Mikä ihmeen Vapaa Sana? Katso tuonnempana alhaalla.

What is Vapaa Sana?

Vapaa Sana is a weekly tabloid published in Toronto in Finnish and partially in English. Publshed since 1931, the weekly claims to be the leading Finnish language media in North America. The publishing company Vapaa Sana Press Ltd is based on a wide ownership by thousands of Cnadians of Finnish extraction. As immigration from Finland to Canada nearly ceased by the 70s, the readership of Vapaa Sana gravitates towards the older generation.

The main content of the paper today deals with the Finnish-Canadian scene and its activities, and anything to do with the Finnish heritage or Finland in Canada. General Canadian and world news are offered as well for the benefit of those readers with limited command of English.

The Vapaa Sana says it is politically unaffiliated. Originally the paper represented the "opposition" of the Finnish Organization of Canada as the Finnish scene in Canada broke into two factions in the early 30s, both differing shades of left. After WWII the Vapaa Sana took a line reflecting the faily conservative way of thinking that prevailed amongst the post-war emigrants from Finland. In recent years the Vapaa Sana has aimed at reaching also the "other side" in the Finnish Canadian heritage.

In 2004 the publishing company acquired the ownership of the Thunder Bay based Canadan Sanomat, an earlier competitor. The publication of Canadan Sanomat continues in Thunder Bay.

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

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.

Kolumnit
Vapaassa Sanassa kolumneja.

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

Even if they were only a nuisance

The debate on whether the security surveillance papers of former NDP leader Tommy Douglas should be published or not is not one of indifference to the Finnish scene in Canada. The security wing of RCMP used to hire Canadians of Finnish extraction to keep an eye their fellow Canadians of Finnish extraction. Newly arrived Finnish immigrants of the immediate post-war era were not unwilling to participate. After all, they had been fighting the communists in Europe, why not here. And the fact that Canada had been on the other side in the war did not matter. (It was Canada who changed sides, not the Finnish immigrant..) Full publicity to the records of Tommy Douglas would open the door to full publicity to the whole collection of files. That would put the former informants in to an embarrassing situation. Vapaa Sana does not endorse full publicity to the old security documents, however wrong and against democratic principles the actions at the time were. Read the editorial.

Ottawa knows the Megan Leslie phenomenon

The input in Ottawa by MP Megan Leslie (NDP, Halifax) got wider acclaim in 2009 when she was elected “rookie of the year” by other MPs, in a magazine poll. Being of Finnish-Canadian extraction she has been active in promoting the Finnish heritage in the parliamentary circles. One of her interests is the Finnish “sauna tradition”. Read this Vapaa Sana feature about a sauna party hosted by Ambassador Risto Piipponen and his wife Marjatta in December 2009. Among the invitees, including Speaker of Parliament Peter Milliken, Megan Leslie was the sauna expert.

Read also this Vapaa Sana feature published in issue 03/09. - Most Canadians have social democratic values even though they do not know it, says Megan Leslie. Many of the goals of the Canadian New Democrats have been attained long ago in Finland, and part of the political consensus there.

A TV channel starts in Finland with private Canadian funding
Finnish media interested in finding the essence of the "family values" of the new channel.

Many of the 1950-60s emigrants
retained their Finnish identity in Canada
A fresh interview project : There was also political motivation to come to Canada in the 50s and 60s.

Finland and Canada are far apart on the climate issue. What do Finnish-Canadian businessmen say?
Canada does not get a good rating when three Finnish-Canadians active in business comment on the results of the Copenhagen climate conference.

Paul Siren
1917-2009
Paul Siren was one of the three Finnish-Canadian recipients of the Order of Canada medal. He died on May 31, 2009. Read a Vapaa Sana profile of this lifelong work for workers' rights.

Finnophile nights meet the demand

High hopes at the relaunch of the Finnophile pub events in Toronto. These events have been seen as the missing link possibly able to bring the connection between the generations of emigration.

The new professor of Finnish Studies at th U of T
The next Professor of Finnish Studies at the University of Toronto is Dr Pia-Maria Päiviö. The new professor has spent the last two years in Indiana, teaching Finnish at the University in Bloomington in Indiana. The position of professor of Finnish Studies became vacant following the retirement of professor Börje Vähämäki. Dr Päiviö also talked to Vapaa Sana. The continued existance of the Chair was secured for another five years in the talks between the Finnish Ministry of Education and U of T. Read more.

This high tech expert is an ambassador of Finnish values..

Riku Seppälä, 25, still an industrial engineering and management student at the Helsinki University of Technology, but already a high tech entrepreneur in Canada. - A company is being launched with a couple of friends, he explained. He also talks warmly about the Finnish educational system, worlds apart from some policies prevailing here in North America. Vapaa Sana talked with Riku Seppälä at a CFF event in Montreal. See the feature.