Lögberg-Heimskringla - 15.07.1988, Blaðsíða 4

4-LÖGBERG CENTENNIAL YEAR, FÖSTUDAGUR 15. JÚLÍ 1988
Editorial
We have, during this past year,
looked back into the history of our
people when they first arrived here,
and included parts of this story in
each issue of the paper. It is a story
of abject poverty.
The objective of our people was
to accumulate sufficient resources
to assure a supply of food, where
hunger was a thing of the past. They
succeeded but riches were not a fac-
tor, although reasonable housing
was in many but not all instances
achieved. The cash flow was a mat-
ter of a few dollars, and every pen-
ny had to be carefully accounted
for.
Now we are well past the centu-
ry mark since the first Icelanders ar-
rived and it is interesting to look
around at where our people are at
today. One of the more obvious is
to look at agricultural holdings. It is
there that it becomes simple to
mentally assess the value of land
buildings and equipment.
Good agricultural land in the
grain growing areas has always
commanded a high value. Shortly
after World War II a veteran look-
ing for a farm was confronted with
a cost of $150 per acre. Some years
ago a figure of $300 per acre was
quoted in connection with grain
farmland transactions.
Estimating the value of farm
buildings, machinery and land at
one half to a million dollars does not
seem to be an unusual capital
investment.
Going back to Iceland where
there are few opportunities to in-
vest, it becomes a problem and
generally ends up as equity in a
home. Their money erodes quickly
through inflation, so the mattress is
no place to stash it. There are three
main alternatives, spend it on fur-
nishings, take trips abroad or invest
it in property, which means your
house. When a relative in Iceland
is looking at a home worth one-third
of a million dollars, do not be
shocked. He is investing his pile to
insure it against inflation. Chances
are, it is an inherited wealth.
Cut the cloth any way you like,
our forefathers could never have
comprehended these figures, nor is
it always easy for us to grasp their
significance. E. A.
Canada-Iceland social security
On Saturday, June 25th, a formal
agreement was signed between
Canada and Iceland by Mr. Jake Epp,
Minister of Health and Welfare in
Canada and Mr. Guðmundur Bjarna-
son, Minister of Health and Social
Security in Iceland. This agreement
is known as the Social Security
Agreement Between Canada and Ice-
land. The next step will be the ratifi-
cation of the agreement by the two
respective governments and it is ex-
pected to become effective during
1989.
Mr. Jake Epp is the senior Federal
Cabinet Minister in Manitoba. He is
of Mennonite heritage and is a direct
descendant of a group of 20 Men-
nonite families who arrived here in
1874.
They came after the best lands had
been taken by the Ontario influx af-
ter 1870. The area in which they set-
tled is the well known Steinbach of
today. This was not top rate agri-
cultural land as the name Steinbach
implies, which translated into En-
glish means stony ridge.
Regardless, these frugal and hardy
people made good use of what they
had, which is reflected in the success
and high citizenship standards of the
Mennonite people descended from
these early pioneer settlers.
Mr. Epp knows and understands
the background struggle of our peo-
pie who settled at Gimli in 1875 and
later. In selecting Gimli as the site to
carry out the formal signing of this
historic agreement, he undoubtedly
did so through a deep feeling
towards our people whose early
struggles paralleled that of his people
in gaining a foothold in a new land.
While we as Canadians of Icelandic
heritage are witness to an agreement
with Iceland and the land of our cou-
sins and forefathers, we must realize
that this is not a privilege Canadians
of Mennonite heritage can enjoy.
Their history is that of a group who
chose to live apart for reasons of re-
ligious and moral standards. They
were a homogenous group, which
survived oppression, being relegated
to the swamp lands in Germany, en-
couraged to settle on the plains in
Russia, they came here from a host
country. It was not their fate to be-
come a nation, their non-aggressive
nature made them a distinct group
apart. While Mr. Epp can, in his ca-
pacity as a minister of the Canadian
government, enter into an agreement
with our people in Iceland, history
denies him that privilege for his own
people.
It is noteworthy that twenty agree-
ments of this nature have been en-
tered into by Canada with other
countries and all have been signed in
Ottawa. The agreement with Iceland
is the first to be signed outside the
capitol, on the turf which our people
chose to make their home in Manito-
ba. He insisted on paying tribute to
our forefathers in this manner, which
had not been accorded to other na-
tional groups.
In delivering his address at Gimli,
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it appeared to be with a feeling of
respect towards Iceland and Iceland-
ic people. A people who historically
experienced the same problems of es-
tablishing themselves on virgin
lands. The leftovers from the influx
of settlers who made their way ahead
of them from Eastern Canada.
The following is a verbatim extract
from Mr. Epp's speech.
"Social and economic develop-
ments since the end of the First
World War — and most especially in
the last four decades — have neces-
sitated a more comprehensive system
than individuals, families and volun-
tary associations alone could organize
and support. Therefore, Canada and
Iceland — as all other developed
countries around the world, and
many developing ones — have seen
the enactment of legislation establish-
ing publicly-financed and ad-
ministered social security systems.
These systems vary considerably in
their details from one country to the
other. This is to be expected given
that they are each tailored to par-
ticular national needs and aspira-
tions. However, they share the same
basic principle of insuring protection
to our citizens at those times in their
lives when they need it most. Social
security is the embodiment of the
commitment of each of us, as mem-
bers of a community, to the well-
being of all the other members of the
community.
At first, each country's social secu-
rity system operated in isolation from
every other country's. Problems,
however, soon became evident. Un-
coordinated national social security
systems left some persons inade-
quately protected, especially those
who lived on one side of a national
border and worked on the other, and
those involved in international com-
merce. As the need for coordination
became more evident, European
countries started to conclude treaties
which were the forerunners of to-
day's social security agreements.
For many years, Canada, physical-
ly separated from every other coun-
try but one by oceans, did not see the
need for social security agreements.
This was not, however, a position
that could be maintained indefinite-
ly. With a population that includes
immigrants from every country in
the world, and with a residence-
based old age pension which can be
earned only after a number of years
in this country, we were as much in
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