Munsinger affair

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The Munsinger affair was

Russian Intelligence Service".[1]

The affair in Ottawa

Munsinger had been accepted into a Canadian Immigration program looking for young women displaced by war to work as domestics and au pairs in Canada. She arrived in Quebec City aboard the Acosta Sun in search of a better life. She was assigned to a family in Montreal. She eventually left that job and went on to find work as a hostess in Montreal's nightclub scene. Munsinger also worked part-time as a waitress at the Chic 'n' Coop Restaurant which was owned by the gangster William Obront of the Cotroni family.[2]

As she was an attractive woman, she also

E. Davie Fulton of her activities. Fulton brought the file to the attention of Prime Minister Diefenbaker. Diefenbaker ordered Sévigny to break off the relationship with Munsinger and continue on with his duties. Munsinger left Canada to return to East Germany in 1961.[1] Rumours circulated that she died of leukemia upon her return.[citation needed
]

Possible security breach

After the

Tories by bringing up Munsinger's name in the House of Commons responding to Diefenbaker's attacks.[5] Cardin was told that Munsinger was dead. His aim was to criticize Diefenbaker's handling of the case five years earlier.[citation needed
]

The day after Justice Minister Cardin pronounced to the Canadian press that she was indeed dead, Munsinger was tracked down and interviewed in

Toronto Daily Star reporter Robert Reguly.[citation needed] She freely admitted her numerous affairs with government officials to the Canadian media. The story dominated the media for weeks and was followed with rapt attention across the country. It became a massive distraction and all but shut down all other parliamentary activity for some weeks.[citation needed
]

A

Royal Commission was immediately convened. In his report, Supreme Court Justice Wishart Spence found no criminal wrongdoing or security breach, but he did criticize Diefenbaker's handling of the case.[4]

Legacy

Lester B. Pearson's gambit to distract a nation from scandals plaguing his government partially worked but eventually backfired on him. His weak leadership of the Liberal party came into question with his handling of this affair. He was replaced as leader of the party by Pierre Elliot Trudeau in 1968. Diefenbaker did not fare any better. A cabal of dissidents led by Dalton Camp and Flora MacDonald saw to it that he too was replaced as leader of the Progressive Conservative party by Robert Stanfield the previous year. The vitriol, recriminations and political mudslinging in Parliament created by the affair almost destroyed the House of Commons.[citation needed]

The newsmagazine

Creditistes mysteriously crossed the floor in support of the Liberals giving them a majority in the House just days after having fought an election campaign in April of that year.[citation needed
]

Expo '67.[4]

Books

References

  1. ^ a b Spence, Wishart Flett (September 1966). "Commission of Inquiry into Matters Relating to One Gerda Munsinger". Ottawa: Queen's Printer.
  2. ^ Auger & Edwards 2004, p. 171.
  3. ^ RMCP, Canadian Encyclopedia
  4. ^ a b c CBC Archives: Politics, Sex, and Gerda Munsinger
  5. ^ He mispronounced her name as "Monseignor," but it was clear to whom he was referring. CBC Archives: Politics, Sex, and Gerda Munsinger

External links

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