The Soviet Government is, as has . been stated, proposing
to appoint its Ambassador at Ottawa to the post of Ambassador in London. The agrement of the British Government has, of course, to be obtained in such cases,'and it has been suggested that there may be some difficulty about that, in view of the part the Soviet Embassy at Ottawa played in the espionage operations in which a number of Canadian citizens were recently involved. It is fair in this connection to recall that the Royal Commission which investi- gated the espionage business specifically reported that " these Members of the Embassy [mentioned by name] who were engaged in improper and inadmissible activities, operated in special sections of the Embassy, the operations of which were quite distinct from the official and legitimate activities of the Soviet Embassy and that the Soviet Ambassador, representing in Canada the Government of the U.S.S.R., had no part in them." A Russian witness, indeed, stated that the Ambassador had no right of access to the special wing of the Embassy where the -espionage work was centred. There were more important Arsons in the Embassy than he.
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