PROFUNC, an acronym for "PROminent FUNCtionaries of the
communist party
A communist party is a political party that seeks to realize the socio-economic goals of communism. The term ''communist party'' was popularized by the title of ''The Manifesto of the Communist Party'' (1848) by Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels. A ...
", was a
top secret
Classified information is material that a government body deems to be sensitive information that must be protected. Access is restricted by law or regulation to particular groups of people with the necessary security clearance and need to know, ...
Government of Canada
The government of Canada (french: gouvernement du Canada) is the body responsible for the federal administration of Canada. A constitutional monarchy, the Crown is the corporation sole, assuming distinct roles: the executive, as the ''Crown ...
project to identify and observe suspected
Canadian communists
Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...
and
crypto-communists during the height of the
Cold War
The Cold War is a term commonly used to refer to a period of geopolitical tension between the United States and the Soviet Union and their respective allies, the Western Bloc and the Eastern Bloc. The term '' cold war'' is used because the ...
.
[Secret Cold War plan included mass detentions]
, ''CBC News
CBC News is a division of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation responsible for the news gathering and production of news programs on the corporation's English-language operations, namely CBC Television, CBC Radio, CBC News Network, and CBC.ca. ...
'', October 14, 2010. Retrieved October 19, 2010.
In operation from 1950 to 1983, the goal of the program was to allow for quick
internment
Internment is the imprisonment of people, commonly in large groups, without charges or intent to file charges. The term is especially used for the confinement "of enemy citizens in wartime or of terrorism suspects". Thus, while it can simpl ...
of known and suspected communist sympathizers in the event of war with the
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen national ...
or its allies.
[Officer in Charge, "D" Operations;]
Memorandum to Area Commanders: Ref No. 6270-2-2
, RCMP Security Service The RCMP Security Service (french: Service de sécurité de la GRC) was a branch of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) that had responsibility for domestic intelligence and security in Canada. It was replaced by the Canadian Security Intellige ...
, May 27, 1983. Retrieved October 19, 2010, via CBC website.[Enemies of the State]
, '' The Fifth Estate'', October 15, 2010. Retrieved October 19, 2010.
History
With the 1945
Gouzenko Affair
The Gouzenko Affair was the name given to events in Canada surrounding the defection of Igor Gouzenko from the Soviet Union in 1945 and his subsequent allegations regarding the existence of a Soviet spy ring of Canadian Communists. Gouzenko's d ...
occurring in Canada, which was a main contributor to the start of the
Cold War
The Cold War is a term commonly used to refer to a period of geopolitical tension between the United States and the Soviet Union and their respective allies, the Western Bloc and the Eastern Bloc. The term '' cold war'' is used because the ...
[The Gouzenko Affair]
, ''Front Page Challenge
''Front Page Challenge'' was a Canadian panel game about current events and history. Created by comedy writer/performer John Aylesworth (of the comedy team of Frank Peppiatt and John Aylesworth) and produced and aired by CBC Television, the seri ...
'', February 18, 1958. Retrieved October 19, 2010, via CBC website. and the threat of the
Korean War
, date = {{Ubl, 25 June 1950 – 27 July 1953 (''de facto'')({{Age in years, months, weeks and days, month1=6, day1=25, year1=1950, month2=7, day2=27, year2=1953), 25 June 1950 – present (''de jure'')({{Age in years, months, weeks a ...
becoming the precursor for a
Third World War
World War III or the Third World War, often abbreviated as WWIII or WW3, are names given to a hypothetical worldwide large-scale military conflict subsequent to World War I and World War II. The term has been in use since at ...
, the Government of Canada in 1950 determined a need to create a blacklist of potential subversives. This was made the responsibility of the
Royal Canadian Mounted Police
The Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP; french: Gendarmerie royale du Canada; french: GRC, label=none), commonly known in English as the Mounties (and colloquially in French as ) is the federal police, federal and national police service of ...
's (RCMP)
Special Branch
Special Branch is a label customarily used to identify units responsible for matters of national security and Intelligence (information gathering), intelligence in Policing in the United Kingdom, British, Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth, ...
, later the name was changed to the RCMP Security Service.
In the 1950s,
RCMP Commissioner Stuart Wood had a "PROFUNC list" of approximately 16,000 suspected communists and 50,000 suspected communist sympathizers.
[PROFUNC Recapitulation]
, RCMP Security Service The RCMP Security Service (french: Service de sécurité de la GRC) was a branch of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) that had responsibility for domestic intelligence and security in Canada. It was replaced by the Canadian Security Intellige ...
, May 15, 1953. Retrieved October 19, 2010, via CBC website.[ Wood, Stuart T.;]
Draft Letter to Stuart S. Garson
, February 15, 1950. Retrieved October 19, 2010, via CBC website. These lists dictated who the Special Branch would observe and potentially intern in a national security
state of emergency
A state of emergency is a situation in which a government is empowered to be able to put through policies that it would normally not be permitted to do, for the safety and protection of its citizens. A government can declare such a state du ...
, such as a Third World War crisis with the
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen national ...
and
People's Republic of China
China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...
.
A separate arrest document, known formally as a C-215 form, was written up for each potential internee and updated regularly with personal information until the 1980s, including but not limited to: age, physical descriptions, photographs, vehicle information.
[Former Manitoba AG on secret internment list]
, ''CBC News
CBC News is a division of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation responsible for the news gathering and production of news programs on the corporation's English-language operations, namely CBC Television, CBC Radio, CBC News Network, and CBC.ca. ...
'', October 15, 2010. Retrieved October 19, 2010. In addition, more obscure information such as potential escape routes from the individual's personal residence were noted.
Several prominent Canadians are suspected of being on the PROFUNC list including:
Winnipeg
Winnipeg () is the capital and largest city of the province of Manitoba in Canada. It is centred on the confluence of the Red and Assiniboine rivers, near the longitudinal centre of North America. , Winnipeg had a city population of 749,6 ...
alderman
An alderman is a member of a Municipal government, municipal assembly or council in many Jurisdiction, jurisdictions founded upon English law. The term may be titular, denoting a high-ranking member of a borough or county council, a council membe ...
Jacob Penner
Jacob Penner (August 12, 1880 – August 28, 1965) was a popular international socialist politician in Canada. A founder of the Social Democratic Party of Canada and the Communist Party of Canada, Penner was elected to the Winnipeg city counci ...
,
Roland Penner
Roland Penner (July 30, 1924 – May 31, 2018) was a political activist and lawyer who became a cabinet minister in the Manitoba provincial government and dean of law at the University of Manitoba.
Education and early career
Penner was born i ...
and the founder of the
New Democratic Party of Canada
The New Democratic Party (NDP; french: Nouveau Parti démocratique, NPD) is a federal political party in Canada. Widely described as social democratic,The party is widely described as social democratic:
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
* th ...
Tommy Douglas
Thomas Clement Douglas (20 October 1904 – 24 February 1986) was a Scottish-born Canadian politician who served as seventh premier of Saskatchewan from 1944 to 1961 and Leader of the New Democratic Party from 1961 to 1971. A Baptist min ...
.
It is suspected that the PROFUNC blacklist was used to increase the number of people detained as
Front de libération du Québec
The (FLQ) was a Marxist–Leninist and Quebec separatist guerrilla group. Founded in the early 1960s with the aim of establishing an independent and socialist Quebec through violent means, the FLQ was considered a terrorist group by the Canadia ...
(FLQ) suspects during the 1970
October Crisis
The October Crisis (french: Crise d'Octobre) refers to a chain of events that started in October 1970 when members of the Front de libération du Québec (FLQ) kidnapped the provincial Labour Minister Pierre Laporte and British diplomat James C ...
, in contravention of the
presumption of innocence
The presumption of innocence is a legal principle that every person accused of any crime is considered innocent until proven guilty. Under the presumption of innocence, the legal burden of proof is thus on the prosecution, which must present com ...
, many of whom had no affiliation with the FLQ.
The
Canadian Penitentiary Service received an updated PROFUNC list from the RCMP in 1971 to make them aware of the number of potential internees.
[Parent, L. R.;]
Letter to the Canadian Penitentiary Service
, November 12, 1971. Retrieved October 19, 2010, via CBC website.
In the early 1980s
Solicitor General of Canada The Solicitor General of Canada was a position in the Canadian ministry from 1892 to 2005. The position was based on the Solicitor General in the British system and was originally designated as an officer to assist the Minister of Justice. It was n ...
Bob Kaplan
Robert Philip "Bob" Kaplan, (December 27, 1936 – November 5, 2012) was a Canadian politician and lawyer.
Life and career
Born in Toronto, Ontario to Solomon and Pearl Kaplan and brother of Michael Kaplan. Kaplan attended and graduated from Fo ...
caused PROFUNC to become defunct
by introducing administrative changes entailing the RCMP to discontinue whatever was contributing to some elderly Canadians encountering problems while attempting to cross the
Canada–United States border
The border between Canada and the United States is the longest international border in the world. The terrestrial boundary (including boundaries in the Great Lakes, Atlantic, and Pacific coasts) is long. The land border has two sections: Can ...
.
Kaplan claimed to have had no knowledge of PROFUNC itself until he was advised of it by
journalist
A journalist is an individual that collects/gathers information in form of text, audio, or pictures, processes them into a news-worthy form, and disseminates it to the public. The act or process mainly done by the journalist is called journalism ...
s in 2010 and that he was dismayed by its existence, stating "I just can’t believe it had any government authorization behind it".
M-Day and internment
Mobilization Day (M-Day) was to be the day, in the event of a perceived national security crisis, police services would arrest and transport people noted on the PROFUNC list and temporarily detain them in reception centres across Canada including:
Casa Loma
Casa Loma (improper Spanish for "Hill House") is a Gothic Revival castle-style mansion and garden in midtown Toronto, Ontario, Canada, that is now a historic house museum and landmark. It was constructed from 1911 to 1914 as a residence for fi ...
, a
country club
A country club is a privately owned club, often with a membership quota and admittance by invitation or sponsorship, that generally offers both a variety of recreational sports and facilities for dining and entertaining. Typical athletic offer ...
in
Port Arthur, Ontario
Port Arthur was a city in Northern Ontario, Canada, located on Lake Superior. In January 1970, it amalgamated with Fort William and the townships of Neebing and McIntyre to form the city of Thunder Bay.
Port Arthur had been the district seat of ...
and
Regina Exhibition Park then they would be transferred to
penitentiaries.
The men would be interned across
Canada
Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...
, the women would be interned in one of two facilities in the
Niagara Peninsula
The Niagara Peninsula is an area of land lying between the southwestern shore of Lake Ontario and the northeastern shore of Lake Erie, in Ontario, Canada. Technically an isthmus rather than a peninsula, it stretches from the Niagara River in the ...
or
Kelowna
Kelowna ( ) is a city on Okanagan Lake in the Okanagan Valley in the southern interior of British Columbia, Canada. It serves as the head office of the Regional District of Central Okanagan. The name Kelowna derives from the Okanagan word ''kiÊ ...
and the children would be sent to relatives or interned with their
parent
A parent is a caregiver of the offspring in their own species. In humans, a parent is the caretaker of a child (where "child" refers to offspring, not necessarily age). A ''biological parent'' is a person whose gamete resulted in a child, a male t ...
s.
Strict punishment regulations awaited the internees if they broke the rules, including being held indefinitely and
shot
Shot may refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media
* ''Shot'' (album), by The Jesus Lizard
*''Shot, Illusion, New God'', an EP by Gruntruck
*''Shot Rev 2.0'', a video album by The Sisters of Mercy
* "Shot" (song), by The Rasmus
* ''Shot'' (2017 fi ...
when caught while attempting a
prison escape
A prison escape (referred as a bust out, breakout, jailbreak, or prison break) is the act of an inmate leaving prison through unofficial or illegal ways. Normally, when this occurs, an effort is made on the part of authorities to recapture the ...
.
Aftermath
The existence of the program was revealed in a January 24, 2000, news story by Dean Beeby of The Canadian Press.
In October 2010, the PROFUNC plan was discussed at length in a television documentary by the
Canadian Broadcasting Corporation
The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (french: Société Radio-Canada), branded as CBC/Radio-Canada, is a Canadian public broadcaster for both radio and television. It is a federal Crown corporation that receives funding from the government. ...
's ''
The Fifth Estate''
and ''
Enquête''.
[Les dessous de la liste]
, ''Radio Canada
The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (french: Société Radio-Canada), branded as CBC/Radio-Canada, is a Canadian public broadcaster for both radio and television. It is a federal Crown corporation that receives funding from the government. ...
'', October 15, 2010. Retrieved October 19, 2010. (''French'')
It was not until 2010 that some Canadians, their family and friends learned for the first time that they were deemed a potential
enemy of the state
An enemy of the state is a person accused of certain crimes against the state such as treason, among other things. Describing individuals in this way is sometimes a manifestation of political repression. For example, a government may purport to ...
by the Government of Canada and
law enforcement in Canada
Law enforcement in Canada is the responsibility of police services, special constabularies, and civil law enforcement agencies, which are operated by every level of government, some private and Crown corporations, and First Nations. In contra ...
.
Canadians who want to determine if they or a family member were in the PROFUNC files can make a disclosure request to the Federal Government of Canada through the ''
Privacy Act'' or the ''
Access to Information Act
Access may refer to:
Companies and organizations
* ACCESS (Australia), an Australian youth network
* Access (credit card), a former credit card in the United Kingdom
* Access Co., a Japanese software company
* Access Healthcare, an Indian BPO se ...
''.
See also
*
COINTELPRO
COINTELPRO ( syllabic abbreviation derived from Counter Intelligence Program; 1956–1971) was a series of covert and illegal projects actively conducted by the United States Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) aimed at surveilling, infiltrati ...
, a similar American program to gather intelligence on groups deemed subversive
*
Orwell's list
In 1949, shortly before he died, the English author George Orwell prepared a list of notable writers and other people he considered to be unsuitable as possible writers for the anti-communist propaganda activities of the Information Research D ...
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Profunc
Anti-communism in Canada
Anti-communist terrorism
History of human rights in Canada
Code names
Cold War military history of Canada
Cold War espionage
History of Canada (1945–1960)
History of Canada (1960–1981)
Internments in Canada
October Crisis
Political and cultural purges
Political history of Canada
Political repression in Canada
Political scandals in Canada
Royal Canadian Mounted Police
Terrorism in Canada
1950 establishments in Canada
1983 disestablishments in Canada