Reykjavík Grapevine - 06.10.2017, Page 18

18 The Reykjavík Grapevine
Issue 18 — 2017
POLITICS
Iceland’s
Most Frivolous
Legislation
The laws that would have been, but weren’t
Words: Paul Fontaine Photo: Art Bicnick
A lot of people think of parliament
as a super serious place where
super serious ideas are debated.
This isn’t really entirely so. Most
of the debating happens in closed
committees, and the MPs you see
grandstanding and shouting from
behind the pulpit are more than
likely just repeating the same stuff
they already said in committee.
But also, not every piece of legisla-
tion submitted is entirely serious.
You might not be able to vote,
but if you live here, you probably
still pay taxes. So it might inter-
est you to know some of the more
frivolous ways your hard-earned
money has been spent within the
hallowed halls of Icelandic parlia-
ment.
1. Selling booze in stores
Who proposed it?: The Independ-
ence Party
What did it propose?: Ending the
state monopoly on the retail sale
of alcoholic beverages. This would
mean that, instead of having to lo-
cate the nearest ÁTVR store and
hope it’s still open, you could just
pop down to your neighbourhood
grocery store or corner shop and
buy your beer.
What happened?: On the Monday
after the nation’s financial sector
collapsed, the Independence Par-
ty—which was leading the govern-
ment at the time—decided this bill
should remain the first order of
business to discuss when parlia-
ment convened that day. This level
of denial so enraged the public that
protests ensued, and the rest is
history. To this day, the Independ-
ence Party still clings to this idea,
but it has been forever poisoned
by the awful timing of when it was
first introduced.
2. Turning the clock back in
the winter
Who proposed it?: Bright Future
What did it propose?: Setting the
clock back one hour in the autumn
and conversely setting it forward
an hour in the spring. This is com-
mon practice across Europe; in
fact, Iceland, Belarus and Russia
are the only European countries
who don’t do it.
What happened?: Apparently
people have very strong feelings
about turning the clock back. Doc-
tors, teachers, businessmen and
sleep experts all weighed in on the
subject, but Bright Future became
a lightning rod for scorn and ridi-
cule because of it. The bill withered
on the vine and died.
3. Treating vaping like
smoking
Who proposed it?: Bright Future
What did it propose?: Largely
applying the same laws Iceland
has about tobacco use to vaping,
including banning it in cafés, res-
taurants, bars, schools and work-
places. It also proposed regulating
the strength
and volume of
vape fluid.
W h a t h a p -
pened?: Ob-
jections arose
within parlia-
ment at the
false equiva-
lence made
between ciga-
rette smoke
and e - ciga-
rette vapour,
a n d v a p e
store owners
insisted this
would merely
create a black
m a r k e t o f
vape fluid. And as with the In-
dependence Party’s debacle with
their alcohol bill, timing was eve-
rything—the bill was proposed
by then-Minister of Health Óttarr
Proppé, at a time when public un-
rest over the shabby state of the
health care system was rising. The
bill was largely seen as maybe not
the most pressing health care mat-
ter facing Iceland, and it was qui-
etly defeated.
4. Making it legal to kill
Basque people
Who proposed it?: Sheriff Ari
Magnússon (1571-1652)
What did it propose?: That you
could literally murder any Basque
people you encountered. This par-
ticular piece of xenophobia applied
primarily to the West Fjords, but
was conceivably applicable to the
whole country. It was initiated af-
ter Basque sailors ran aground in
the West Fjörds in 1615. At least 32
Basque sailors were murdered.
What happened?: While Basque-
hunting never caught on, amaz-
ingly this statute was not formally
rescinded until 2015. Most charm-
ing of all, the statute was laid to
rest in the West Fjörds, with a for-
mal “reconciliation ceremony” be-
tween a descendent of one of the
murdered Basque sailors, and a
descendent of one of the murder-
ers. Basque people are now free to
visit Iceland without fear of being
singled out.
5. The Porn Internet Wall
Who proposed it?: Former Min-
ister of the Interior, Ögmundur Jó-
nasson of the Left-Greens
What did it propose?: The produc-
tion and distribution of pornogra-
phy was already illegal in Iceland,
but this law was written before the
advent of the Internet. In 2013, a
Ministry workgroup
began to seriously ex-
amine the idea of cre-
ating a kind of “porn
firewall” around the
country, which would
block traffic to and
from porn sites. You
can probably imagine
some of the practical
complications that
would arise from im-
plementing this.
What happened?:
The sheer volume of
porn on the Internet,
coupled with the ex-
istence of proxy ser-
vices and VPNs, al-
ready made this idea
unworkable in a practical sense.
As well intended as it might have
been, the proposal was also met
with fierce resistance from free
speech advocates. Ultimately,
the proposal was scattered to the
winds.
“It might interest
you to know
some of the
more frivolous
ways your hard-
earned money
has been spent
within the halls
of parliament.”
Where the magic happens. And by magic we mean lots of speeches
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