and men serving our country proudly; and any suggestion that I would purposely offend veterans is clearly politically motivated."
Mr. MacKay said he can’t believe the NDP would harass members of the Forces, and he can’t recall his old rival, former Halifax NDP MP Alexa McDonough, ever behaving like that.
"Obviously, Alexa and I differed on a number of issues, but I can’t ever imagine Alexa McDonough showing that kind of public disdain for our veterans."
Sackville-Eastern Shore MP Peter Stoffer, the NDP veterans affairs critic, said Sunday he wouldn’t approve of someone showing disrespect for members of the Forces, and he believes Ms. Lorincz was not doing that. And Mr. Stoffer said that Mr. MacKay should worry about the record of his government.
"If Mr. MacKay wants to look in the mirror, maybe he wants to revoke his own nomination papers because his government made an awful lot of promises to our veterans and to our military personnel and they’ve failed to keep them," he said.
( smaher@herald.ca)
