A Communist for the RCMP: The Uncovered Story of a Social Movement Informant

Witness to Yesterday (The Champlain Society Podcast on Canadian History)

Greg Marchildon talks to Dennis Gruending about his book, A Communist for the RCMP: The Uncovered Story of a Social Movement Informant. 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. A Communist for the RCMP provides an inside account of Hadesbeck’s career and illustrates how the RCMP uses surveillance of activists to enforce the status quo. Dennis Gruending has written and edited eight books, including biographies of former Saskatchewan premier Allan Blakeney and of Emmett Hall, whose Royal Commission recommended Medicare for Canada. Gruending has worked as a print and television journalist and as a CBC Radio host. He served as a New Democratic Party MP in the 36th parliament and was his party’s critic for the environment and for international development. He later wrote speeches for former Saskatchewan Premier Lorne Calvert, and later still spent six years at the Canadian Labour Congress. He and his wife, Martha Wiebe, live in Ottawa. You can find more information at: https://www.dennisgruending.com. Image Credit: Between the Lines If you like our work, please consider supporting it: bit.ly/support_WTY. Your support contributes to the Champlain Society’s mission of opening new windows to directly explore and experience Canada’s past.