The Federation of Russian Canadians is a left-leaning cultural organization for

Russian Russian(s) refers to anything related to Russia, including: *Russians (, ''russkiye''), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries *Rossiyane (), Russian language term for all citizens and peo ...

immigrants to Canada and their descendants. It is the successor of the Russian Farmer-Worker Clubs which were closed by the government at the beginning of

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

as a suspected

subversive Subversion () refers to a process by which the values and principles of a system in place are contradicted or reversed in an attempt to transform the established social order and its structures of power, authority, hierarchy, and social norms. Sub ...

organization due to its links with the Communist Party of Canada. In 1942, after the Nazi invasion of the USSR, the organization reappeared as the Federation of Russian Canadians, known also by its Russian initials as the FRK.Russians
''Canadian Encyclopedia'' At its height, the FRK had 15 branches across Canada and published a newspaper, ''Vestnik''. In 1944, the organization had around 4,000 members but, as a result of the Cold War and the defection of

Igor Gouzenko Igor Sergeyevich Gouzenko (russian: Игорь Сергеевич Гузенко ; January 26, 1919 – June 25, 1982) was a cipher clerk for the Soviet embassy to Canada in Ottawa, Ontario, and a lieutenant of the GRU (Main Intelligence Direct ...

, that number fell to 2,709 by 1949. In the late 1980s, the group had less than 800 members. While ''Vestnik'' ceased publication in 1994, the FRK still has community centres in Toronto and Vancouver. The FRK organized some 15 branches in various Canadian cities and published the newspaper Vestnik (Herald), long the only Russian newspaper in Canada. The FRK was associated with the

Labor-Progressive Party The Labor-Progressive Party (french: Parti ouvrier-progressiste) was the legal front of the Communist Party of Canada from 1943 to 1959. Origins and initial success In the 1940 federal election, the Communist Party led a popular front in se ...

and was affiliated with the

Canadian Peace Congress The Canadian Peace Congress (abbr. CPCon) is an anti-imperialist group founded in 1949 by Canadian minister James Gareth Endicott in response to the new dangers to peace posed because of the Cold War. It described itself as "a place where people ...

References

External links

Federation of Russian Canadians fonds (R15715)
at Library and Archives Canada Communist Party of Canada mass organizations 1918 establishments in Canada Ethnic organizations based in Canada Community centres in Canada Labour history of Canada Canada–Soviet Union relations Russian-Canadian culture {{Poli-org-stub

See also

References

External links