Vapaus

Last updated

Vapaus (Freedom) was a Finnish-Canadian communist newspaper, published in Sudbury, Ontario from 1917 to 1974. [1] Vapaus, whose content was published in the Finnish language, was closely associated with the Finnish Organization of Canada, an organization connected to the Communist Party of Canada. [1]

The paper was noted for the 1929 trial and conviction of editor Arvo Vaara on charges of sedition and libel. [1] The charge stemmed from purportedly unpatriotic remarks against King George V published in the paper, although a community religious group made larger claims that the paper was "subversive of morals and good Canadian citizenship". [1] T.D. Jones, a United Church clergyman who led the campaign against Vapaus, asserted that the Finnish community in the Sudbury area was "living in terror" of Communist intimidation, that children were being indoctrinated with seditious ideas and that the paper was undermining the sanctity of marriage by encouraging Finnish families to live in common-law relationships. [1]

Vaara was defended in the trial by Arthur Roebuck, who would later become Attorney General of Ontario in the government of Mitchell Hepburn. He was convicted and sentenced to six months in jail and a $1,000 fine. [1]

In 1974, the newspaper merged with the Finnish-Canadian literary magazine Liekki , moved to Toronto and was renamed Viikkosanomat . Later the paper took up its old name Vapaus, and continued publication until 1990. Its role was continued partially by the magazine Kaiku, published by the Finnish Organization of Canada since 1990.[ citation needed ]Kaiku is predominantly in English, with pages in Finnish as well.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Communist Party of Canada</span> Federal political party in Canada

The Communist Party of Canada is a federal political party in Canada. Founded in 1921 under conditions of illegality, it is the second oldest active political party in Canada, after the Liberal Party of Canada. Although it does not currently have any parliamentary representation, the party's candidates have previously been elected to the House of Commons, the Ontario legislature, the Manitoba legislature, and various municipal governments across the country.

<i>Guelph Mercury</i> Defunct daily newspaper

The Guelph Mercury was an English language daily newspaper published in Guelph, Ontario, Canada. It published a mix of community, national and international news and is owned by the Torstar Corporation. The newspaper, in many incarnations, was a part of the community since 1854. It was one of the oldest broadsheet newspapers in Ontario. Publication was discontinued in late January 2016.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Walden, Ontario</span> Community in Ontario, Canada

Walden was a town in the Canadian province of Ontario, which existed from 1973 to 2000. Created as part of the Regional Municipality of Sudbury when regional government was introduced, the town was dissolved when the city of Greater Sudbury was incorporated on January 1, 2001. The name Walden continues to be informally used to designate the area.

<i>The Sudbury Star</i> Daily regional newspaper in Sudbury, Ontario, Canada

The Sudbury Star is a Canadian daily regional newspaper published in Sudbury, Ontario. It is owned by the media company, Postmedia. It is the largest daily paper in Northeastern Ontario by circulation.

Le Droit is a Canadian French-language daily newspaper, published in Gatineau, Quebec. Initially established and owned by the Missionary Oblates of Mary Immaculate, the paper was published by Martin Cauchon and his company, Capitales Médias, from 2015 - ? when a cooperative was formed by the employees to continue publishing the paper.

Finnish Canadians are Canadian citizens of Finnish ancestry or Finns who emigrated to and reside in Canada. In 2016, 143,645 Canadians claimed Finnish ancestry. Finns started coming to Canada in the early 1880s, and in much larger numbers in the early 20th century and well into the mid-20th century. Finnish immigration to Canada was often a direct result of economic depressions and wars, or in the aftermath of major conflicts like the Finnish Civil War. Canada was often chosen as a final destination because of the similarity in climate and natural conditions, while employment in logging or homesteading attracted landless farmers in the early 20th century. Migratory movements of Finns between Canada and the United States was very common as well.

The Communist Party of Canada (CPC) fielded a number of candidates in the 2000 Canadian federal election, none of whom were elected. Information about these candidates may be found here.

The Communist Party of Canada (Marxist-Leninist) (CPC-ML) fielded 71 candidates in the 2006 federal election. Some of these candidates have their own biography pages. Information about others may be found here.

This is a list of media outlets in the city of Greater Sudbury, Ontario, Canada.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sudbury Pride</span> Annual LGBT event in Toronto, Ontario

Sudbury Pride is a 2SLGBTQ+ Pride advocacy organization based in Greater Sudbury, Ontario, Canada. Their now annual Pride festival, held for the first time in 1997 and organized by a committee that included sociologist Gary Kinsman, was the first Pride event in Northern Ontario, and the only one in the region until the launch of Thunder Bay's Thunder Pride festival in 2010.

Laurentian Media Group was a Canadian newspaper and magazine publishing company. Founded in 1973 by Michael Atkins, Laurentian published several titles in the Greater Sudbury, Ontario area, including the twice-weekly community newspaper Northern Life, the magazines Northern Ontario Business and Sudbury Living, and the trade publication Sudbury Mining Solutions Journal, as well as several national and international digital publications, including SCOREGolf and IT World Canada.

This is a list of media outlets in the city of Thunder Bay, Ontario, Canada.

Vapaa Sana was a Finnish-Canadian weekly newspaper located in Toronto, Ontario. Vapaa Sana was founded in 1931 and when closing in 2012 it was one of the oldest surviving newspapers that early Finnish immigrants founded in North America. By 1934 it had over 4000 subscribers and was the largest Finnish newspaper in North America.

Michael Solski was a Canadian union leader, politician, and author in the Canadian province of Ontario. He was president of the International Union of Mine, Mill, and Smelter Workers Local 598 from 1952 to 1959, at a time when it was the largest single local in Canada. He later served as the mayor of Coniston (1962–1972) and of Nickel Centre (1973–1978). At the end of his career, he was the target of a failed assassination attempt.

Eteenpäin was a Finnish-language daily newspaper launched in New York City in 1921. The paper was the East Coast organ of Finnish-American members of the Communist Party USA. The paper moved to Worcester, Massachusetts in 1922 and to Yonkers, New York in 1931. In 1950 Eteenpäin was merged with the Communist Party's Midwestern Finnish-language daily, Työmies to create Työmies-Eteenpäin, which continued to be published from Superior, Wisconsin into the 1990s.

The Lumber Workers Industrial Union of Canada was a trade union of lumberjacks in Canada. LWIUC was founded in Sault Ste. Marie 1924 by Finnish communists, who were dissatisfied with the Lumber Workers Industrial Union of the Industrial Workers of the World and the OBU. The two founding national secretaries of LWIUC were Alfred Hautamäki and Kalle Salo, both Finns. A prominent figure in the founding of LWIUC was A. T. Hill, a former wobblie and the leader of the Finnish section of the Communist Party of Canada. Overall, LWIUC maintained strong links with the Communist Party. Through the halls run by the Finnish Organization of Canada, LWIUC rapidly gained thousands of members. The headquarters of the LWIUC were initially at Port Arthur.

Finnish Organization of Canada is a Finnish Canadian cultural organization. It was established in 1911 as the Finnish Socialist Organization of Canada. FOC is the oldest nationwide cultural organization for Finns in Canada. It was first connected with Social Democratic Party of Canada and later with Communist Party of Canada. Today FOC is no longer associated with politics. It has fewer than 200 members, who are mostly senior citizens in the areas of Toronto, Vancouver, Sudbury and Thunder Bay.

Aukusti "Aku" Päiviö was a Finnish Canadian journalist, poet and socialist. With Sanna Kannasto and A.T. Hill, he was one of the key figures in the Finnish Canadian socialist movement of the early 1900s. Päiviö was a Marxist who saw education as the most important part of the class struggle.

The following is a timeline of the history of labour organizations in communities in and around Greater Sudbury, Ontario, Canada. Listings for incorporated townships which were later amalgamated with the City of Sudbury are noted separately.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hannes Sula</span>

Hannes Einari Sula was a Finnish-Canadian revolutionary who fought in the Finnish Civil War. During the Allied North Russia Intervention he was one of the leading Finns of the British organized Murmansk Legion. In 1920, Sula exiled Canada where he worked as a newspaperman and trade unionist.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 C.M. Wallace and Ashley Thomson, Sudbury: Rail Town to Regional Capital. Dundurn Press, 1993. ISBN   1-55002-170-2.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.