Essay On Spies In Canada

On Sept. 5, 1945, just three days after the official end of World War II, Igor Gouzenko, a cipher clerk who worked at the Soviet Embassy in Ottawa, Canada, put his life and his family’s lives at severe risk by revealing 109 documents proving a Soviet spy network functioning, throughout several government departments in Canada, Britain and the United States. His defection is known as the first publicly recognized evidence that the cold war is underway. Canadian prime minister William Lyon Mackenzie King responded cautiously and limitedly to the incident. Moreover, several spies were discovered all over Canada, Britain and the United States. Lastly, the incident led to more revelations in Canadian society. Therefore, the incident displayed

Canada’s inability to detect the extent of communist infiltration.
To Begin with, Mackenzie King did not grasp the information Igor Gouzenko was seeking to give in the beginning, in fear of aggravating the Soviet Union. Once the Under Secretary for External Affairs had informed him about Igors incident, Mackenzie King stated, "This is a case where we cannot be too careful, or too cautious. I think Gouzenko should be told to go back to the Embassy with the papers he has in his possession." The prime minister was afraid that taking in the dangerous documents might cause the Soviet Union to feel the Canadian government performed an unfriendly act and cause political problems in the future. King later granted Gouzenko asylum by transporting him to Camp X. He also signed a top-secret Order-in-Council (PC 6444) passed under the authority of the War Measures Act. The effect of PC 6444 was to suspend habeas corpus and allow the government to detain
individuals suspected of espionage for as long as the Minister of Justice or Acting Prime Minister desired.

However, the prime minister preferred the incident to not go public for the consequences the disclosure would have on the upcoming meeting of the Council of Foreign Ministers, that the Soviet Union was attending. It took King from September 1945 until February 1946 to inform his cabinet about the Gouzenko defection. Nonetheless, King was forced to take action after Drew Pearson, an American talk show host had announced he had news of a Soviet defector in Canada who had proof of an espionage operating in Canada and the United States. Pearson's revelations triggered an immediate Canadian and British reaction. The head of British Security Coordination, William Stephenson, disagreed with Prime minister King's view on ignoring Igor Gouzenko he stated, “The Russian, would certainly have information valuable not merely to Canada but also to Britain, the United States, and other Allies. Furthermore, Gouzenko's life was almost certainly in danger. They should act, and do so immediately, by taking Gouzenko in.” Furthermore, King questioned the motives of the potential defector as stated by author Amy W. Knight, “But his reaction was understandable. Apart from wishing to avoid a diplomatic debacle, King also questioned the motives of the potential defector. The man was quite possibly lying to save his own skin, or because he wanted to live in Canada and needed a means to gain

asylum.” On that account, Mackenzie King was not going to permit a Soviet code clerk to ruin Ottawa's friendly diplomacy with Moscow. Consequently, Mackenzie King had no desire to get involved into a spy scandal involving the USSR. Regardless, of how he felt King was forced to investigate. His hesitation to take in Igor Gouzenkos evidence reveals his naivety in trusting the Soviets and demonstrated the flaw in identifying communist presence in Canada.

Furthermore, after Igors defection the RCMP(the royal commission) did discover the widespread of spies not only in Canada but in Britain and the United States. Once Igor gouzenko fled with the 109 documents, he instantly went to The Ottawa Journal and the Minister of Justice but, was turned down. Later, Igor and his family hid in his neighbor's house and the police caught soviet officials bombarding Igor's apartment; His story was then taken solemnly. The documents contained information that the spies were obtaining details on the atom bomb, military, weapons and scientific technology that involved Canada, Britain and the United States. The Soviet embassy abroad would transmit the information by diplomatic mail to Moscow. In Igor's book “Stalin Sent me to Spy School” he mentioned, “ The directors of the headquarters are inner circle Russians, but experts working under them are of many nationalities. As colleagues, I had renegade Englishmen, Americans, Canadians, Frenchmen, Turks, Hawaiians and Japanese.” On February 15, 1946, the RCMP launched a series of raids and arrested eleven suspected spies (two more were arrested the next day). Spies varied from government officials, military officers, politicians, and scientists. The suspects were under immense pressure and detained from access to visitors and legal counsel. Also, they were under suicide watch and in solitary confinement for weeks until they confessed. On 9 March 1946, Detainee David Shugar wrote a letter to complain to Justice Minister Louis St. Laurent about his experience, “if I am to judge by the treatment accorded to me yesterday afternoon before your Royal Commission, I can only come to the conclusion that, as a Canadian citizen, I have been completely stripped of all my rights before the law.” The accused were unaware that King had passed an order-in-council to legalize their detention under the war measures act. The suspects lost their jobs and their reputations were destroyed. Out of the twenty suspects, twelve were charged. To conclude, the spies found, awakened Canada for the public was in shock of how the surreptitious Soviet operation was running on their territory. No one had expected the degree of infiltration in several western agencies.
Last, of all, Igor Gouzenkos defection had a huge disclosure for Canada.

It placed Canada front and center into the cold war swiftly and abruptly. It was an uncomfortable position since Canada is inexperienced with dealing with defectors. Igor Gouzenko is a wake-up call for Canada that the USSR is planning to expand communism in democratic countries and is already working for the third world war. During Igor's testimony, he stated,

“To many Soviet people here abroad, it is clear the Communist Party in democratic countries have changed long ago from a political party into an agency net of the Soviet Government, into the fifth column in these countries to meet a war, into an instrument in the hands of the Soviet Government for creating artificial unrest, provocation, etc., etc. Through numerous party agitators, the Soviet Government stirs up the Russian people in every possible way against the peoples of the democratic countries, preparing the ground for the third world war.”

Soon after in 1949, Canada joined the NATO, an alliance against the Soviet bloc in defence against a possible invasion. Canada is known as a peacekeeping country especially with their efforts to help the Soviet people from the widespread communism by collecting money for the welfare of the Russian people, sacrificing their lives of their sons in the delivery of supplies across the ocean. Therefore, Canada was able to learn from that

incident….

In conclusion, Igor Gouzenkos defection presented Canada's ineptitude to identify Communist infiltration.