[:en] THE FINNISH EXPERIENCE IN NORTHWESTERN ONTARIO Shaping Political and Social Culture in the 20th Century Welcome! This website documents working class Finnish immigrants at the Lakehead. Explore the moments, events, people and ideas that impacted and changed the labour movement in Canada through the chronological timeline, historical overviews, photographs, videos, audio clips and more. Read More

[:en] 1867 – 1899 1st Wave of Immigration NEW OPPORTUNTIES 1867 CANADA BECOMES A NATION On July 1, 1867 the first government of the Dominion of Canada is sworn in with John A. MacDonald as Canada's first Prime Minister. In 1896, the Liberal Party is elected and Wilfrid Laurier becomes Prime Minister 1876 – 1888 Read More

[:en] 1900 – 1905 Organizational Beginnings THE FIRST FIVE YEARS 1902 ORGANIZATION OF LABOUR AT THE LAKEHEAD American Federation of Labor organizer Harry Bryan arrives at the Lakehead. Within a year, he organizes over 22 American Federation of Labor-affiliate unions, assists in the formation of a branch of the Canadian Socialist League (which later became Read More

[:en] 1906 – 1910 Developing Community Capacity STRENGTHENING OPPORTUNITIES 1906 – 1908 THE SOCIALIST PARTY OF CANADA FORMED In 1906, frustrated by trade unions and eager for a more active political role, Finnish workers in Port Arthur establish a branch of the Socialist Party of Canada. A branch is established in Fort William in 1908. Read More

[:en] 1910 – 1913 Testing the Foundations of Solidarity WORKERS RESPOND 1910 THE FINNISH LABOUR TEMPLE Reflecting the contributions of Finnish workers in the region, the annual meeting of the Trades and Labour Congress of Canada is held from September 12 – 17, 1910. From 1910 – 1912, the Finnish Publishing Company, publishers of the Read More

[:en] 1914 – 1918 The First World War PAVING THE WAY FOR POLITICAL CHANGE 1914 THE OUTBREAK OF WAR When Britain entered the war on August 4, Canada was automatically at war too. In November, Canada establishes a national registration for “enemy aliens” with a focus on immigrants and political radicals. Over 15% of the Read More

[:en] 1919 – 1923 The Worker’s Revolt in Canada POST-WAR CHANGES 1919 ONE BIG UNION AND THE WINNIPEG GENERAL STRIKE In March, delegates meet in Western Canada to form the One Big Union. It dominates labour organization at the Lakehead including all Finnish affiliates of the Industrial Workers of the World (Wobblies) and its affiliates. Read More

[:en] 1924 – 1928 The Worker’s Revolt in Canada MAINTAINING UNITY 1924 A DEATH IN RUSSIA, A BIRTH IN CANADA Russian communist revolutionary and political theorist, Vladimir Ilyich Lenin’s death sparks changes to the Canadian communist movement. Hundreds of Finnish, Ukrainian, English and Italian workers from the Worker’s Party of Canada attend a memorial in Read More

[:en] 1929 – 1931 Hostility and Tragedy at the Lakehead SOLIDARITY AND DIVISION 1929 THE TURNING POINT Viljo Rosvall and Janne Voutilainen, two Finnish-Canadian labour organizers mysteriously disappear on November 18, 1929 on their way to recruiting bush workers at Onion Lake for a large strike. In a rare show of solidarity, Communists, the Industrial Read More

[:en] 1932 – 1934 New and Reemerging Organizations CHALLENGES TO THE STATUS QUO 1932 THE RISE OF THE COOPERATIVE COMMONWEALTH FEDERATION On May 26, the Cooperative Commonwealth Federation is established through an alliance of socialist, agrarian, co-operative, and other labour organizations in Calgary, Alberta. 1932 RE-EMERGENCE OF INDUSTRIAL WORKERS OF THE WORLD Finns organize a Read More