How did Canadian espionage contribute to WWII and the Cold War? by Kathryn Kolkman https://padlet.com/kathkolk778/b0czt7w1v74d Made with an open mind en-us 2018-06-20 12:26:27 UTC 2025-12-20 00:16:17 UTC hello@padlet.com What is intelligence and espionage? kathkolk778 https://padlet.com/kathkolk778/b0czt7w1v74d/wish/267943608 Espionage (n.) the practice of spying or of using spies, typically by governments to obtain political and military information. Intelligence is “information gathered to enhance the security of the state.” There are two categories: foreign intelligence (which enables the state to effectively conduct economic, diplomatic and military actions internationally), and domestic intelligence (used by the state to monitor suspected internal threats). Espionage is a small division of intelligence services that gathers intelligence through covert means.]]> 2018-06-20 12:27:16 UTC https://padlet.com/kathkolk778/b0czt7w1v74d/wish/267943608 When did Canada develop an intelligence service? kathkolk778 https://padlet.com/kathkolk778/b0czt7w1v74d/wish/267945138 Canada doesn’t have and has never had a secret service that follows a similar model to other countries’, such as the American CIA or the Soviet KGB. However, Canada does have an intelligence community. In the 1860s, the Canadian government felt threatened by an exiled Irish group called the Fenians, and so created an intelligence organization. On both attempted (unsuccessful) Fenian raids, Canadians secret agents provided information that alerted the government and military to the raids before they happened. During World War One, Canada developed a more capable intelligence service. These organizations continued to conduct domestic intelligence activity following WWI, due to the possible Bolshevik threat that was sparked by the successful Bolshevik revolution in Russia. However, Canada’s intelligence system was still not up to international standards at the outbreak of World War Two. When France was captured in 1940, fears of German espionage set in motion major innovations.]]> 2018-06-20 12:27:36 UTC https://padlet.com/kathkolk778/b0czt7w1v74d/wish/267945138 What was the Gouzenko affair? kathkolk778 https://padlet.com/kathkolk778/b0czt7w1v74d/wish/267945203
Igor Gouzenko was a Soviet cipher clerk that defected (abandoned his own country) to Canada on September 5, 1945. Cipher clerks regularly encrypt and decrypt top secret messages. He exposed major Soviet espionage rings operating in Canada to the Canadian government. These espionage rings had spies in very sensitive positions, including an important cipher room, the British High Commissioner's Office, and Chalk River Nuclear Laboratories. Two British scientists involved in the creation of the atomic bomb in a secret Montreal lab were identified as Russian spies.]]> 2018-06-20 12:27:57 UTC https://padlet.com/kathkolk778/b0czt7w1v74d/wish/267945203 What were the international impacts of the Gouzenko affair? kathkolk778 https://padlet.com/kathkolk778/b0czt7w1v74d/wish/267945236
The Gouzenko Affair hit home the fact that the WWII Alliance between East and West was crumbling. Although Russia and America had been Allies in the war, they would be the primary enemies to each other over the next few decades, during the Cold War. The revelation of Soviet spy networks in Canada also brought to light how relatively inexperienced Canada was when it came to espionage. ]]> 2018-06-20 12:28:10 UTC https://padlet.com/kathkolk778/b0czt7w1v74d/wish/267945236 What was the significance of Camp X? kathkolk778 https://padlet.com/kathkolk778/b0czt7w1v74d/wish/267945302
Camp X was a top secret facility near Oshawa, Ontario. It was dedicated to essentially training spies, both Canadian and from Allied countries during WWII. It was specifically used to train Special Operation Executive recruits, which often went overseas and assisted resistance efforts in France. Camp X also had a communications room called Hydra that was used to transmit sensitive information across the Atlantic.]]> 2018-06-20 12:28:35 UTC https://padlet.com/kathkolk778/b0czt7w1v74d/wish/267945302 What was the Official Secrets Act? kathkolk778 https://padlet.com/kathkolk778/b0czt7w1v74d/wish/267945383
The Official Secrets Act is now known as the Security of Information Act. It addresses national security threats, including espionage and terrorists. It outlaws criminal acts such as economic espionage (conducted for commercial reasons, not national security), unauthorized communication of special operational information, unauthorized use of uniforms, and false documents.]]> 2018-06-20 12:29:18 UTC https://padlet.com/kathkolk778/b0czt7w1v74d/wish/267945383 What was the Cuban Missile Crisis? kathkolk778 https://padlet.com/kathkolk778/b0czt7w1v74d/wish/267945424
In October 1962, there was a 13-day political and military stand-off between America and the Soviet Union. This was due to Soviet nuclear missiles that had been installed in Cuba. The missiles in Cuba were discovered and photographed by an American spy plane. Oleg Penkovsky was a Soviet spy who passed information regarding the missiles to the CIA and British intelligence officials (he is believed to have been executed in Russia a year later). After the American Navy had created a blockade around Cuba to prevent the delivery of more missile parts, an American recon plane was shot down over Cuba. This almost ended in nuclear war; however, American President John Kennedy and Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev agreed that the missiles would be removed if the U.S. promised not to invade Cuba. Secretly, Kennedy also agreed to remove nuclear missiles from Turkey. The situation was finally defused, and the two nations signed two treaties related to nuclear weapons. However, the crisis convinced the Soviet Union that they needed missiles that were capable of reaching the United States from their own territory, and so the Cold War continued for years.]]> 2018-06-20 12:29:37 UTC https://padlet.com/kathkolk778/b0czt7w1v74d/wish/267945424 How was Canada involved in the Cuban Missile Crisis? kathkolk778 https://padlet.com/kathkolk778/b0czt7w1v74d/wish/267945457
Canada was involved in the Cuban Missile Crisis because the Soviet missiles in Cuba were more than capable of reaching Canada. The prime minister Diefenbaker did not have great relations with the U.S. president Kennedy. At a meeting regarding the Cuban Missile Crisis, Diefenbaker picked up a memo that was accidently left behind by Kennedy. The memo was a reminder of what Kennedy was supposed to push Canada to promise to do during the meeting. It made it seem like Canada was merely a doll for America to play with. Diefenbaker did not return the memo, as diplomatic etiquette would have him do. This incident further degraded the relationship between Diefenbaker and Kennedy. When Kennedy announced that America would be forming a blockade around Cuba, Canada was slow to show full support, and by the time they did the crisis was averted. ]]> 2018-06-20 12:29:51 UTC https://padlet.com/kathkolk778/b0czt7w1v74d/wish/267945457 What was PROFUNC? kathkolk778 https://padlet.com/kathkolk778/b0czt7w1v74d/wish/267945477
PROFUNC was a program created in 1950 by the RCMP. If activated, it would allow the arrest of a long list of suspected Bolsheviks and revolutionists.]]> 2018-06-20 12:30:01 UTC https://padlet.com/kathkolk778/b0czt7w1v74d/wish/267945477 Did PROFUNC violate Canadians’ human rights? kathkolk778 https://padlet.com/kathkolk778/b0czt7w1v74d/wish/267945597 No, PROFUNC did not technically violate any human rights, becuase it was activated. However, if it had been activated, many people who were not proven to be a threat to national security would have been arrested or at least detained. ]]> 2018-06-20 12:31:16 UTC https://padlet.com/kathkolk778/b0czt7w1v74d/wish/267945597 kathkolk778 https://padlet.com/kathkolk778/b0czt7w1v74d/wish/267945644
Photos taken by an American spy plane, identifying nuclear missiles being assembled in Cuba by the Soviet Union.]]> 2018-06-20 12:31:43 UTC https://padlet.com/kathkolk778/b0czt7w1v74d/wish/267945644 kathkolk778 https://padlet.com/kathkolk778/b0czt7w1v74d/wish/267946504
A map in a 1950s newspaper that depicted distances from Cuba (the location of Soviet missiles) to major American cities.]]> 2018-06-20 12:39:20 UTC https://padlet.com/kathkolk778/b0czt7w1v74d/wish/267946504 kathkolk778 https://padlet.com/kathkolk778/b0czt7w1v74d/wish/267946736 2018-06-20 12:41:02 UTC https://padlet.com/kathkolk778/b0czt7w1v74d/wish/267946736 kathkolk778 https://padlet.com/kathkolk778/b0czt7w1v74d/wish/267946737 2018-06-20 12:41:03 UTC https://padlet.com/kathkolk778/b0czt7w1v74d/wish/267946737 kathkolk778 https://padlet.com/kathkolk778/b0czt7w1v74d/wish/267946743 2018-06-20 12:41:08 UTC https://padlet.com/kathkolk778/b0czt7w1v74d/wish/267946743 kathkolk778 https://padlet.com/kathkolk778/b0czt7w1v74d/wish/267946937
Igor Gouzenko appearing on TV, wearing a mask to protect his identity.]]> 2018-06-20 12:42:54 UTC https://padlet.com/kathkolk778/b0czt7w1v74d/wish/267946937 John Kennedy in Cuban Missile Crisis meeting recording kathkolk778 https://padlet.com/kathkolk778/b0czt7w1v74d/wish/267947423 https://www.history.com/470de28a-dc06-464b-85a8-364cd9a31e0f ]]> 2018-06-20 12:46:48 UTC https://padlet.com/kathkolk778/b0czt7w1v74d/wish/267947423 Works Cited kathkolk778 https://padlet.com/kathkolk778/b0czt7w1v74d/wish/267947722 “– 1946 Royal Commission on Espionage.” CANADA How The Communists Took Control, 4 Sept. 2017, nosnowinmoscow.wordpress.com/dominique-clement/1946-royal-commission-on-espionage/.

“Canada's Role During the Cuban Missile Crisis.” Canada's Role During the Cuban Missile Crisis - Diefenbaker Canada Centre - University of Saskatchewan, www.usask.ca/diefenbaker/virtual-exhibits/cuban-missile-crisis.php.

History.com Staff. “Cuban Missile Crisis.” History.com, A&E Television Networks, 2010, www.history.com/topics/cold-war/cuban-missile-crisis.

Potter, Mitch. “JFK's War with Diefenbaker.” Thestar.com, Toronto Star, 18 Nov. 2013, www.thestar.com/news/world/2013/11/18/jfks_war_with_diefenbaker.html.

“1945-46 Gouzenko Affair.” Canadas Human Rights History, historyofrights.ca/encyclopaedia/main-events/1945-gouzenko-affair/.
“Spy School Secrets.” Why Women Couldn't Vote - Canada's History, www.canadashistory.ca/explore/military-war/spy-school-secrets.

Wark, Wesley K. “Intelligence and Espionage.” The Canadian Encyclopedia, www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/intelligence-and-espionage/.
]]> 2018-06-20 12:48:59 UTC https://padlet.com/kathkolk778/b0czt7w1v74d/wish/267947722 Official Secrets Act document kathkolk778 https://padlet.com/kathkolk778/b0czt7w1v74d/wish/267947891 https://historyofrights.ca/wp-content/uploads/statutes/CN_Official-Secrets-Act-1939.pdf 

]]> 2018-06-20 12:50:16 UTC https://padlet.com/kathkolk778/b0czt7w1v74d/wish/267947891 The Report of the Royal Commission document kathkolk778 https://padlet.com/kathkolk778/b0czt7w1v74d/wish/267948322 http://publications.gc.ca/collections/collection_2014/bcp-pco/CP32-103-1946-1-eng.pdf]]> 2018-06-20 12:54:13 UTC https://padlet.com/kathkolk778/b0czt7w1v74d/wish/267948322 Suggested reading kathkolk778 https://padlet.com/kathkolk778/b0czt7w1v74d/wish/267948919 Igor Gouzenko's memoir, "It Was My Choice"]]> 2018-06-20 12:58:20 UTC https://padlet.com/kathkolk778/b0czt7w1v74d/wish/267948919 Timeline kathkolk778 https://padlet.com/kathkolk778/b0czt7w1v74d/wish/267949083 https://www.preceden.com/timelines/177142-cold-war-canada]]> 2018-06-20 12:59:29 UTC https://padlet.com/kathkolk778/b0czt7w1v74d/wish/267949083