The 1970s
The Helsinki Process
In the 1970s, the World Federation of Free Latvians (of which the Latvian National Federation in Canada is a member organization) came under the leadership of a younger generation with creative ideas and marketing skills. They recognized that there was an opportunity to advocate for Latvia with the countries participating in what was generally referred to as the Helsinki Process. The Conferences on Security and Cooperation in Europe constituted part one of this process through which ten states held talks on political, economic, and human rights issues. The process culminated with the signing of the Helsinki Final Act in 1975.
However, there were issues that of grave concern to the Latvian community. One of the items on the CSCE agenda called for current borders to become inviolable, which meant that the Western democracies would be in effect rescinding their policy of the legal non-recognition of the Soviet occupation of the Baltic States. The Soviets pushed hard for this, while the Latvian community lobbied Western governments to prevent this from happening.
Twenty-year-old Imants Purvs from Toronto travelled to Helsinki to protest the signing of the Final Act by chaining himself to a lamp post outside the conference hall. His act of defiance received international media attention.
LNAK and LNJAK continued their efforts to influence the Helsinki Process by lobbying the Canadian government in collaboration with the World Federation in Canada. The second CSCE Conference took place in 1977 in Belgrade, Yugoslavia, which was behind the Iron Curtain at the time. Two Latvian representatives travelled to Belgrade in an effort to influence delegates but were removed from the country for their efforts.
The third CSCE Conference was scheduled for 1980 in Madrid, Spain. This time, PBLA (World Federation of Free Latvians) decided to launch a major effort to gain media attention in an effort to influence decision making at the conference. They sent thirty youth to Madrid from various communities in Europe and North America to carry out protest actions, but the most vivid event of the week was Rev. Māris Ķirsons, who stood bleeding on a Soviet flag as he called for freedom for Latvia. He made the front page of many newspapers, as well as Time Magazine that week. Eight young Latvian Canadians also participated in this protest activities. For many, it was a life-changing event.