OTTAWA — Prime Minister Mark Carney’s military buildup threatens women and the environment while diverting resources during a poverty crisis, peace activist Tamara Lorincz warned Monday.Lorincz, a senior researcher with the Canadian Voice of Women for Peace, used a Parliament Hill news conference to condemn Ottawa’s rising defence spending, expansion of domestic weapons production and efforts to increase military exports.“We are here on Parliament Hill in Ottawa, as the House of Commons resumes, to express our deep concern about the dangerous, carbon-intensive militarization of our economy and foreign policy by the Liberal government led by Prime Minister Carney,” Lorincz said.“We are opposed to the federal government’s plan to rebuild, rearm and reinvest in the Canadian military, and to increase military spending and domestic weapons production.”Lorincz also accused the government of planning to “double arms exports” through the Defence Investment Agency and Defence Industrial Strategy..The government’s published strategy sets a lower target, calling for Canadian defence exports to increase by 50% over the next decade. It also aims to create 125,000 jobs, increase the proportion of defence contracts awarded to Canadian companies and expand domestic military production.“We believe that this plan of remilitarization poses a grave threat to women, the climate and the environment, and risks more armed conflict,” Lorincz said.“We are alarmed by the rise of Canada’s military spending while our country is in a poverty crisis and a climate emergency.”The Carney government has committed Canada to spending the equivalent of 5% of gross domestic product on defence and related security infrastructure by 2035. Ottawa says it reached NATO’s previous 2% benchmark in the 2025-26 fiscal year, representing approximately $63 billion in spending.The government has also allocated $81.8 billion over 10 years toward rebuilding the Canadian Armed Forces and developing the domestic defence industry.Carney has argued that Canada spent too little on defence for decades and became overly dependent on its geography and foreign allies for protection.The Defence Investment Agency was established to centralize and accelerate military procurement, while the Defence Industrial Strategy directs more federal contracts toward Canadian companies and supports the sale of Canadian military products abroad.The government says the strategy is necessary to protect Canadian sovereignty, equip the Armed Forces and strengthen the economy amid a more dangerous international environment
