Lögberg-Heimskringla - 27.08.2004, Blaðsíða 7

Lögberg-Heimskringla • Föstudagur 27. ágúst 2004 • 7
The honourable Janis
Guðrún Johnson is the first
Canadian woman of Icelandic
descent to be a member of the
Senate of Canada. She was the
first woman to become
National Director for the Pro-
gressive Conservative (PC)
Party of Canada in Ottawa and
she founded the PC Women’s
Caucus of Winnipeg.
Bom in Winnipeg, Mani-
toba, Janis Guðrún Johnson is
the eldest child of the late
Honourable George Johnson,
M.D. and late Doris Blondal.
“I was introduced to politics at
an early age and I found it
interesting,” Janis recalls. She
was the first woman to be
elected the Vice-President of
the Student Union at the Uni-
versity of Manitoba and
received her Bachelor of Arts
in Political Science with hon-
ours standing in 1968. Janis
has one son, Tomas Stefan
Moores, who is presently
working in the U.S. as Vice
President of Corporate Devel-
opment for Victor Intemation-
al in Michigan.
Janis was a businessper-
son and public affairs consult-
ant, before she was summoned
to the Senate in 1990 by then
prime minister Brian Mul-
roney. She represents Manito-
ba (Winnipeg-Interlake) and is
presently the Deputy Chair of
the Senate Standing Commit-
tee on Aboriginal Peoples. She
also sits on the Fisheries Com-
mittee, the Transportation and
Communications Committee
and the Arts Committee which
deals with donations of arti-
facts, statues, historic pieces
and paintings offered to the
Senate of Canada. She has
also sat on the Social Affairs
and the Environment and
Internal Economy Commit-
tee’s during her years in the
Senate. “I have been working
on things I believe in,” she
says.
Only three Canadians of
Icelandic descent have been
appointed to the Senate. Gun-
nar Solmundur Thorvaldson
was a senator 1958 to 1969,
William Moore Benidickson
was a senator 1965 to 1985,
and Janis Guðrún Johnson has
been a senator for 14 years.
Senator Janis Guðrún
Johnson began her political
career in 1968 in Ottawa as a
policy researcher for the Hon-
ourable Robert Stanfield. Two
years later, she became a poli-
cy consultant and organizer
for the Progressive Conserva-
tive Party of Newfoundland
and Labrador. Married in
1973, she lived in Newfound-
A trailblazer
in Ottawa
land until 1980 with her for-
mer husband, the Honourable
Frank Moores, then Premier of
Newfoundland.
Upon her retum to Mani-
toba, she founded the PC
Women’s Caucus of Win-
nipeg, and served as its presi-
dent for three years. She co-
directed the Mulroney Leader-
ship Campaign for Manitoba
in 1983 and went on to
become National Director for
the PC Party of Canada in
Ottawa, the first woman to
hold this position.
She returned to private life
in Winnipeg after the success-
ful election in 1984 and
remained involved with the PC
Party as a senior strategist in
Manitoba and nationally.
The senator’s private
career began as a public affairs
consultant and writer in 1980
when she returned to Win-
nipeg. She then worked as
consultant and lecturer on
women’s programs with the
Faculty of Continuing Educa-
tion at the University of Mani-
toba l'rom 1981 to 1983. ln
1985 Janis was appointed a
director of Canadian National
Railways and served on the
Board until 1990. She also
worked as a senior consultant
for Peat Marwick Public
Affairs Group from 1988 to
1990 while remaining as Pres-
ident of Janis Johnson and
Associates, a social policy and
communications consulting
group in Winnipeg, which she
started in 1985.
Janis is a past member of
the Board of Regents, Univer-
sity of Winnipeg, the Win-
nipeg Art Gallery, Prairie The-
atre Exchange, Canadian and
Manitoba Special Olympics,
and the Women’s Health
Research Foundation. Her
fundraising efforts include
Brandon University, Universi-
ty of Winnipeg, YM/YWCA,
Manitoba Cancer Research
Foundation and Canadian Spe-
cial Olympics. She is present-
ly on the National Advisory
Board of the Royal Winnipeg
Ballet, and serves as an hon-
orary patron of the Friends of
Public Broadcasting, the
Women’s Health Research
Foundation of Canada. She is
a member of the American
association of Political Con-
sultants, the Albany Club,
YM/YWCA and the First
Lutheran Church. Janis has
been the Producer and Chair-
man of the Gimli Film Festival
for the past four years and is
one of the founders of the fes-
tival.
Since 1968 Janis has
received many awards for her
contribution. In 2000, the
Govemment of Iceland award-
ed her the Order of the Falcon
for her work in promoting
Canadian/Icelandic relations
over many years. “I am very
proud of this honour,” she
says. As a young adult one of
her first experiences abroad
was to work for the National
Bank of Iceland, Landsbanki
íslands, in Iceland in 1966.
She says that it was a sum-
mer she has never forgotten as
it broadened her outlook on
life and gave her new insight
into her ancestors and her fam-
ily, all of whom came from
Iceland. “It was this insight
that gave me the knowledge
and understanding that has
enabled me to work on issues
affecting Canada and Iceland,”
she says.
Janis has retumed many
times to Iceland and keeps in
close touch with her relatives,
friends and colleagues. She
has brought her rich cultural
and ethnic background into
play both in her work and in
her personal interests. The
senator’s personal interests
include film, literature, fash-
ion, fitness, and travel. How-
ever, one of her favorite pas-
times is fly fishing and pro-
claims Iceland’s salmon rivers
to be the best in the world.
The Embassy of Iceland extends
its greetings to the readers of
Lögberg-Heimskringla.
The premises of the Embassy are
located on Constitution Square
at 360 Albert Street.
Information on the activities
of the Embassy and on Iceland
CAN BF. FOUND ON THE
Embassy’s websité
www.iceland.org/ca
EMBASSY OF ICELAND
360 Albert Street, Suite 710, Ottawa, ON K1R 7X7
Tcl: 613 4S2 1944 Fax: 613 482 1945
Visit our website: www.iceland.org/ca or www.iceland.ca

PHOTO: STEINÞÓR GUÐBJARTSSON
Senator Janis Johnson attending íslendingadagurinn, the Icelandic Festival of Manitoba in
Gimli. She is also Chair of the Gimli Film Festival, which overlaps with íslendingadagurinn.
Visit us on the web at http://www.logberg.com