''Vapaus'' (Freedom) was a Finnish-Canadian

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 ...

newspaper, published in Sudbury,

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 ...

from 1917 to 1974.C.M. Wallace and Ashley Thomson, ''Sudbury: Rail Town to Regional Capital''.

Dundurn Press Dundurn Press is one of the largest Canadian-owned book publishing companies of adult fiction and non-fiction. The company publishes Canadian literature, history History is the systematic study of the past, focusing primarily on the Hum ...

, 1993. . ''Vapaus'', whose content was published in the

Finnish language Finnish (endonym: or ) is a Finnic languages, Finnic language of the Uralic languages, Uralic language family, spoken by the majority of the population in Finland and by ethnic Finns outside of Finland. Finnish is one of the two official langu ...

, was closely associated with the Finnish Organization of Canada, an organization connected to the Communist Party of Canada. The paper was noted for the 1929 trial and conviction of editor Arvo Vaara on charges of

sedition Sedition is overt conduct, such as speech or organization, that tends toward rebellion against the established order. Sedition often includes subversion of a constitution and incitement of discontent toward, or insurrection against, establ ...

and

libel Defamation is a communication that injures a third party's reputation and causes a legally redressable injury. The precise legal definition of defamation varies from country to country. It is not necessarily restricted to making assertions ...

. The charge stemmed from purportedly unpatriotic remarks against

King George V George V (George Frederick Ernest Albert; 3 June 1865 – 20 January 1936) was King of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions, and Emperor of India, from 6 May 1910 until his death in 1936. George was born during the reign of his pa ...

published in the paper, although a community religious group made larger claims that the paper was "subversive of morals and good Canadian citizenship". T.D. Jones, a

United Church A united church, also called a uniting church, is a denomination formed from the merger or other form of church union of two or more different Protestantism, Protestant Christian denominations, a number of which come from separate and distinc ...

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 Marriage, also called matrimony or wedlock, is a culturally and often legally recognised union between people called spouses. It establishes rights and obligations between them, as well as between them and their children (if any), and b ...

by encouraging Finnish families to live in common-law relationships. Vaara was defended in the trial by Arthur Roebuck, who would later become

Attorney General of Ontario The attorney general of Ontario is the Attorney general, chief legal adviser to Monarchy in Ontario, His Majesty the King in Right of Ontario and, by extension, the Government of Ontario. The attorney general is a senior member of the Executi ...

in the government of Mitchell Hepburn. He was convicted and sentenced to six months in jail and a $1,000 fine. In 1974, the newspaper merged with the Finnish-Canadian literary magazine '' Liekki'', moved to

Toronto Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...

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. ''Kaiku'' is predominantly in English, with pages in Finnish as well.

References

External links

Multicultural Canada website
digitized issues of Vapaus, 1921–1930, 1948–1974 1917 establishments in Ontario 1974 disestablishments in Ontario Defunct newspapers published in Ontario Defunct weekly newspapers Defunct Finnish-language newspapers Finnish-Canadian institutions Multicultural and ethnic newspapers published in Canada Newspapers published in Greater Sudbury Newspapers established in 1917 Publications disestablished in 1974 Weekly newspapers published in Ontario {{italic title