Gerda Munsinger

Gerda Munsinger (September 10, 1929 – November 24, 1998) was an East German prostitute and alleged Soviet spy (ultimately unproven) who was the centre of the Munsinger Affair political scandal in Canada.

Born in Germany and married for a short period to American soldier Michael Munsinger, she emigrated to Canada in 1955. Gerda Munsinger lived in Montreal where she worked as a maid, a waitress and as a hostess at the "Chez Paree" nightclub. While in Canada, she became involved in relationships with a number of high government officials, most notably cabinet ministers George Hees and Pierre Sévigny.

She was deported to East Germany in 1961 as the matter was dealt with privately. Sévigny resigned quietly from the cabinet of John Diefenbaker in 1963.

The affair became public in 1966 when Minister of Justice Lucien Cardin mentioned it during a debate in Parliament. The media heard about it and broke the story.

At first, the government said Gerda Munsinger had died of leukemia several years earlier, but a Canadian reporter with the Toronto Star, Robert Reguly, found her alive and well in Munich, West Germany. She confirmed her affairs with the Conservative cabinet ministers but denied being involved in espionage.

Munsinger eventually married for a third time. She spent the rest of her life in relative obscurity under the name Gerda Merkt, and died in 1998 in Munich.

The Munsinger affair inspired Canadian writer/director Brenda Longfellow to make the 1992 feature film "Gerda," as well as songs by several bands, including The Brothers-In-Law and The Evaporators.