Emma Woikin

Emma Woikin (née Konkin; December 30, 1920 – May 22, 1974) was a Canadian civil servant who, in 1946, was convicted of spying on behalf of the Soviet Union.

[1][10] Life in the Prairies was exceptionally difficult at the time; Saskatchewan had been particularly hard-hit by the Great Depression and an ongoing drought meant 1937 saw some of the worst crop yields in the province's history.

[1] She continued her education, studying typing, bookkeeping, and stenography and, by the end of her first year in Marcelin, completed a two-year commercial course.

In August, she received a telegram offering her a job as a typist for the passport division of the Department of External Affairs with a monthly salary of $52.

[17][18][19] Upon starting at the Department of External Affairs, she was given an employee information form where she declared herself a British subject of Russian origin.

[3] Woikin's espionage activities began sometime in late spring 1945 when she was visiting the Sokolovs in their King Street home.

During the evening, Sokolov began asking Woikin about the information that was moving between London and Ottawa and suggested she pass along anything that might be of interest to the Soviet Union.

[3] She used the money to purchase a train ticket to Blaine Lake, her first visit to her hometown since arriving in Ottawa nearly two years earlier.

[26] In August 1945, following the atomic bombing of Hiroshima, the Soviet Embassy ramped up its secrecy measures as it redoubled its efforts to obtain secret information regarding the Manhattan Project.

Rather than meet Lida in person, Woikin was instructed by telephone to tape her transcribed notes to the underside of a toilet cover in a dentist's office across from the Lord Elgin Hotel.

Following the unexpected rendezvous, embassy staff decided to return to the original system where Woikin would meet directly with Lida.

[28] The Soviet Union had been devastated by the Second World War and the standard of living and freedoms afforded by his post in Canada could not compare to those in his home country.

[29] His superior, Colonel Nikolai Zabotin, was able to delay his return by insisting he could not be spared until a replacement could be found and trained.

[37] On September 28, Woikin was transferred back to the passport division – without explanation – where she no longer had access to secret information.

King had been hesitant to get involved out of fear of damaging relations with the Soviet Union and undermining talks about nuclear weapons control.

[35] In addition, the Soviet Union had largely ceased its espionage activities within Canada following Gouzenko's defection and the suspects posed no immediate threat to Canadian security.

[43] On February 5, King hurriedly launched a royal commission – chaired by Supreme Court Justices Roy Kellock and Robert Taschereau – to investigate Gouzenko’s information and offer recommendations on how to counter Soviet espionage.

In resultant nervous condition she was therefore fair game to diplomatic representatives of Soviet Union – particularly after she had found employment in cipher room of External Affairs.

She was questioned about her relationship with Sokolov, her application to transfer to the Canadian embassy in Moscow, her attempt to procure Soviet citizenship, and the August 1945 incident where she left the transcribed cables in the toilet tank.

[57] On March 4, 1946, the Commission released an interim report publicly identifying four of the detainees: Woikin, Gordon Lunan, Edward Wilfred Mazerall, and Kathleen Mary Willsher.

[58] Each of the two charges carried a maximum sentence of seven years' imprisonment – to be served concurrently or consecutively at the judge's discretion – and a fine of up to $2,000.

[59] The Crown had determined it could not pursue charges of treason since the information had been shared with the Soviet Union, which was Canada's ally at the time.

[67] On April 1, following King's announcement to the House of Commons that his order-in-council had been rescinded, he defended himself against questioning on how Woikin could have earned a position in the civil service, noting how she hailed from a "good family" and had a solid work background.

[68] King's government, eager to secure convictions, was pushing its lawyers to bring the first four detainees to trial quickly.

[18] Both Woikin and her brother, John Konkin, made a plea for sympathy, stressing the poverty-stricken nature of their youth.

[7][15] Even the prosecutor requested the judge take into consideration "the fact that as a young person she underwent tragic and unfortunate experiences.

[18]On April 12, Woikin was given two sentences of two years and six months – to be served concurrently – at Kingston Penitentiary,[7][18][70] becoming the first woman imprisoned for espionage in Canada.

[71] In June, she was sentenced to an additional six months on a contempt of court charge when she refused to testify in the Fred Rose trial.

For years following her release from prison, RCMP officers dressed in civilian clothing would show up to ask her colleagues about her political activities and whether she had made any comments about the government.

[84] In 1967, Trofem Kurchenko, a man whom some suspected was Woikin's biological father, died and left her his entire estate.