From: The Encyclopedia of Canada's Peoples/Latvians/
Most Latvians who came to Canada after World War II expected to return home. They claimed to be refugees who left Latvia for self-preservation and to help it regain its independence. They were still committed to struggle against Soviet occupation, only the front lines had changed.
This resolve was at the root of most Latvian participation in Canadian politics. Resolutions, petitions, and demonstrations coordinated by Latvian organizations highlighted their opposition to communism and any seeming compromises with Communist regimes. On a regular basis the Canadian government was asked to reiterate its non-recognition of Latvia’s incorporation into the Soviet Union, and the responses were published on the front pages of Latvian newspapers. Anniversary celebrations of Latvia’s independence, 18 November 1918, allowed visiting politicians from all political parties and from all levels of government to hear about Latvia’s subjugation and russification. The greatest applause was always reserved for politicians who had learned to end their greetings with “Lai dzīvo brīvā Latvija!” (Long Live Free Latvia!)
Individuals were urged to join political parties so as to affect policy resolutions dealing with communism and the Soviet Union. While Latvians were members of all political parties, the Progressive Conservatives drew the most support. The Co-operative Commonwealth Federation, later the New Democratic Party, was generally considered too socialist and too willing to compromise with Communist causes, so that only a few older Latvians supported it. Some leaders considered even the Liberals too leftist. Many active Latvians, especially in the two decades after immigration, viewed right-wing causes as more likely to further the cause of Latvian independence.
Latvians often cooperated with Estonians and Lithuanians and, at a lower level of intensity, with various captive-nations organizations. At the annual Baltic Evening in Ottawa, representatives would wine, dine, and outline their grievances to parliamentarians. Most initiatives of the three Baltic groups were coordinated by the Baltic Federation in Canada. The Balts were successful in maintaining Western non-recognition with respect to their homelands, except from Australia, where in the 1970s the Labour government’s recognition of Soviet incorporation of the Baltic states resulted in tremendous opposition from Australia’s Baltic community. As a result, Labour lost the next election, and the new government reversed the policy. The scope of the opposition and the reversal in policy were noted by Western governments, including Canada’s.
The Parliament of Canada supported Baltic independence on several occasions. As a result of the January 1991 armed conflicts initiated in Vilnius and Riga by Soviet armed forces, it declared support for the Baltic republics’ right to peace and democracy and indicated its willingness to freeze all aid to the Soviet Union unless armed aggression were ended. Since the declaration of Latvian independence on 21 August 1991, political activism among Latvians has waned, though there are attempts to convince Canadian politicians to help Latvia with many of its problems.
There has, however, been a resurgence of interest in participating in the politics of Latvia. Over three thousand Latvian Canadians have registered as citizens of Latvia, thus obtaining voting rights. For the June 1993 elections in Latvia over 80 percent of those Canadians registered actually cast ballots. Politicians and speakers from Latvia have addressed local functions in Canada. Campaigns have been initiated to provide medicine, books, clothing, and money for Latvia. Individual Latvian Canadians have provided their skills and introduced Western practices to institutions and colleagues in Latvia. Many have now found a favourite cause to support in Latvia, whether it be relatives, churches, schools, political parties, or renovation of cultural institutions. As a result of such expenditures, financing for Latvian-Canadian organizations has decreased significantly.
Within Latvian-Canadian society the main structure of political and cultural coordination is the Latviešu Nacionālā Apvienība Kanadā (Latvian National Federation in Canada), founded in 1948. About one-half, or forty, of the representatives to this body are elected every four years by fee-paying members, but thirty-five to forty-five are sent by participating organizations. This council meets and elects an executive of eleven. Over two thousand people cast their ballots for individuals from half a dozen political groupings in the last elections. The federation coordinates and directs many areas of endeavour through its sections on politics, culture, education, humanitarian aid, sports, and youth and women’s affairs, and it has an office and permanent staff.
The elected council meets for several days at the annual congress, for which participating organizations publish activity reports. The principal cleavages have been based on personalities, but there have also been generational and ideological disputes. Believers in a hard-line approach to relations with Latvia – that is, no contacts – were long dominant, supported by the right-wing newspaper Latvija-Amerikā , which fanned political animosities and helped keep more liberal candidates out of office during the 1970s and 1980s. The same slate of conservative candidates was constantly re-elected, and executive power remained in the hands of a group led by Tālivaldis Kronbergs. The large liberal segment of the community was critical of this practice and for a time withdrew its support of the paper and of the federation.
Establishment of the Latvian Cultural Centre in Toronto in 1979 without the overt blessing of the conservative-dominated federation highlighted ideological tensions. Charges were made that the organizers were “leftists” with a hidden, communist-oriented agenda, even though many were members of the Progressive Conservative Party. For almost a decade the hard-liners refused to participate in any events in the centre; their bases were the Latvian House and the Daugavas Vanagi Building. These tensions dissipated in the 1980s; the Communist threat was seen to be receding, and more pragmatic considerations came to the fore. The change was signalled in 1989 by the election of Viesturs Zariņš, a moderate, to head the federation.
Since 1991 the Latvian National Federation has been building bridges between Canada and Latvia. It has hosted visits by leading Latvian politicians, including the president and the prime minister. Its Educational and Cultural Foundation and its Latvia Relief and Development Fund provide educational and humanitarian aid for Latvia. The federation is also active in worldwide Latvian organizations. It sends two delegates to the fourteen-member executive of the World Federation of Free Latvians (PBLA), with headquarters in both Washington and Riga. Financing is provided by the Latvian Freedom Fund, to which Latvians in Canada have contributed, and which funds many projects in Latvia ($100,000 annually); many of its administrators are from Canada.
The Latvian National Youth Federation in Canada (LNJAK) remains almost the only visible youth organization in Canada. It has initiated the bulk of young people’s events, including annual congresses, art exhibits, dances, concerts, and political projects. The Latvian Relief Society Daugavas Vanagi was founded by Latvian prisoners of war in Belgium and has branches in most larger communities. The bulk of voters and activists in local Latvian political organizations are those who were born and raised in Latvia.
