The Finnish Labour Temple (also known as the Big Finn Hall or Finlandia Club) was a Finnish-Canadian cultural and

community centre A community centre, community center, or community hall is a public location where members of a community gather for group activities, social support, public information, and other purposes. They may be open for the whole community or for a sp ...

(" Finn hall") and a local landmark located at 314 Bay Street in the Finnish quarter in

Thunder Bay Thunder Bay is a city in and the seat of Thunder Bay District, Ontario, Canada. It is the most populous municipality in Northwestern Ontario and the second most populous (after Greater Sudbury) municipality in Northern Ontario. Its population i ...

Ontario Ontario is the southernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Located in Central Canada, Ontario is the Population of Canada by province and territory, country's most populous province. As of the 2021 Canadian census, it ...

. Built in 1910, the Finnish Labour Temple was at one point one of the largest workers'

hall In architecture, a hall is a relatively large space enclosed by a roof and walls. In the Iron Age and the Early Middle Ages in northern Europe, a mead hall was where a lord and his retainers ate and also slept. Later in the Middle Ages, the gre ...

s in Canada in addition to being the centre of Finnish cultural and political life in Northwestern Ontario. The hall housed the historic Hoito Restaurant, a museum, and featured a large stage, dance floor, and hall as well as meeting rooms for various groups. The Finnish Labour Temple served as one of the main locations of the Bay Street Film Festival. The building was badly damaged by a fire on December 22, 2021 and the remains were demolished in early 2022. It is currently being rebuilt.

Construction

The construction of the Finnish Labour Temple was initiated by two organizations, the ''Finnish-American Workers' League Imatra #9'' and the "Uusi Yritys" or ''New Attempt Temperance Society'', who formed the ''Finnish Building Company''. The lot for the hall had been purchased by socialist local in June 1907 and blueprints for the hall had already been prepared in early December 1908 by architect C.W. Wheeler. The building opened its doors to the public in March 1910, holding three consecutive days of opening ceremonies. The inscription on the top of the building reads "Labor Omnia Vincet," meaning "labour conquers all."

Early Labour Temple activity, 1910–1914

Already in 1910, the hall was referred to as the "Port Arthur Finnish Socialist's Local Temple" as the socialist local had become the majority share holder in the hall and was connected to the Port Arthur Branch of the Socialist Party of Canada. The Temperance Society had basically become a committee of the socialist local. By December 1910, however, foreign language locals of the Socialist Party had been expelled from the party. In 1911, a new organization called the Finnish Socialist Organization of Canada had been formed, which then became affiliated to the Social Democratic Party of Canada. In January 1910, during the first annual meeting of the Finnish Building Company, the membership voted to rent the downstairs of the hall to the Finnish Publishing Company, who occupied the basement until the summer of 1912 when it moved to its own building next door. Of note, was the first Finnish-Canadian newspaper ''Työkansa'' (The Working People), which was published by the Finnish Publishing Company. Between 1910 and 1914, the basement of the hall also housed several co-operative restaurants and a billiards room. On September 12–17, 1910, the Trades and Labour Congress of Canada held its annual convention at the Finnish Labour Temple complementing the "industry, thrift and co-operative spirit" of the Finnish community in the commemorative booklet given to convention delegates.

The First World War and the communist/syndicalist split

During the

First World War World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

, the foreign-language affiliates of the Social Democratic Party were declared illegal by the Canadian Government. This led to many difficulties as several Finnish-language newspapers were banned and leading organizers were arrested. At this time, many Finnish workers joined the rapidly emerging One Big Union and the regional

support group In a support group, members provide each other with various types of help, usually nonprofessional and nonmaterial, for a particular shared, usually burdensome, characteristic. Members with the same issues can come together for sharing coping str ...

became the majority share holder of the Finnish Building Company. In 1919, a split occurred at the One Big Union National Convention held at the Finnish Labour Temple. The split was essentially between two different factions; Finnish socialists who believed that the

working class The working class is a subset of employees who are compensated with wage or salary-based contracts, whose exact membership varies from definition to definition. Members of the working class rely primarily upon earnings from wage labour. Most c ...

needed a political arm, and Finnish

syndicalist Syndicalism is a labour movement within society that, through industrial unionism, seeks to unionize workers according to industry and advance their demands through strikes and other forms of direct action, with the eventual goal of gainin ...

s who felt that

social change Social change is the alteration of the social order of a society which may include changes in social institutions, social behaviours or social relations. Sustained at a larger scale, it may lead to social transformation or societal transformat ...

could best be achieved through economic direct action such as the

general strike A general strike is a strike action in which participants cease all economic activity, such as working, to strengthen the bargaining position of a trade union or achieve a common social or political goal. They are organised by large coalitions ...

. As a result, the Finnish socialists were ousted and bought their own building next door at 316 Bay Street or the "Little Finn Hall", and became affiliated with the

Communist Communism () is a sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology within the socialist movement, whose goal is the creation of a communist society, a socioeconomic order centered on common ownership of the means of production, di ...

Finnish Organization of Canada. The Finnish workers who maintained control of the Finnish Labour Temple affiliated to the

Industrial Workers of the World The Industrial Workers of the World (IWW), whose members are nicknamed "Wobblies", is an international labor union founded in Chicago, United States in 1905. The nickname's origin is uncertain. Its ideology combines general unionism with indu ...

after the

Winnipeg General Strike The Winnipeg General Strike of 1919 was one of the most famous and influential strikes in Canadian history. For six weeks, May 15 to June 26, more than 30,000 strikers brought economic activity to a standstill in Winnipeg, Manitoba, which at the ...

and the collapse of the One Big Union.

The Finnish Wobblies—1919 to the 1960s

The syndicalist oriented Finns remained affiliated with the

(IWW) and the auxiliary organization, ''Canadan Teollisuusunionistinen Kannatusliitto'' (Canadian Industrial Worker Support Circle or CTKL). This was the group responsible for establishing and operating the Hoito Restaurant as well as establishing a chain of People's Co-operative stores in the region. The Finnish Labour Temple acted as the Canadian IWW administrative offices for several years and housed the Canadian news service headquarters for the '' Industrialisti'', the Finnish-language

daily newspaper A newspaper is a Periodical literature, periodical publication containing written News, information about current events and is often typed in black ink with a white or gray background. Newspapers can cover a wide variety of fields such as poli ...

of the IWW. The Finnish Wobblies were also able to pay off the mortgage on the building. The IWW competed for the hearts and minds of members with the communist-dominated unions, and held union locals well into the 1940s. With the younger generation rapidly being assimilated into dominant Canadian society, the IWW and CTKL in Northwestern Ontario became friendship and mutual aid societies for an aging membership. In the late 1960s, following the last major wave of Finnish

immigration to Canada According to the 2021 Canadian census, immigrants in Canada number 8.3 million persons and make up approximately 23 percent of Canada's total population. This represents the eighth-largest Immigration, immigrant population in the world, whi ...

, a new organization called the Finlandia Club of Port Arthur became the majority shareholder of the hall. The new wave of immigrants were a generation separated from their Finnish-Canadian brethren and had no connection to the social struggles of the past. In addition, the newly arriving immigrants were either apolitical or conservative, associating any left-wing activity with the brutality of

Stalinism Stalinism (, ) is the Totalitarianism, totalitarian means of governing and Marxism–Leninism, Marxist–Leninist policies implemented in the Soviet Union (USSR) from History of the Soviet Union (1927–1953), 1927 to 1953 by dictator Jose ...

and the Finnish Winter War. This was despite the fact that the Finnish Wobblies in Canada and the U.S. had actively supported and aided Finland in the war against the

Soviet Union The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

and denounced Bolshevism, from a libertarian socialist perspective, since the Kronstadt uprising.

21st century

The Finnish Labour Temple was the last remaining Finnish

cultural centre A cultural center or cultural centre is an organization, building or complex that promotes culture and arts. Cultural centers can be neighborhood community arts organizations, private facilities, government-sponsored, or activist-run. Africa * ...

in Canada, and has been designated a National Historic Site of Canada. In 2015 a ceremony was held to install a plaque marking the Finnish Labour Temple as a National Historic site. The Hoito Restaurant was a very popular eatery for locals and tourists; in the early 21st century, there was a marked increase in activity in the hall as a new generation of locals stepped in to revive and breathe new life into this historic building. This includes a mojakka competition; an annual Finnish-Canadian art exhibit during the

summer solstice The summer solstice or estival solstice occurs when one of Earth's poles has its maximum tilt toward the Sun. It happens twice yearly, once in each hemisphere ( Northern and Southern). The summer solstice is the day with the longest peri ...

. This, along with more traditional dances, celebrations, and events like St. Urho's Day made the Finnish Labour Temple a distinctive tourist attraction in Thunder Bay. The Finnish Labour Temple was home to The Finlandia Association Of Thunder Bay, previous owner of the building, and other local companies such as The Walleye Magazine and Seek Tours. In May 2020, because of outstanding debt, the Finlandia Association voted to liquidate its assets, including the hall. A group - The Finlandia Co-operative - was created to raise money to buy the building, but was unsuccessful. In October 2020, the sale of the new building to a private owner was confirmed. The new owner said he wanted to reopen The Hoito Restaurant and convert the rest of the building into "high-end apartments". It had been anticipated that the restaurant would reopen in early summer 2022. However, during the early evening hours of December 22, 2021, amid on-going renovations, smoke could be seen billowing from the rooftop, and The Hoito restaurant suffered extensive damage when a massive fire burned through the Finnish Labour Temple building above. By mid-February 2022 the remains of the building destroyed in the fire were completely demolished and removed from the site. The property owner anticipates rebuilding and recreating the former façade of the structure including the iconic cupola. It is also anticipated that the Hoito restaurant would be re-established on the main floor of the new building and not in the basement as it existed previously. On March 3, 2022 it was announced that the time capsule hidden in the foundation during construction in 1909 was recovered and would be opened at a special ceremony at a later date.

References

External links

Hoito Restaurant and Finnish Labour Temple website

Finnish Settlement in Thunder Bay

The Lakehead Finns Project: Finnish Labour Temple
{{NHSC Buildings and structures in Thunder Bay Culture of Thunder Bay Finnish-Canadian institutions 1910 establishments in Ontario Industrial Workers of the World in Canada Tourist attractions in Thunder Bay District Canada–Finland relations National Historic Sites in Ontario Designated heritage properties in Ontario Festival venues in Canada Labour history of Ontario 2020s fires in North America 2021 fires Trade union buildings in Canada