Munsinger Affair

Munsinger Affair

The Munsinger Affair was Canada's first national political sex scandal. It focused on Gerda Munsinger, an alleged East German prostitute and Soviet spy living in Ottawa who had slept with a number of cabinet ministers in John Diefenbaker's government.

Most noted amongst these was the Associate Minister of National Defence, Pierre Sévigny, who had seen her since 1958 and had even signed Munsinger's application for Canadian citizenship. The Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) discovered her background, however, and informed Justice Minister E. Davie Fulton of her activities. She was deported to East Germany in 1961. The matter was dealt with behind closed doors and Sévigny resigned in 1963.

Contents

Possible security breach

After the Gouzenko affair, matters of Canadian national security were not usually made subject of public debate. In 1966, however, the Liberal government came under attack for a security breach involving two Soviet diplomats and George Victor Spencer, a Vancouver mail clerk, who had been caught collecting information for the Soviet Embassy.[1] On March 4, John Diefenbaker called Liberal Justice Minister Lucien Cardin "a dwarf in giant's clothing" for his handling of the Spencer case.[2] Cardin rebutted the Tories by bringing up Munsinger's name in the House of Commons.[3] Cardin believed Munsinger was dead, but aimed to criticize Diefenbaker's handling of the case five years earlier.

Munsinger was not dead, however, and was tracked down and interviewed in Munich by Toronto Daily Star reporter Robert Reguly.[4] 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.

A Royal Commission was eventually held, and in his report, Supreme Court Justice Wishart Spence criticized the Diefenbaker government's handling of the case but found no criminal wrongdoing or security breach. [2]

Legacy

Possibly in a move to divert attention from the Munsinger affair, Prime Minister Lester Pearson started a public debate on capital punishment, which would be formally abolished in Canada a decade later.[2]

The newsmagazine series This Hour Has Seven Days was one of the major news organizations involved in covering the scandal, and when that series was cancelled by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) just weeks after the Munsinger Affair broke, it was believed by some observers that the show's dogged pursuit of the story had been one of the real reasons for its cancellation.

Charles Lynch, bureau chief of Southam News, suggested the Munsinger affair might change Canada's "dull and unexciting" image, and promote the upcoming Expo '67.[2]

References

  1. ^ RMCP, Canadian Encyclopedia
  2. ^ a b c d CBC Archives: Politics, Sex, and Gerda Munsinger
  3. ^ He accidentally mispronounced her name as "Munsignor," but it was clear to whom he was referring. CBC Archives: Politics, Sex, and Gerda Munsinger
  4. ^ Reguly was awarded the National Newspaper Award for his work on the story that year.

External links


Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Нужно сделать НИР?

Look at other dictionaries:

  • Munsinger-Affäre — Die Munsinger Affäre war der erste politische Sex Skandal in Kanada von nationaler Tragweite. Er betraf Gerda Munsinger, eine angebliche Prostituierte aus Deutschland, die im Verdacht stand, Spionin im Dienste der Sowjetunion zu sein. Sie hatte… …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • Affair — Part of a series on Love …   Wikipedia

  • Gerda Munsinger — (c.1926 1998) was an East German prostitute and Soviet spy who was the centre of the Munsinger Affair political scandal in Canada.Born in East Germany and married for a short period to American soldier Michael Munsinger, she emigrated to Canada… …   Wikipedia

  • Gerda Munsinger — (* 10. September 1929 in Königsberg als Gerda Heseler; † 24. November 1998 in München) war ein deutsches Model. Sie soll angeblich eine Prostituierte und Spionin in sowjetischen Diensten gewesen sein. 1966 stand sie im Zentrum der Munsinger… …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • Pierre Sévigny — Joseph Pierre Albert Sévigny, PC, OC, CD, VM, ED (September 12, 1917 ndash; March 20, 2004) was a Canadian soldier, author, politician, and academic. He is best known for his involvement in the Munsinger Affair.Born in Quebec City, Quebec, the… …   Wikipedia

  • This Hour Has Seven Days — was a controversial CBC Television newsmagazine which ran from 1964 to 1966. The show, inspired by the British satire series That Was The Week That Was , was created by Patrick Watson and Douglas Leiterman as an avenue for a more stimulating and… …   Wikipedia

  • List of Canadian political scandals — This is a list of major political scandals in Canada:Federal* Pacific Scandal allegations of bribes being taken by the government of Sir John A. Macdonald (1870s) * Scandal in the Department of Customs and Excise that led to the King Byng Affair …   Wikipedia

  • Lucien Cardin — Louis Joseph Lucien Cardin (March 1, 1919 ndash; June 13, 1988), P.C., Q.C., B.A., LL.B., was a Canadian lawyer, judge, and politician. Biography Born in Providence, Rhode Island, the son of Octave Cardin and Eldora Pagé, he studied at Loyola… …   Wikipedia

  • Barbara Frum (TV series) — Infobox Television show name = Barbara Frum caption = show name 2 = genre = talk show creator = writer = director = Dino Marcuz Bryn Matthews creative director = developer = presenter = Barbara Frum starring = voices = narrated = theme music… …   Wikipedia

  • List of Canada-related articles — Articles (arranged alphabetically) related to Canada include: 0 9 * 51st state A * A few acres of snow * Aboriginal peoples in Canada * Abortion in Canada * Acadia * Access copyright * Act Against Slavery (1793) * Act of Union (1840) * Aulneau,… …   Wikipedia

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”