Lögberg-Heimskringla - 27.08.2004, Blaðsíða 9

Lögberg-Heimskringla • Föstudagur 27. ágúst 2004 • 9
The Govemor General of
Canada, Adrienne Clarkson,
was one of the first Canadians
Guðmundur Eiríksson met
after becoming the Ambas-
sador to Canada and they have
kept a good relationship since.
“I have had a very precious
relationship with her and her
husband John Ralston Saul.
My first official duty was to
receive them in Iceland on their
very successful official visit to
Iceland as a part of their Nordic
trip including Russia and Fin-
land last fall. Both the Gover-
nor General and John Ralston
Saul are great admirers of Ice-
land. In her previous career, in
fact, the Governor General
even visited Vestmannaeyjar,
something which I have yet to
do, and she has maintained an
interest in everything Icelandic.
She has kindly informed me of
events involving Canadians of
Icelandic descent so I can be
ke'pt abreast of their accom-
plishments.”
Very important relationship
The Embassy of Iceland is
one of 125 Embassies in
Ottawa. It is the 18th Embassy
established by the Government
of Iceland. Guðmundur Eiríks-
son says that it has yet to fully
develop its potential. “There is
a tendency of any ambassador
to claim that the country he
serves is the most important to
Icelandic interests. I would not
go that far, given, for example,
the importance of the relations
between Iceland and the Unit-
ed States, but I maintain that
Iceland’s relationship with
Canada deserves to be recog-
nized as potentally among the
most important of all countries
in the world.
“There are many reasons
for this. The first and foremost
reason relates to the emigration
of Icelanders to Canada in the
period from about 1870 to
1914 which, as we know,
resulted in a population that
was very influential in Canada
and very much interested in
later years in enhancing the
relationship with the ‘home
country.’
“The second factor is that
Canada is of course one of the
most important economical
powers in the world, a member
of the G-8, and, moreover, uses
its wealth in a way which is
quite ameliorable to Iceland,
including through Canada’s
contributions to development
cooperation.
“The third dimension is the
northern dimension which was
stressed by the Governor Gen-
eral in her trip to Iceland. We
share a lot of challenges and
responsibilities as northern
countries.
“Fourthly, more generally,
I believe that Iceland’s and
Canada’s positions towards
intemational affairs, including
in NATO, the UN and the spe-
cialized agencies, are quite
similar. In particular, Iceland is
closer to Canada in its natural
resources policies than even
some of Iceland’s Nordic
allies.
“Fifthly, I take my job as a
follow-up to the very extensive
campaign during the Millenni-
um Celebrations to enhance
Icelandic relations in North
America.
“Finally, we have the
human resources in place to
play big roles in strengthening
the relations, beginning with
Consul-General Atli Ásmunds-
son, strategically located in
Winnipeg, and including the
network of very dedicated con-
suls and consul-generals
throughout the country.”
Snorri
Þorfinnsson
was the inspiration
Steinþór Guðbjartsson
Ottawa, ON
Gerry Einarsson has been
the President of Friends of Ice-
land (FOI) since the first offi-
cial meeting took place March
19, 2002. “The Millenium Cel-
ebration got us going,” he says.
When the Millenium Cele-
bration was organized in
Ottawa, Gerry says that one of
the ideas was to have an
anniversary party for Snorri
Þorfmnsson, the first European
to be bom in the New World.
“It was about his 1,000th birth-
day party and the sculpture of
him and his mother, made by
the late Icelandic artist
Ásmundur Sveinsson, was
given to Canada by Iceland in
2000 and is now on exhibit in
the lobby of the National
Archives of Canada here in
Ottawa. There was a large cele-
bration held at the Canadian
Museum of Civilization where
the Prime Mminister of Iceland
and the Prime Minister of
Canada exchanged gifts and
welcome.
“We added to that by invit-
ing 350 to 400 schoolchildren
from the Ottawa area and in
order to make it meaningful to
the children we generated a
classroom learning module on
Iceland and Icelandic sagas.
That has been used in the
school board in Ottawa since
and a copy of the teaching guide
has been sent to Manitoba.”
Furthermore, they had a
medallion made to commemo-
rate 1,000 years of exploration
and Viking travel and gave it to
the students. “Back in the 980s
or so it was Þorfmnur Karlsefni
and Guðríður Þorbjarnar-
dóttir’s trip to Canada and the
birth of Snorri. About 1,000
years later we were celebrating
astronaut Bjami Tryggvason’s
voyage into space. The medal-
lion keeps the memory alive,”
Gerry says.
It took about two years to
get the club organized and
Gerry says that the ideal timing
was after the Icelandic
Embassy had been established
in Ottawa. “We held our fírst
meeting at the residence of the
Friends of Iceland club President Gerry Einarsson with the statue of Guðríður Þor-
bjarnardóttir and Snorri Þorfínnsson in the National Archives of Canada.
Icelandic Ambassador and it
was hosted by Ambassador
Hjálmar W. Hannesson and his
wife Anna Birgis,” he says.
Gerry is the son of Beatrice
and Einar Einarsson from
Arborg, Manitoba. After grad-
uating in engineering from the
University of Manitoba in Win-
nipeg he got a job in Ottawa in
1966 and has lived there since.
He is married with two chil-
dren and his two brothers live
in Ottawa as well but their sis-
ter lives in Winnipeg Beach.
“Our children attend our
events and they are aware of
what we are doing but it is hard
to create interest for this among
young people. It hits you when
you get older.”
The club publishes a
newsletter, Hrafninn, http://
hrafninn.wetcanvas.com, and
in connection with the Ice-
landic Embassy Icelandic
classes will be offered in the
Icelandic Embassy this winter.
“Snorri was a great kickoff and
we go from there,” Gerry says.
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