Lögberg-Heimskringla - 26.07.1991, Qupperneq 12

12 • Lögberg-Heimskringla • Föstudagur 26. júlí 1991
by Hulda Karen Daníelsdóttir
The Stefanson brothers have
gained prominence in public life.
Eric is a cabinet minister, Dennis
Neil is a superintendent for the
St. James-Assiniboia School Di-
vision, Kristjan Frederick is the
Chief Judge of the Provincial
Court of Manitoba, and Thomas
Eric is chairman of the Board of
the ManitobaTelephone System.
What they have in common is a
sincere enthusiasm for their
work, their province and coun-
try, and for their Icelandic herit-
age. They seem also to have a
keen awareness of and sensitiv-
ity to our changing times.
The Stefanson brothers are the sons
of Sigrun and thc late Eric Stefanson.
Sigrun, née Sigurdson, grew up in the
Lundar area, but Eric in Winnipeg and
in Vestfold, Manitoba. They were mar-
ried in 1935 and lived in Oak Point until
1948 when they moved to Gimli. In
1958, Eric became a member of Parlia-
ment forthe Selkirk Interlake area, rep-
resenting the Progressive Conservative
Party. Hc was re-clected to that position
in 1962,1963 and 1965. He was also
veryactiveincommunityand municipal
affairsand aninfluentialmemberofthe
Icelandic Festival Committee. He was
the president of the Festival for four
years. In addition, Mr. Stefanson was
municipal councillorin Gimli forSyears
and deputy mayor for half that period,
as well as beingthc president of a number
of clubs and organizations.
“There is, however, a great
Icelandic tradition in recognizing
the importance of education.
Another one is the sense of
commitment these people have to
their community. ”
Sigrun Stefanson was also very in-
volved in community affairs, as Eric is
quick to point out. “Both our parents
were very involved in the community.
When we wcre growing up there was a
lot of emphasis on education and en-
couragement to go on to university.
There was also emphasis on community
involvement from both parents. They
recognized the satisfaction one gets from
being a part of community projects and
events. Communities need people who,
attimes, are prepared togetthings mov-
ing — to take some leadership. These
were important qualities they instiilcd
in us by example.”
Eric certainly took his parents’ ex-
ampleto hcart. Hiscommunity involve-
ment includes being a Winnipeg city
councillorand deputy mayor, chairman
of the Winnipeg 2000 Task Force on
Economic Development , president of
theWinnipegConventionCentre, mem-
ber of thc board of dircctors of the North
Portage Development Corporation, and
finance chairman for the Icelandic Fes-
tival of Manitoba, just to name a fcw.
Chief Judge Kris Stefanson also rec-
ognizes the importance of the values
implicitly instilled in them by their par-
ents. “What I find interesting are the
different attitudes people can have about
what they should do with their lives and
it’s sometimes difficult to know what
motivates people to do certain things.
There is, however, a great Icelandic tra-
dition in recognizing the importance of
education. Another one is the sense of
commitment these people have to their
community. The community provides
uswithawonderful opportunity to grow
up and to become educated, and if we
have a certain kind of upbringing, we
never feel content or that we are per-
forming the way we should, unless we
are paying back to our community and
countiy. It becomes a moral duty.”
“I think at home we did have a cou-
ple of things instilled in us,” Tom says.
“My father, particularly, said,’if you’re
going to take something on, give it your
best—otherwise, don’t take it on.’ I have
always had that kind of belief. So, in a
lot of ways,I don’t take on too many
things. I was, however, on the Icelandic
Festival Committee for 3 or 4 years. I
looked after the dances. At that time
they had become kind of dead, and we
revived them. We had great success and
raised a lot of money.
“The other quality our parents in-
stilled in us was honesty. To be honest
to yourself and everyone else, because if
you’rc not, it will catch up with you.
Those are the basics I remember grow-
ing up with.”
The family movcd from Oak Pointto
Continued on page 13
The 90's will be good to Manitoba
On February 5, 1991, at the Legisktive Building in Winnipeg,
Eric Stefanson was sworn in as the Minister of Industry,
Trade, Tourism and Sport. Ericwaselectedto theManitobaLegislature
in September, 1990. He was raised in Gimli, moving to Winnipeg in
1968. Hereceived a bachelorofartsdegreefrom the U ofMin 1971 and
graduated from chartered accountancy in 1975. Since 1977, imtil
recently, hehas been a partnerin Stefanson and Lee, a local chartered
accountancy fírm.
L-H editor asked Eric Stefanson
about his ministry and the govem-
ment’s role in creating a better future
for Manitoba.
This was his response:
The future of Manitoba hinges
on our economic development. The
govemment’s priority is to control
expenditures and to create a climate
that is conducive to such develop-
ment. Manitoba needs solid eco-
nomic growth and the creation of
businesses and jobs. This can come
from outside the Province or from
within, The govemment is trying to
change the focus by controlling and
reducing taxation, thus creatíng more
of an incentive for businesses to lo-
cate in our Provínce. We certainly
have to make it so, that people want
to stay here to start a business, ex-
pand a business, or to become inno-
vated in their thinking about what
else they can be doing to create jobs
and more economic wealth for all,
I’m genuinely concemed, that un-
less we ereate economic opportuni-
ties for our young people, they’re
going to leave. Not because they
want to, but because they can’t find
the kind of job opportunities they
want to pursue.
There are certain roles, of course,
for govemment to play in health,
education, and social services, but
the long term quality job creation
has to come, by and large, from the
private sector. The govemment, nev-
ertheless, can be a catalyst in making
this come about. We do have a role
to play in terms of the research and
development that sometimes is re-
quired and even to provide some
seed-money to get a particular ven-
ture started.
Because of technology, telecom-
mimication, and so on, the world is
becomíng so much smaller in terms
of our ability to do business. Here
again government has a role to play.
We can have the links into dífferent
parts of the world, the Asian coirn-
tries, Europeancountries oranywhere
in the world, that can be a catalyst for
business. Yet, it’s the private sector
that has to really seize the opportuni-
ties that exist.
Getting back to our modem tech-
nology, by being centrally located in
Canada, Winnipeg can do more busi-
ness, through telecommunicationand
data processing, with the rest of the
countiy in a workday, than compa-
nies located in other centres. This is a
sígnificant advantage.
The govemment is, of course, in-
strumental in negotiations. The
Canada, U.S., andMexico FreeTrade
Deal, which is a pending issue, comes
under this ministry, and then there’s
the whole issue of the currentCanada-
U.S. agreement.
This ministry has just finished
doing public meetings. We met with
different séctor groups, labour, the
academics, and others, We need
them to heip us formulate our posi-
tion. We are putting a lot of emphasis
on what Manitobans are telling us.
We could have our people do
research, but our best resource is
Manitobans. People who areactually
out there. We have had thoroughly
extensive consultatíon with them.
We also have to have that abiiity
to project years down the road,
and consider what possible oppor-
tunities the Deal can lead to, or
what detrimental effect it can have.
What I’m finding, though, through-
out our Province, is that probably
not a great deal of thought has
been given to this very important
issue, It’s understandable, but, at
the same time, a little frustrating
in terms of us trying to utilize
that resource base, to help us formu-
late a position. I would have preferred
more discussion on this issue inour
community.
I believe there’s a tremendous
opportunity for Manitoba in trade
andindustryinthe 90’s, butwehave
to take advantage of it.
As you know, in addition to in-
dusfry and trade, tourism and sport
also come under this mínistry. Tour-
ism is the 3rd largest industry in
Manitoba — a billion dollar indus-
try. Again the potential in tourism
for Manitoba is unlimited. We have
just touched the tip of the ice-berg in
terms of marketing everything that
our Province has to offer.
In ourpromotion, weareattempt-
ing to meld rural and urban tourist
attractions. Winnipeg now offers as
much as any metropolitan centre,
and our outdoor fishing, hunting,
beaches, and our fíne rural commu-
nities and the events going on in and
around them, should help to extend
the stay of ourvisitors. There’salot
to see and do in Manitoba, but there
has to be an increased awareness
about it, and that’s where marketing
comes into play.
Times are changing and markets
are changing, We have to be sure to
adapt to the changing wants and
desires of the travelling public. Our
tourism advertising used to be ge-
neric — we would run nice pictures
of your Province on TV. stations.
Now, we have to know who the
people are we have the greatest
chance of attracting to Manitoba,
and focus on them.
The vast majority of our market-
ing is done in Manitoba, parts of
Continued on page 14