Lögberg-Heimskringla - 26.07.1991, Blaðsíða 13

Lögberg-Heimskringla • Föstudagur 26. júlí 1991 • 13
brothers
Gimli when Tom, the oldest of the four,
was eleven. “My mother’s parents lived
two doors down from us in Oak Point,
and of course they spoke a lot of Icelan-
dic. I don’t remember it, but apparently
I spoke Icelandic, nothing but Icelan-
dic, until I was four years old,” Tom
says. “Then I went to a hospital in Win-
nipeg and they had some problems with
me because they couldn’t understand
me. Somewhere along the way, though,
I lost the Icelandic.”
All the brothers feel very fortunate
having grown up in Gimli. “In Gimli
there was an awful lot of political discus-
sion going on among family and friends,”
says Eric. “I wouldn’t exactly call our
home a drop-in centre, but friends of the
family certainly felt comfortable drop-
ping in. Many a good discussion on poli-
tics or events taking place around the
world, or locally, took place around our
kitchen table. We were always encour-
aged to bethereand ultimately to partici-
pate. I certainly felt comfortable being
round and about and to listen.”
“If you take a look at people from
Gimli, mygenerationatleast,”Tom says,
“an awful lot of them have donc very
well. You cangoto Kris’s agegrouptoo,
or even further back to thc Kristjansson
brothers: Baldur, Albert, Lco and Kris.
Then you have Eric’s agc group with
quite a few high school tcachers, doc-
tors, lawycrs, a couple of famous writers
— David Amason and Billy Valgardson
and even a senator. Therc scems to be
somc ethic that came out of that town.
Perhaps the Icelandictradition had some-
thing to do with it.'*,
“Family is important to me
and we are fortunate in that
we all live in Winnipeg.
We get together often, and
when we do, we give each
other feedback and support.
At times we are critical of
each other, but we give
criticism lovingly, “ he says
and laughs.
Bcr cr hver á baki, ncma scr bróður
cigi or ‘ One’s back is barc without
a brother’, reminds an old Icelandic
proverb from Njál’s Saga. In ancient
times, of course, this saying applied
to the danger of exposing one’s
unprotected back to the enemy,
who would most likely strike. In
modern times, however, we can
think of it in terms of family support,
or lack thereof. The former is the
Stefansons’ way.
“We are a close-knit family,” says
Dennis, the second oldest brother.
“Family is important to me and we
are fortunate in that we all live in
Winnipeg. We get together often, and
when we do, we give each other
feedback and support. At times we
are critical of each other, but we
give criticism lovingly, “ he says and
laughs.
This attitude to family also holds
true for the others. For example, when
Eric, the youngest, was asked how it
had been growing up with three
older brothers, he said that they
have always been very supportive of
him, and that he had benefitted in
physical and emotional development
from being able to spend a lot of time
around them.
While the interviews with the four
Stefanson brothers were conducted
separately and at different times,
there was a remarkable resemblance
between them. All the Stefansons
radiate a certain enthusiasm and
integrity. They are all in the forefront
of their professions, which comes as
no great surprise considering the
grasp they seem to have on what is
happening in society today, and what
changes can be expected in the future.
This, together with their open-
mindedness and humility, can only
spell success.
“Sometimes nice guys finish first”
During the $wearing-in ceremony of ChieiJudge Kristjan Prederic
Stefanson of the Provincial Court of Manitoba, one of his colleagues,
theActing ChiefJudge Dubienski said:”You bring toyourposition the
experience of having lived and/or worked in various areas of this
province, both north and south, rural and urban, as lawyer and as a
judge. To myknowledge you enjoythe unanimous sentiment of both
Crown and defence as beingan excetientjudge. You are known, sir, as
beingfair, verybalanced, one who is prepared to tisten and one who
regardlessofthedecision ultimatelyreachedgivesandappears togive
both parties to the proceeding a fair and thorough hearing. In many
ways, sir, you seem to be evidence of the fact that at least sometimes
nice guys finish fírst.”
When Kris Stefanson was asked Attomeys more sensitive to the is-
about his his present position, he sues, the spouses ínvolved in the as- is nonsense. This sensitivity even
answered as follows: saults, and judges, certainly. Wehave applies to understanding witnesses.
I went into law originally more by judges in that court for periods of We have to understand the back-
accident than design. Most people tíme, so, they can becomemore sen- ground of different races —to un-
from Gimli eitherwent into medictne sitive to the issues that are important. derstand thatwhen someone smiles,
or education. So, after I fmished my After all, that’s one of the jobs they when asked a quesUon, that it may
arts degree, law seemed Ííke an inter- will be performing. And there you be a cultural tradition. That’s how
estingfield to get into. haveallofthesupportresourcesthat theyrespondwhentheybecomeem-
I’m very much enjoying the posi- you require. We can co-ordinate vic- barrassed. They may not be laughing
tion of Chiefjudge. I fínd it challeng- tims with victims’ advocacyprograms at the court or anybody. It may sim-
ing because of all the changes which and certainly assist them in the court ply be a social or a cultural kind of
are taking place in the judicial fíeld. process. They are all coming to the trade you have deveioped.
First of ali, we are much more at the same piace, instead of being scat- So, when you are a judge, you
center of attention as far as the media tered throughout 22 courts in Winni- can’t apply a standard to each wit-
are concerned. And, nowadays, there peg. ness that applies to them all. You
are so many serious social issues that I think that in days gone by, no have to know where they come from
we, of course, have to be aware of. distinction wasmadebetweencrimes; and to truiy be able to sort of assess
We can’t operate in a vacuum, we acrimewasacrime, wasacrime. But the quality of their credibility.
have to be sensitive to major con- in reality there is a big difference in There’s an effort being made in
cerns that society has in a number of crimes. Some crimes require ex- issues such as the gender issue and
areas. One of the areas which has tremelykindresolution. Forinstance, the aboriginal issue. I’m convinced
been very interesting to me, is the youcan’tcompare, shopliftingagainst thatthe judgesand the legal profes-
gender issue. In judicial education alargestoreintownwhere thevictim sionbyandlarge are in the forefront
therehasbeenarapidexpansiondeal- was the store, witíi the victim in a ontheseissues.Thenatureofthe job
ingwiththoseissues.Thejudgeshave spousal assault situation, where the is to do your best — to be fair and
become more sensitive to the prob- relationship between the two is so just, and when it’s pointed out to
lems thatwomen counter in our soci- different. Therefore, to me, the court you, that the most important part of
ety. hastomodifyitselfandadjustitselfto being fair and just is to understand
Since I became Chief Judge, there that reality to sort of adapt the court the background and the culture, the
has been a number of programs we to certain crime in some respect. gender differences, and all kinds of
havehadfor judgesin thisarea, to try There’s the aspect of the Law, factors like that, and if you don’t
tomakethemmoresensitive.because whichisciearlyspelledout. Weap- understandthem,that youmaynot
the vast majority of judges are still ply the Law to cases, which is a very be as fair, you may not be as just as
male. It would be wise to give them important part of the job, but, at the you should. I’m satisfied that the
the opportunity to hear the views of same time, when it comes time to vast majority of judges are trying
other people, on particular issues, process,howwedealwithtíiosecases, their best to deliver justice in the
andwe, ofcourse, as you know, have we may be able to adapt the process, community. Quality of justice al-
a Famíly Violence Court. to better represent the true ínterest of ways comes out of the judge, and
The Family Violence Court ís a society at large. anyjudicialsystemisonlyasgoodas
highly specialized court. It’s still a There are all kinds of areas its judges.
criminal court, but it’s especially a where sensítivity is vital. With Part of my job is to encourage
court where we channel all cases of regard to aboriginal issues, for in* certain judicial educational pro-
spouseabuseintothatparticularcourt stance, it is very important for grams and I have found that ex-
system. There are many benefits to judges to understand culture and to tremely interesting and rewarding.
this. First of all, we end up focusing understand the contextin which they We are right now going through
resourcesinalltheareasínsupportof aredealingwithanyaccused.Tosim- reorganization of the courts, which
the court, thus making the Crown ply say that all accused are the same Continued on page 14