Mikä ihmeen Vapaa Sana? Katso tuonnempana alhaalla.

Kolumneja
Vuoden 2010 alkupuoliskolla kolumneja lehteen kirjoittaa Johannes Niemeläinen.

What is Vapaa Sana?
Vapaa Sana is a weekly tabloid published in Toronto in Finnish and partially in English. Published since 1931, the weekly claims to be the leading Finnish language media in North America. More

This website
At vapaasana,com the paper offers a selection of material published in the Vapaa Sana. Besides this side, the company maintains also (www) Finnishcanadian.com

Meille töihin?
Vapaa Sana ottaa vastaan Suomesta Centre for International Mobilityn harjoittelijoita. Lue tästä, mitä Vapaa Sana edellyttää.

Mikä ihmeen Vapaa Sana?
Vapaa Sana on riippumaton viikkosanomalehti, joka ilmestyy kerran viikossa Torontossa. Lehden nimi periytyy 1930-luvulta.Nimi johtaa joskus lehteä tuntemattoman pitämään Vapaata Sanaa ns hengellisenä lehtenä. Sitä se ei kuitenkaan ole.

Näillä sivuilla tarjoamme poimintoja sisällöstä, emme koko aineistoa. Vapaa Sana on tilauspohjainen lehti. Vuosikerta maksaa Kanadassa 100 dollaria ja GST-veron, nopeammin kirjepostina 150 dollaria.Tilaukset numeroon 1(416) 321 0808, klo 10-13 Toronton aikaa arkisin.

Yhtiömme
Kustannusyhtiö Vapaa Sana Press julkaisee viikkosanomalehtiä Vapaa Sana (Toronto) ja Canadan Sanomat (Thunder Bay). Yhtiön internetsivustot ovat www.vapaasana.com, www.canadansanomat.com ja www.finnishcanadian.com.

Yhtiön omistajapohja käsittää toistakymmentätuhatta kanadansuomalaista. Hallituksen puheenjohtaja on nyt John Majanlahti.

Kyselyjen johdosta ilmoitamme, että internetosoite vapaasana.net ei liity tämän kustannusyhtiön toimintaan.

Historiamme
Kesällä 2008 ilmestyi Lauri Toiviasen kirja Vapaan Sanan vaiheista. Tämän linkin takana voitte lukea myös VS:n 75-vuotisjuhlanumeron reportaaseja ja haastatteluja.

Torontoa uudelle?
Mitä kaupungin perinteinen suomalaiskenttä voi tarjota tulokkaalle? Kaupungin "vanhat suomalaiset" varmasti yllättävät nykysuomalaisen, mutta kokemus voi olla kiinnostavakin.

Editorial on May 18, 2010

Legacy-Finns, pensioners and international workers..

Representatives of Finnish nationals and their descendants worldwide are meeting in Helsinki again as the Finnish Expatriate Parliament is convening its plenary session. The Expatriate Parliament has developed into a forum for discussion and a pressure group. Its major achievement, dating back to the early years of last decade, is the acceptance of dual nationality by Finland. The Expatriate Parliament has also contributed to many key decisions improving the lives of Finns abroad, such as the revised policy of taxation levied on pensions paid to recipients abroad.
The Expatriate Parliament faces some issues concerning its viability as a voice of Finnish citizens abroad. When established in the 90s, the Expatriate Parliament reflected then existing clubs and societies of Finnish emigrants in various parts of the world. The world was divided into regions, headed by the respective vice-chairmen of the organization. Additionally, there is a worldwide region for the Swedish speaking Finns.
The outreach of the Expatriate Parliament varies regionally. Here in North America the problem has been that the regional meetings, arranged mainly in connection with the conventions of the immigrant Finns, have not covered much of the contemporary community of international workers or new immigrants. In this respect the situation has been better in the US than in Canada.
In some continents, including North America, the regional meetings have been the weakest link in the whole operation. This is quite obvious taken the large distances involved. There are some initiatives under way to change the borders of the regions, but not much improvement can be attained, unless electronic participation is possible.
Parallel to its traditional geographic division of regions, the Parliament should consider operative solutions that would accentuate on lifestyle and the relative affinity towards Finland.
Here in North America in particular, the traditional immigrant communities are getting thin - and use English. Their contact with Finland is often superficial and the mental distance to the Finnish nationals living and working here, sent from Finland or chosen to move here from Finland on their own, is often huge.
A third group are the Finnish pensioners from Finland. Due to the immigration requirements of both the US and Canada not so many Finnish pensioners choose to move here, and rather go to the warm parts of Europe. But globally they are a growing group of customers, with needs for representation different from both the traditional emigrants and the international employees

Editorial on March 30, 2010

Project 2017

The Canadian Liberals took up the state of Canada in 2017. The options have been debated in the national press, and it does not look that promising in all respects.
Parallel to the national situation in 2017, the Finnish Canadians could take a look at the state of the Finnish Canadian scene that year, and set some targets for development.
Now, many of us recall that when Canada turned 100 and Finland 50 in 1967 the Finnish Canadians achieved something unthinkable. They were able to celebrate the events jointly. Jubilee and centenary committees were formed comprising various Finnish clubs and societies that had not been on much of speaking terms for decades. But after the celebrations of 1967 the joint effort ceased.
Looking ahead to 2017 the Finnish Canadian scene should be able to establish the common denominators that all quarters of the scene could accept - and go on with those premises. The Finnish Canadian scene is in the process of losing the language, it will become an English or French language based heritage tradition, complemented with input from visitors from Finland. Of course, should the Finnish economy turn worse, we could see a wave of immigration to Canada, but that is too early to predict. Actually new input from Finland could make the consensus easier, but let us not predict calamities for Finland.
On the US side when the present Finn Fest system and a joint Finnish American platform was being created there were projects with specific aims of developing the Finnish tradition there. One of them was called Project 34.
Key policy makers on the Finnish Canadian Scene, such as the Cultural Federation and other national organizations should at least sit down and talk about 2017. The achievements of 1967 were remarkable. How did that sudden feeling of unanimity come about? Could we reach such a mode again?

Editorial on March 2, 2010

Work permit bashing

"The work permit system coupled with the Canada Experience Class has brought immigration to Canada closer to normal decision making in international employment."

The Canadian immigration policies have been gravitating towards a more employment oriented structure in recent years. In late 2008 Immigration Minister Jason Kenney announced changes in the skilled workers program restricting it to 38 professions or to situations where a Canadian employer had given a commitment to employ the potential immigrant. In another reform, Canada introduced a “Canada Experience Class” facilitating an immigration process for those foreigners who had been working in skilled or managerial professions here in Canada for at least three years.
Opposition parties here in Canada have been critical of the rise of the work permits as a door to enter Canada. There have been outcries against the conversion of a work permit status to an immigrant status.
The traditional landed immigrant system meant that foreigners arrived in this country often without any pre-arranged employment and without a clear notion of what they could attain here. The system had developed a long backlog of people waiting to be processed. Canada was starting to be too attractive in large parts of the developing world, while qualified people in no dire economic need to emigrate were losing interest in placing themselves in a waiting line of several years.
Work permits are only issued on the basis of a positive Labor Market Opinion ascertaining the fact that local applicants could not be found or they were not successful. Prior to the Canada Experience Class work permit holders could not plan their employment beyond two or three years, as the Labor Market Opinions were (and still are) subject to a reassessment at regular intervals. Of course, in high demand jobs international workers were able to find work in other countries, often with no difficulty. The critics say the work permit system brings in people with no rights. In fact, the recent changes have rather improved the position of work permit holders.
Critics have also questioned the commitment of work permit holders to Canada, in comparison with, say, those who had arrived at Port of Halifax during the long years of immigration. But we must not forget that there has been an increasing tendency in the application line to choose not to arrive here when the final yes had been given. That trend has been seen in China in particular. And many permanent residents have gone back to Asia as well, while their accompanying extended family members may have remained here.
The work permit system coupled with the Canada Experience Class has brought immigration to Canada closer to normal decision making in employment. For EU nationals, Canada has a good competitive edge in fairly special cases only. But with the work permit system and the Canada Experience Class, a European professional may give Canada a try, permitting he or she finds the conditions here acceptable otherwise.

The loud criticism of the new system must be seen primarily as an effort of the opposition parties to attract the “ethnic vote” representing the large immigrant groups of recent decades. It is unlikely that the critics - if and when in power - would restore old systems and discard the reforms

Editorial on February 16, 2010

Even if the were a nuisance only

The ongoing debate concerning the possible full disclosure of the security surveillance documentation of the social democratic Canadian politician Tommy Douglas has implications that go further than his legacy only.
If the RCMP documents covering the surveillance of Douglas would indeed be divulged totally the road could be open for similar measures involving anyone who had been under special observation by the old RCMP for political reasons. And in many cases the identities of those kept an eye on the person decades ago could be verified.
That situation could put many Finnish Canadians - still alive - into a difficult position. Decades ago the security wing of the RCMP recruited Finnish Canadians to report on other Finnish Canadians. The surveillance may have been fairly innocuous, such as making notes about the car registry numbers of the people visiting the famous Don Hall in Toronto or the Finnish Hall in Sudbury.
To most contemporary Canadians that is distant history and the prevailing attitudes of the Canadian elite of the time may seem unfounded and undemocratic. But the recruitment of informants was done with the full authority of the police - and many of the informants certainly took their role as a patriotic duty.
And in the case of emigrants from Finland, many of the post World War II immigrants found themselves quite at ease with the Cold War opinion climate. After all, they had been fighting communism during the war, and saw the same peril here. (The fact that Canada had been on the other side had no importance any longer. Canada had changed sides, not the Finnish immigrant.)
But whether the role of an informant was viewed as an honor or a rather unpleasant duty, it was a government imposed task in any event, and the same government cannot punish its old servants with unpleasant publicity, now decades later.
Of course, to many of those involved it is already past history, whatever side they were.
Last May in Thunder Bay a full house of Finnish Canadians at the Labor Temple hall broke into a loud applause when professor Jules Päiviö, a veteran of many tough situations and the Spanish Civil War, chose his words carefully in describing the post WWII climate. He said the operations of the RCMP were a nuisance. Not more. This was a suitable understatement - showing history in perspective.
To refrain from publishing all details of old security documents does not mean that the actions of the-then Canada would be accepted. It only means that loyal Canadians (or often landed immigrants without citizenship) recruited for covert duties long ago should be given the same protection they certainly were promised at the time of the operations.
Even if they, at the time, were a nuisance only.

Editorial on February 2, 2010

Ethnic media could make the difference

The Christmas Eve scaffold tragedy in Toronto drew attention again to the position of foreign workers and new immigrants in Canada.
Based on statistics Ontario has a general problem of safety in construction work, but the risks of a newly arrived foreign worker to get hurt is obviously tangible.
Canada needs immigrants, and many of them start here at the lowest entry levels of the labor market. That is understandable.
Despite the requirements of English and French implemented in the immigration process, many newcomers do not have much of a practical command of the local languages. In that situation they may not be capable of defending their rights either.
The problem is of little direct concern to emigrants from Finland, readers of this newspaper. Major immigration from Finland ceased decades ago. Canada - with its level of social services - is not, in most cases, even competitive today as an alternative to life in Finland. Historically though, Finnish emigrants were at the forefront of pursuing the rights of immigrant workers, particularly in the early decades of the 20th century.
One of the three Finnish Canadian recipients of the Order of Canada, Paul Siren, actually got the recognition for his achievements in promoting organized labor here in Canada. (We should mention as well that another recipient of the Order of Canada was the founding editor of this newspaper, Reinhold Pehkonen, with us from 1931 until 1967)
In recent years the awareness of new immigrants of the assistance organized labor can give to their life and well being appears to have declined. Today, most immigrants arrive here from countries where the labor movement is weak or nonexistent. The situation differs from the days of Western European emigration to Canada. Newcomers from Eastern Europe may also be so disillusioned with the former Soviet style unions in their home countries in the recent past that the contribution that a democratic union can bring remains unnoticed. Of course, unlike in many European countries, trade union agreements have no universal applicability here in Canada and employees of small businesses may have hard time to accomplish anything, even if they would be aware of the situation.
The Ontario government has now agreed to arrange a review of the systems that protect workers in this province. Taken the composition of the work force, the government should also consider using ethnic media more for the promotion of work safety - and the awareness of the employees of their rights.
Of course, ethnic media can act on its own, and has done so.
Information about organized labor and work safety should be made available in the vernacular. Ethnic media must, of course, provide entertainment and some escape from the hard times of the early years in Canada, but besides commercial messages, light stories and devotional material, ethnic media should act as ombudsmen for the newcomers and show them as well that ethnic media is on their side.

Editorial on November 3, 2009

Time to think beyond 2014 in Finnish Studies

The first twenty years of the program of Finnish Studies at the University of Toronto were celebrated last week in style. The event marked also the retirement of Professor Börje Vähämäki, the founder of the U of T program. Addressing the event the Ambassador of Finland noted that the Finnish government had agreed to give funding for another five years in 2009 as it as it “considers the content of the education and the Chair to be of great importance for Finnish-Canadian academic and cultural relations”. The Ambassador added though that in five years time the Program will need additional outside financing.

Time goes fast. The decision to let the Finnish Studies live on as a professor level program was reached between U of T and Finnish authorities at the eleventh hour last spring. To avoid a similar situation the friends of Finnish language teaching here in Toronto should start drawing up contingency plans and public relations. Even though many Finnish Canadian individuals may show interest, the focus on procurement should be on Finland, Finnish companies and Finnish individuals. We have the CFF of course, and the newly upgraded expertise of the Canada Finland Chamber of Commerce could be of assistance. We should not forget the importance of the Expatriate Parliament either. It has shown its ability to act as a catalyst in primary education matters. It could pass a resolution on the importance of post secondary Finnish language tuition in countries with a major Finnish emigration history.
The pioneer era of Finnish Studies is now history. Those two decades of effort and vision are worthy of a future that does not pale in comparison .

Editorial on June 22, 2009

Finland acted in its best interest

A former US diplomat, with major expertise on Finland and the implications of its geopolitical position, visited Toronto last week as a guest of the prestigious Canadian Friends of Finland. This was actually his second appearance as a guest speaker of the CFF.
James Ford Cooper belongs to the small group of US diplomats that have taken the trouble of learning Finnish and even maintaining their abilities after leaving Finland. And the story of Finland must have aroused admiration and sympathy, resulting in the long interest in that country.
Cooper focused on the fairly deep understanding of the position of Finland in the State Department. The US, unlike Britain and Canada, for example, did not declare war on Finland even though Finland had become a cobelligerent of Germany. This understanding continued during the postwar decades - as Finland remained the only democracy in the Western sense of the word amongst the European neighbors of the USSR. One of the heroes of Mr Coopers’s presentation was the second post war president J.K. Paasikivi. He knew where to draw the line in terms of the Soviet influence in Finland.
Mr Paasikivi’s successor long time president Urho Kekkonen meanwhile became something of the villain of the lecture. During the Kekkonen presidency the US disagreed on some lines of conduct adopted by Finland. The first was the “night frost” crisis of 1958. The social democrats (known at the time as anti-communist) and formed a cabinet also including the Finnish conservatives. The Soviets did not like prime minister K.A, Fagerholm. President Kekkonen, unlike Paasikivi in a comparable situation earlier, did not defend Fagerholm, but rather contributed to Fagerholm’s resignation as a way out of the situation. Mr Cooper singled out some other situations whereby the Soviet influence in Finland increased during the Kekkonen presidency.
But the role of Finland in the post cold war era got praise again in the way Cooper had valued highly the Paasikivi era. He said Finland exhibited great understanding of its position as Finland did not embark on a road to demand territories back following the demise of the USSR. Mr Cooper noted that there was a widespread popular movement in Finland endorsing possible demands to be given. But as Mr Cooper noted those in charge of the Finnish foreign policy understood that sooner or later Russia would rise again, and reckless demands would have repercussions then years later.
This Finnish language newspaper serving the immigrant communities in Canada has a particular reason to take up that praise of Finland, and in an editorial column. There was a lot of talk here in Canada on the Finnish Canadian scene about Carelia all through the 90s. Among those who had emigrated to Canada in the 40s and 50s were many people who had lost their homes as Finland agreed to cede parts of Carelia.
In fact, this newspaper published a large amount of commentary sent in from Finland or written by local Finnish immigrants speculating about the imminent return of those areas to Finland. All those items met the demand of the subscribers, but probably fostered wrong notions of what was possible and what was in the interest of Finland, there in Northern Europe. Many Finnish immigrants here in Canada had also maintained ties with the Estonian refugees who had arrived here, and they were getting their old country “back”, why not the Finns.
Even though the debate concerning Carelia has died down here, a not insignificant number of Finnish Canadians seem to think that Finland did outright wrong in the early 90s and lost a unique opportunity. Against the backdrop of those opinions on the Finnish Canadian scene it is most appropriate that praise of Finland is heard again from a US expert. If Finland perhaps is not a credible source of attitudes to some immigrant generations, the US diplomatic corps is. Mr Cooper made a valuable contribution to the understanding of Finland and Northern Europe on the Finnish Canadian scene

Editorial on June 09, 2009

The complete picture of our Finnish Canadian legacy

The late Paul Siren was one of the few Finnish Canadians who had received the country’s high recognition in the form of Membership in the Order of Canada. Early immigrants from Finland and their children were active in promoting the rights of employees, and their work had a lasting impact on the societal values of this country.

The legacy of the early Finns has not been uniformly shared by later arrivals. As we here at Vapaa Sana recently featured a contemporary union activist of Finnish extraction we received some friendly feedback explaining to us the negative impact of unions, as seen by many Finnish immigrants of later decades.

The legacy of the pioneer generations here lives on in parts of the Finnish scene, while it may be largely unknown in other parts. And in fact Paul Siren was not a household name throughout the Finnish scene.

“Finnish traditions and values” will certainly again be accentuated during the upcoming Finnish Grand Fest or Suurjuhlat. The common ground of those values shared throughout the Finnish scene here is not actually that wide. And in questions of the rules of the working life differences may be widest.

Contemporary Finland may find the values of the early Finnish Canadians more palatable that the whole of the Finnish Canadian scene today. In Finland the basic rules of the working life are largely based on consensus covering more or less the whole political scene. One of those principles is the general applicability of trade union agreements. The situation there is the result of Finnish political processes. The overall opinion climate in Canada is different, and the situation in working life reflects the Canadian scene.

The valuable contribution of the earlier Finnish generations here to Canadian social values is an essential part of the history of Finnish Canadians. It is important that we all know those achievements and the people behind them, such as the life and times of Paul Siren.

Editorial on May 20, 2009

Business immigration rules disadvantage Western Europeans

The upcoming talks between the European Union and Canada about closer co-operation are to cover movements of the work force as well. For decades, Finland has not been a source of traditional emigrants to Canada. For those wanting to move to Canada the established way to apply for a landed immigrant status hs remained open, albeit in its work oriented form launched last year.
Traditionally, the emigrant left his or her country and moved to Canada, presumably for good. Today, an emigrant, at least one from a Western European country, would probably first want to test whether the new country and the conditions there are ok. That is possible within the European Union, but not easily in Canada.

Work permits are available, but only on the condition that a positive labour market opinion would be issued in Canada.
Finnish entrepreneurs and business people have found it difficult to get work permits, and the limits set for investment to arrive here in the “business classes” are comparatively high, at least for a someone with a business background in a high taxation country such as Finland.
As an immigration lawyer told Vapaa Sana, the Canadian government "makes it really tough for the Finnish entrepreneurs" to arrive here.
The financial limits of the business class entrepreneur may pose no problem to people from less controlled financial climates, mainly Asia, while the actual entrepreneurship may not be that certain.

For Canada to get immigrants from highly developed Western European countries new solutions should be considered, looking perhaps more at what the would-be candidate is able to do or what he or she has achieved than the initial investment to be made.

The traditional right to bring family members to Canada (beyond the immediate family) is of lesser importance to Western Europeans, and could be discarded.

Finnish History in Canadian Media

The Nobel Peace Prize to former Finnish president Martti Ahtisaari has given Finland major international publicity. Among all the positive comments about Finland there have also been some cases where the writers have somehow found the worst Cold War era backgrounders about Finland. Here in Canada Globe and Mail, in a commentary, on October 10, claimed that Finland had been a Soviet satellite state during the post-war decades.
The news item did attract reader comments, also from Finnish Canadians.
Finland fought on the losing side in World War Two. Finland’s primary enemy was the Soviet Union. In 1944 Finland was able to disengage itself from the conflict without being occupied by the Soviets. Finland had been able to stop the advance of Stalin’s divisions in Carelia in heavy engagements in July 1944. Finland was the only country on the losing side that was not occupied. The final peace treaty wassigned in Paris in 1947.
Throughout the post-war period Finland remained a democracy in the western sense of the word. Finland did sign a treaty of co-operation with the Soviets, but it did not include any automatic military co-operation. In fact, Finland saw the preamble of the treaty, with its reference to Finland trying to remain outside great power conflicts, as a basis for its policy of neutrality. The Soviet treaty with Finland differed remarkably from the treaties the Soviets signed with small Eastern European states in the late 40s.
The description of a Soviet satellite is in no way applicable to Finland. The Finns enjoyed unrestricted travel with the rest of Western Europe, and within the Nordic area (Sweden, Norway, Denmark, Iceland) the need to carry passports was lifted as early as in the 50s. The Finnish markka was a convertible currency. This list could be quite long.
The Iron Curtain was indeed between Finland and the USSR, not between Finland and Sweden.
Another detail in the Globe and Mail item is also worth mentioning. The paper describes how president Ahtisaari’s family “was forced to flee along with many other ethnic Finns” Now, as Finland had to cede large areas of the eastern part in the armistice of 1944, Finnish nationals were evacuated from the areas by Finland. No Finnish civilians were left behind when the Finnish armed forces withdrew to the present border.
In Germany, the word used about those who had lost their homes in the east has been vertriebene, people “driven away”. In Finland the word has been evacuees. Finland ceded the areas in the East and a new border was established. The transfer of the population of Carelia was by no means “ethnic clenzing” by the Russians, as the Globe and Mail comment could lead to understand

Would it be worthwhile to move from Canada to Finland?

Finnish labor market rules, day care for children and free postsecondary education may be incentives to move from Canada to Finland. Vapaa Sana editorial in issue 42/08.

Finnish overseas diplomatic missions are to be given tasks related to attracting new immigrants to Finland. The country is facing major shortages of labour in the years ahead and immigration will be one of the remedies. The new tasks of the Embassies was one of the points made in a working group memorandum handed to Minister of Immigration Astrid Thors. Embassies are to be used in briefing future employers but also in preventing any “economic misuse of potential immigrants”.
Canada is obviously not a major source of new immigrants to Finland. However, in the sector of “people of Finnish extraction” Canada could be a major source. According to the 2006 Census there are 130 000 persons of Finnish background in Canada.
But why would anyone want to move from Canada to Finland?
Obviously, it would be young people with some Finnish language background that Finland would be most interested in. And it is that group that may actually be most susceptible to reacting positively to the idea of moving to Finland.
The cost of living in relation to salaries may actually not be that attractive. And the Finnish overall taxation rate is higher.
But it is factors such as moderately priced day care, with its availability enforced by law, that may trigger decisions to give Finland a try.
Also the generally more employee oriented labour laws may make Finland attractive. In Finland, the “leading contract in a sector of industry” is “the law”. The concept of being unionized or not does not exist, as the prevailing contract in the branch must be applied. A further bonus for Finland are the long holidays. And free post secondary education would take a away the heavy burden of setting aside the money for the children to go to university.
Of course, to many Canadians of Finnish extraction a move to Finland simply not an option. And many of those who have come to Canada recently are working in well paid specialist or executive positions. For high income people, particularly if they have no children, Canada offers a better quality of life and financial framework.
There is currently in Finland no system of entering the country as a landed immigrant, in the Canadian sense of the word. A non-EU job seeker cannot move to Finland without a work permit and that in turn will require that the person has a job and an employer. This of course gives the immigrant more security as well. Immigrants arriving in Canada may find themselves in a situation where they may not be able to get the kind of employment they had envisaged. Of course, people arriving in Canada on a work permit basis are in a different category, but work permits are basically given only if a Canadian has not been found for the position.
The problem of accepting foreign education and professional credentials is the same both in Finland and Canada. But in Finland, the language qualification issue is much worse. English speaking potential immigrants are waiting to get to Canada, Finnish speaking would-be immigrants to Finland are hard to find, and Finnish is a difficult language to learn.

17.4.08

130 000 Canadians share the Finnish legacy

Thirty thousand inhabitants of Canada gave in the 2006 census “Finnish” as their only background. Another hundred thousand people included Finnish in listings of multiple origins. Over a half of those giving Finnish as their sole origin (18 000) lived in Ontario.
At the national level the number of sole-origin Swedes amounted to close the Finnish frequency, 28 000. Swedish came up a lot more in the multiple origins, exceeding 300 000.
Finnish-Canadians are increasingly predominantly Canadian in identity. Finland is part of their past and part of their cultural legacy. During the transition period of Finnish dual citizenship the Finnish legacy has meant also an option of returning to Finland or to another EU country. The window of opportunity is ending next month though.
The Finnish scene in Canada is by no means a uniform group. Immigration from Finland took place in waves that brought with them values and attitudes of the time. In the 20s the new immigrants included many who had been supporting the losing side in the Finnish civil war. From Finland “loyalism” was encouraged and representatives of the Finnish Evangelic Lutheran Church sent to Canada were active in taking sides and defining the quality of a “good Finn”. In the end, two fairly different cultures of Finnish extraction lived on in Canada.
At times, there have been attempts to include the whole of the Finnish-Canadian scene under the umbrella of the Finnish-Canadian Cultural Federation. That has not worked out though. Talking to Vapaa Sana, a former chairman of the Federation said that at the executive level a widening of the membership base was no longer a problem, but the “floor level” of members was defiantly against an opening toward what was seen as “the left”. Such a development did not meet the interests and expectations of a large segment of the Finnish scene.
In 1967 major national celebrations coincided in Finland and Canada. Finland was observing its golden jubilee and Canada turned one hundred. On the Finnish-Canadian scene forces were joined in the observances. But after the jubilee year common ground was lost again.
Had the visions of 1967 been able to survive, the Finnish Canadian scene could have developed into a more viable asset in international promotion of Finnish culture. The internal divisions made contacts with Finland difficult at times as the Finnish side could not always keep up with the diplomacy of talking to both sides and did not even understand the issues. In Finland societal convergence had taken place long ago and the church in particular had pulled out of any belligerent attitudes. But polirization on the Finnish Canadian scene had gained momentum of its own and any tampering with it from Finland would have been also unethical as the enclave culture was not basically dependent on Finland.
As the English language takes over in the Finnish traditions here and descendants of the various waves of immigration end up with more superficial Finnish identities, the joint Finnish legacy may get more space.
The joint Nordic background will also become more important as a common denominator.
The coupling of the 2008 FinnJoy event in Toronto with the Nordic Fair is an important step forward.

Editorial: The CIA kept itself informed (5.7.07)

The US Central Intelligence Agency has made public some of its analyses of Finland from the post war era ending in 1972. In Finland the detail and vision of the CIA documents was met with amazement and admiration. The picture available on the basis of 35 years of research is not much different from the details the CIA had recorded in 1972 and earlier.
The Americans were gravely concerned with the possibility that Western Europe would start accommodating to Soviet pressures in the way Finland had to.
As for the behaviour of Finland as such, the CIA realized Finland was in a difficult position. Finland was the only country on the losing side of World War Two that had not been occupied by the allies (in this case Russians), and during the immediate post war years Finland had been able to avert a communist takeover. However, Finland had been placed, or was seen in the West to be, within the Soviet sphere of interest. Based on that realization Finland tried to pursue policies that would support its effort to remain independent.
The CIA had apparently excellent contacts in Helsinki, and the underlying thinking in the Finnish policies was clear to Washington. The analysts in Washington seemed to understand Finland was pursuing its national interest, in those difficult conditions. Until 1972 at least.