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EESTI ELU reedel, 11. oktoobril 2019 — Friday, October 11, 2019
Nr. 41
CEEC calls on Mayor Tory and Toronto City Councillors to overturn city rejection of application to name a park street in honour of Russian human rights activist, Boris Nemtsov
English-language supplement to the Estonian weekly “EESTI ELU” Tartu College Publishing Committee Founding Chairman: Elmar Tampõld Editorial Board: Enn Kiilaspea, Jüri Laansoo, Tarvo Toomes Editor: Laas Leivat 3 Madison Avenue, Toronto, ON M5R 2S2 T: 416-733-4550 • F: 416-733-0944 • E-mail: editor@eestielu.ca
Russian intelligence advancing Russian policy (VI) While some two decades ago counter-intelligence relied substantially on the physical surveillance of targets, cyber technology innovations have drastically reduced the im portance of ‘human tails’ in tracking suspected enemy operatives. However following indivi duals by car has always been and will remain to be to a certain extent an important component of surveillance practice. The KGB had definite technical requirements that Soviet car manufacturers had to fulfill. Already in the first post-war years, the approximately 200 specialized Pobedas for the KGB had a more powerful ZIM engine, transmission and ad justed frame. A special Volga model, of which 603 were produced sported a V8 engine and an automatic transmission that boosted its speed to 170 km. The next version of the Volga, produced 1034 cus tomized vehicles from 1973 to 1980 which increased speeds to 190 km. The last Volga special order model was ecquiped with a standard gear shift to disguise the installation of an automatic transmission. But a few former special surveillance unit veterans have recalled that souped-up cars were not always unnoticeable during operations. An ex perienced eye on someone being tailed could spot the the downward tilt of a vehicle with a heavier and powerful end. This wasn’t helped by placing counter-balancing weights in the trunk. Also a louder engine noise was a tip-off not on the highway but in in slower city traffic. The Ziguli product did not suffer from these tale-tell problems. Taking into account the number of special cars pro duced exclusively for super- secret surveillance units to use, massive resources must have been devoted to relatively a huge number of personnel tail ing mainly foreign targets. Spies have always depended on cover identities. Some 20 years ago, a husband-wife team of Soviet spies in Canada was arrested and convicted of spy ing for years for Moscow. One
reason for their long time professional longevity was their ability to have authentic, falsi fied but not forged, Canadian citizenship papers and other IDs dependent on this.. Some twenty years ago a man/woman team of KGB deep cover operatives, who had lived in Canada for some two decades in Canada were uncovered employing the same masquerad ing technique. They had used the classical method of creating cover identities. A foreign spy visits cemeteries, finds a grave of an infant whose age would be close to that of the spy. He orders a birth certificate (in Canada provincially registered and not cross-referenced to any citizenship data-base) and then citizenship papers, a social insurance number, a bank ac count, driver’s licence and other non-forged documentation. When Petserimaa did not gain freedom and independence with the rest of Estonia in August 1991, the KGB realized a huge advantage in exploiting the situation that had many authentic Estonian citizens buried in local (now Russian) territory (Pihkva oblast during the Soviet occupation oblast). The Estonian citizenship law states that anyone who could prove they were a descendant of an Estonian citizen would qualify for Estonian citizenship. The KGB played this trump to the maximum by locating the graves of local infants, the children of deceased Estonian citizens, accessing local births records (which had remained behind in territory annexed b Russia), drawing up authentic, but falsified, documents, and thus giving legitimacy to KGB operatives applying for Estonian citizenship. This would allow them to establish residency in Estonia and would get visa-free travel throughout Europe and nu merous other countries. Requests from Estonian authorities for access to local archives of births and deaths were denied by Russia. Digitized public records have seriously hampered this method of giving the KGB a traditional method of fabricating legends for deep cover operatives. Namely computerized data
October 9, 2019 TORONTO – The Central and Eastern European Coun cil in Canada, representing the interests of over 4 million Canadians of Central and Eastern European heritage, is deeply concerned by the City of Toronto’s decision to reject an application to have a street inside a park in North Toron to, named in honor of assassinated Russian human rights and democracy activist and leader, Boris Nemtsov, and calls on Mayor John Tory and City Councillors to overturn the decision. The application by the CEEC which was supported by the Raoul Wallenberg Center, was denied, according to city staff, due to negative feedback during a public consultation period in the summer and the risk of causing geopolitical issues. The yet unnamed street, inside Earl Bales Park, was chosen due to its proximity to the Russian community in Toronto. The proposal has re ceived wide and diverse com
munity support and has been supported by hundreds who signed a petition in support of the initiative. Boris Nemtsov was a leading human rights and democracy activist in Russia. He was criti cal of the Putin regime’s cor rupt, repressive oligarchy and Russia’s illegal invasion and annexation of Crimea. Since his assassination, Muscovites have placed flowers, pictures and other objects on the bridge to memorialize Nemtsov and his legacy of fighting for freedom and democracy for all Russian. Tragically, Russian authorities have rejected a permanent me morial to Nemtsov, in efforts to erase his legacy activism and sacrifice. “Boris Nemtsov built bridges between Central and Eastern European nations and commu nities, as well as Canada and his legacy continues to be a beacon of hope for regional stability, cooperation and peace,” said CEEC President, Marcus Kolga. “It’s clear that the
The New International Estonian Centre is critical for our future generations Like everyone, I have fond memories of the Toronto Estonian House. It is important to remember the hard work and efforts of our ancestors and fellow Estonians who dedicated themselves to building, developing, and main taining the Broadview Estonian House. The strength and conti nued success of our community is their direct legacy. We must preserve as much from the Broadview house as we can – both the physical objects from within, and its spirit. This is natural and under standable. But it is time to move on. Stubbornness and nostalgia are the enemy of progress. This is about the fu ture; about channeling our knowledge and dear traditions into a unique, new, future-facing
banks make it easier for coun terintelligence investigations to match death certificates with documentation of live indivi duals. Now people who never apply for passports, have no social insurance numbers, no bank accounts etc, people whose identity cannot be traced via any data bank, but have birth certificates in some registry can become the ‘live’ source through which a back ground can be manufactured – rare in a digitized world. (To be continued in a future LAAS LEIVAT issue soon.)
ESTONIAN LIFE
opportunity. The Estonian state itself is racing ahead, investing in and embracing the future. We must do so too. And this can be done without giving up what is most impor tant to us, such as our traditions, culture and language. We lose the building, but keep the insti tution. In fact, we get a major upgrade on the building, directly helping us to revamp and re vitalise the institution and there by our community. I want to be able to bring my children to an Estonian Centre that is sustainable, adaptable, and keeping pace with our times – even years after it first opens. (I do not plan on having children for a long time!) I’m particularly excited about the prospect of the “accelerator” technology hub and incubator
Come out to our fall Community Engagement Session on Nov. 5 The International Estonian Centre (IEC) project team has had a jam-packed fall work schedule and you’re invited to find out what’s been happening at our fall Community Engagement Session on November 5. The session will take place at 7.30 p.m. at the Estonian House café at 958 Broadview Avenue. Come out and hear the latest news and progress from project manager David Kalm and architect Alar Kongats.
Russian Embassy and Consulate in Toronto would seek to under mine our street naming proposal by any means at their disposal, including the types of operations which are commonly associated with the Putin regime, all of which are intended to intimidate city officials into rejecting this very Canadian proposal, to honor a fallen international human rights hero.” The CEEC was only notified about the City’s public consul tation website for the proposal days before it closed. The sur vey itself was anonymous and open to meddling through the simple task of masking of IPs. The CEEC calls on commu nity members to write to their local councillors and the mayor to express their support for Boris Nemtsov Way in Earl Bales Park, and for the Mayor and Council to reconsider and overturn the decision to reject this important proposal. On Oc tober 9, 2019, Boris Nemtsov would have celebrated his 60th birthday.
that is planned for the new Estonian Centre. This follows the spirit of Estonian innova tion, boosts sustainability, and provides a meaningful opportu nity to bring together Estonian and non-Estonian business people and innovators. While I personally always saw the Estonian Centre project as a sensible and important initiative, there is certainly no logic to fighting it anymore. It is going to happen no matter what, for better or for worse. But we can all play a role in how successful it is, and in how strong and united our commu nity will remain. Grumpiness, division, grudges and bickering will only hurt future generations. JUKU GOLD
PS: I concede that losing the rifle range is truly unfortunate. But that’s just another reason to make the trip to Kotkajärve!
As always, this is a chance to ask questions directly to the people who are leading this project. We want to keep you informed, and hear what you think! The goal is to build a modern, new centre for the Estonian community to enjoy and use today, and ensure a bright future for the next generation. Keep in touch and find out what’s happening! • Check out our website – it is updated regularly with all the latest news and information: www.estoniancentre.ca • Please sign up for our email newsletter on our website and get the latest news right to your inbox. • Follow us on Facebook, too: @ EestiKeskus
