Sam Carr

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For the Sam Carr who was David Berkowitz's neighbour, see Son of Sam

Sam Carr (July 7, 1906-1989) was an organizer for the Communist Party of Canada and, its successor, the Labour-Progressive Party in the 1930s and 1940s. He was born in Tomachpol, Ukraine in 1906 and immigrated to Canada in 1924 living in Winnipeg and Regina before settling in Montreal in 1925.^[1]

Carr became an organizer for the Young Communist League with Fred Rose.^[1] In the 1940s he was the editor of the Communist Party's newspaper, The Clarion and then became national organizer for the Communist Party's successor, the Labour-Progressive Party.^[1]

In 1946, after a cypher clerk in the Soviet embassy in Ottawa, Igor Gouzenko, defected to Canada, a warrant was issued for Carr's arrest and he fled to the United States. In 1949 he was found guilty of conspiracy to obtain a false passport, and was imprisoned for seven years.^[1] Carr was one of the principal recruiters of spies for the USSR in Canada.^[1]

Carr resumed his political activities with the party upon his release from prison until his death in 1989, but stayed out of public view.

For more information see Cold War Canada by Reg Whittaker and Gary Marcuse.