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Gouzenko: Key Figures

The number of RCMP officers assigned to the Gouzenko case, as well as the number of people appointed to the espionage commission's staff, were limited to a small group of individuals to maintain security and secrecy. Many of the key figures involved in prosecuting the suspected spies had previous links to each other through organizations such as the Canadian Bar Association. Three of the lawyers involved in the state's prosecution of the suspects were later appointed to the bench. E.K Williams was the government's legal advisor who recommended the use of a royal commission and later advised the commission: he became a justice of the Supreme Court of Manitoba. J.C. Cartwright, the lead prosecutor, and Gérald Fauteux, one of the commission's three legal advisors, were appointed to the Supreme Court of Canada. James C. McRuer of the Ontario High Court presided over four of the espionage trials and established several precedents which allowed the commission's transcripts to be used in court. He was later appointed to the Ontario Court of Appeals as Chief Justice (the highest ranking judge in Ontario) and later led the Ontario Royal Commission on Civil Rights (1967). D.W. Mundell, the third legal advisor to the commission, served as assistant to the Attorney General of Ontario and was appointed to McRuer's civil rights commission. All five men were also members of the Canadian Bar Association and had served on the Association's executive board. Finally, the lead RCMP investigator, C.W. Harvison, was appointed RCMP Commissioner in 1960.

Biographical information on leading political figures, such as Mackenzie King or Louis St. Laurent, is available on web sites such as First Among Equals: The Prime Ministers in Canadian Life and Politic or in publications listed on this site.


The Commissioners


Roy Lindsay Kellock

Robert Taschereau

 

The Lawyers


Gérald Fauteux

D.W. Mundell

E.K Williams

 

The Judges (spy trials)


James C. McRuer

 

The Police


C.W. Harvison

Inspector John Leopold

 

The Suspects


 

Eric Adams

Israel Halperin

Matt S. Nightingale

J.S. Benning

Alan Nunn May

Raymond Boyer

Fred W. Poland

Sam Carr

Fred Rose

Agatha Chapman

Gordon Lunan

David Shugar

Edward W. Mazerall

Durnford Smith

Harold S. Gerson

Kathleen Willisher

Emma Woikin

 

 

 

 

 

 
           
     
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