A while back I wrote (with a leaning toward espionage) about a couple of books I’d been reading that highlighted the porous and permissive nature of Canada. I’d hoped to make this a preamble to other stories I was aware of but, at the time, didn’t feel that I’d sufficiently plumbed their depths for proper discussion. In other words, I knew of them but not enough about them.

Having now completed “The Soviet Spies” by Richard Hirsch I can say that I’ve done at least a little work to correct this oversight.

Long story short, it’s the 1940s and a GRU cipher clerk named Igor Gouzenko working in the Soviet Embassy in Ottawa goes rogue, making off with a bunch of files exposing the breadth and width of Soviet infiltration within North American politics, military, academia, research, industry, etc. His family is endangered, a bunch of roadblocks and nail-biting encounters follow, and eventually scandalous exposés and international drama ensue — standard spy pulp fiction fodder, except it happens to be true.

While I understand that there may be some disputes surrounding the accuracy of the following statement, the Gouzenko Affair is considered by many historians to be the unofficial start of the Cold War. This is where people like McCarthy got their (not entirely incorrect) ideas about a Red invasion and where movies like Russell Rouse’s wordless classic “The Thief” got their (sometimes literal) inspiration.

Naturally much of the Gouzenko backstory happened in Toronto and enough thorough detail is included in “The Soviet Spies” that I’m considering taking a tour of some of the conspirators’ homes and places of work. This attention to detail can get a bit tedious but the book manages to weave together detailed facts and timelines in a way that reads like a modern day (albeit wordy), spy thriller. Combining this with the history of places like Camp X adds even more intrigue to Canada’s post-war narrative.

This may all seem like a bit of nostalgia but with the current Canada-India diplomatic row, Canada-Russia diplomatic row, Canada-China diplomatic row, and undoubtedly a few others, the same sensational stories that were making headlines nearly seventy years ago are no less apropos today. In fact, the cloak-and-dagger nature of international diplomacy along with a resurgence of human intelligence gathering (HUMINT) and other old-school techniques seem to be more relevant in the modern era than ever.

In any event, if you get a whiff of similar themes in /sectionb then at least you’ll know where I ripped ’em off from.

I must admit, I was skeptical. The invitation to explore The Bentway neighbourhood through “the building of the route across the city as well as the big set off or ‘fall’ of the dominoes!” seemed contrived. However, the limited-time nature of the conceptually simple event proved to be rewarding. Maybe even genius.

Pretty sure everyone’s familiar with the cascading row of dominoes setup so you get the idea of what this event was about. Simple on the surface.

Within, though, there was depth to the stunt.

The path of Dominoes led through the Waterfront Neighbourhood Centre. Never been here before but I aim to return.

It’s a little oasis on the edge of an international airport and a bustling tourist sector.

It’s neat to see what actually exists right now — not just what can theoretically exist — at the heart of a modern urban metropolis.

I don’t know to what extent this event was advertised but it seemed to bring out a good number of people. I daresay, there was anticipation in the air.

When that last block went over the edge there was a hearty cheer.

Props, Toronto. Props.

_{P.S. In case you were wondering the bricks were made of aircrete (or something similar), a lightweight type of concrete that’s less dense than regular concrete. I picked up one of the blocks and although it was lighter than I expected, I suspect that if I’d dropped it on my foot from a carrying height I’d still probably break a toe or two.}

… in which it becomes obvious that sometimes things go sideways for Section B but sometimes they go downright backwards.

… in which Section B finally make landfall and are immediately thrust into a sticky situation.

On Dunn near Springhurst

With all of the state-level attention this lowly blog seems to be getting lately I’ve decided to maintain the trend of password-protected content. The extra step is regretful but necessary.

To view the “Secret agency research” post I just published simply use the following password (without quotes):

“|2e6eKah”

On the one hand, “Criminal Organization” seems like a pretty harsh indictment. In the simultaneous contexts of Euro 2024 and Copa America 2024, however, it makes for an interesting opening.

Please don’t read too much into it though. I’m just pointing out a quirky search result.

If you happened to be on TCL during a very specific and brief window of time in the past day or so you may have read the entirety of a post entitled “Philip and the agency”.

It’s an entry about some of the more obscure research, done right here in Toronto (much of it before my time), that went into /sectionb. Tied into this is a sneak peak about what’s coming up in the story. I also talk a bit about character baselines, motivations, etc.

I feel that /sectionb does just fine on its own but I think that posts like the “Philip” one bring more richness and depth to the narrative, so I decided to password-protect it. But I’m going to give you the password … it’s “/s3ct10nb” (without quotes).

Initially I considered asking for your email but then I thought, nah, too invasive. Disposable addresses require quick turnaround, which I can’t guarantee. I thought about a few other options but all of them required more effort than I’d be willing to make just to read a post, so I nixed them too.

Password protection seemed like the most frictionless way to gauge your interest. Just access the post with the password (see above) and hopefully the signal will get through ;)

First off, huge confession: I keep stats on this blog.

I like to see how many people are dropping by, what they’re looking at, and where they’re coming from. For quite a while the numbers have been pretty steady … a mix of visitors from around the globe who typically view a few pages per session. Occasionally I’ll get bursts of obvious bot activity but most of the time the site’s traffic looks like regular people just poking around and exploring.

For the last little while, however, I’ve been noticing a certain trend:

You get the idea. So what to make of this?

In my mind there are two main possibilities.

First, China is a big and populous country, the state hasn’t blocked my site (or people are breaking through), and TCL is simply gaining a bit of traction there. If the idea among readers is to gain some exposure to proper English then woe be to them, but I try to take interesting pictures from time to time so maybe that’s the allure. If that’s all there is to this then welcome, 中國人民!*

The second option is a little more sinister: the ostensibly Communist Chinese government has taken an interest in my site, scraping it for any and all content. It’s not as if I haven’t been critical of the Canadian government and its many tendrils, something I imagine the CCP’s domestic propaganda outfits may find appealing.

I suppose that I could also just be cynical and/or jaded. Maybe I’m just misreading the stats. It could also be that I’ve encountered bureaucracy and have scried the truth by gazing into its abysmal maw. Either way, I won’t be singing the praises of the Chinese government, or the Communist ideology any time soon. Socialism, no thanks. I have a few things to say about a few other systems too and if I ever I sing any of their praises, rest assured it’s been coerced.

_{* if this is wrong then it’s Google’s fault.}

Last and in many ways least among the agents of Section B, Medic was forced to face his lackluster existence and the attitude that accompanied it. When even his few meager accomplishments started circling the drain and his life started to fall apart, along came Rebekah and sealed his fate. He goes by Brock now.

Additional information on Brock is available on his page.