The Gouzenko Affair | The Brian Mulroney Institute of Government

The Gouzenko Affair was a significant event of both Canadian and international importance and which had major implications at the onset of the Cold War and sparked discussion around the use of government powers and civil liberties.
On September 5, 1945, a Soviet Defector named Igor Gouzenko, who was working as in the cipher section at the Soviet Embassy in Ottawa, walked out of the embassy carrying over 100 documents revealing the existence and extent of Soviet espionage in Canada.
Igor Gouzenko revealed this secret information to the Canadian Government, which later resulted in the government enacting the War Measures Act (during peacetime) to detain, interrogate, and prosecute several suspected communist spies.
The government suspended habeas corpus, suspects were arrested and interrogated for weeks on end, the suspects were denied legal counsel, they were kept in tiny cells, held under suicide watch, and had constant surveillance.
The Canadian Government, under the leadership of Prime Minister William Lyon Mackenzie King, was initially suspicious of Igor Gouzenko's motives as they did not want to make any decision that would threaten the Soviet-Canada relations following the uncertainty after the Second World War.
However, once the documents were uncovered and Gouzenko was interrogated, the Canadian Government understood the true extent of espionage being conducted by the Soviets and how it also threatened the security of our American and British allies.
This event sparked National Debate over the ethics of suspending civil liberties and human rights no matter the circumstance and it led to the formation of several civil liberties associations.
In 2004, the Historical Sites and Monuments Board of Canada marked the "Gouzenko Affair" as an event of national historic significance and unveiled a corresponding plaque in Dundonald Park in Ottawa, which is across from the building where Igor Gouzenko lived where he defected the Soviets.