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Book Launch: A Communist for the RCMP by Dennis Gruending
June 17 @ 7:00 pm - 8:00 pm
Join us for the launch of A Communist for the RCMP, Dennis Gruending’s exposé of Canada’s nefarious and disruptive surveillance practices. Dennis will be joined in conversation by writer and a former Canadian diplomat Geoff White.
Monday, June 17 starting at 7:00pm
Ottawa Mennonite Church, 1830 Kilborn Ave., Ottawa
Refreshments will be served
In 1941, the RCMP recruited Frank Hadesbeck, a Spanish Civil War veteran, as a paid informant to infiltrate the Communist Party. For decades, he informed not only upon communists, but also upon hundreds of other people who held progressive views. Hadesbeck’s “Watch Out” lists on behalf of the Security Service included labour activists, medical doctors, lawyers, university professors and students, journalists, Indigenous and progressive farm leaders, members of the clergy, and anyone involved in the peace and human rights movements.
“The Canadian government has made exceptional efforts to erase or seclude documents related to decades of RCMP dirty tricks, but A Communist for the RCMP provides stunning insights into the nuts and bolts of the force’s infiltration campaigns. Dennis Gruending provides a rich and masterful narration of previously unseen informant files, creating an unrelenting account into the everyday work of RCMP infiltration… it is a must-read for anyone looking to understand the politics of RCMP spying.” – Jeffrey Monaghan, co-author of Policing Indigenous Movements: Dissent and the Security State
Dennis Gruending has written and edited eight books. He has worked as a print and television journalist and as a CBC Radio host. Gruending served as a New Democratic Party MP in the 36th parliament and was his party’s critic for the environment and for international development.