The Icelandic Canadian - 01.06.1967, Page 33

THE ICELANDIC CANADIAN
31
The Presentation and Unveiling
of the Plaque
The presentation and unveiling of
the plaque took place in the Auditor-
ium-Foyer of the magnificent new Na-
tional Library and Archives Building
on Wellington St., Ottawa, on Friday,
April 14, 1967 at 4:00 p.m. A platform,
seating about 24 people, had been
erected immediately in front of the
plaque. Chairs were brought in for
the invited guests, about two hundred
in number, and were so arranged as
to face the plaque.
The ceremony was carried out with
due dignity. There was an orchestra
present and uniformed members of the
R.C.M.P. The proceedings opened
with O Canada and closed with God
Save (the Queen. Honourable George
J. Mcllraith, the Minister of Public
Works, was in the chair.
After delivering his opening address,
(which is published herewith) the
Chairman called upon Dr. P. H. T.
Thorlakson, to present the plaque to
the Right Honourable Lester B. Pear-
son, the Prime Minister of Canada, as
a gift from Canadians of Icelandic
descent ito the government and the
people of Canada.
Dr. Thorlakson, then delivered his
presentation address (published here-
with) and then called upon the Prime
Minister to unveil the plaque and ac-
cept the gift.
The Prime Minister, in the course
of his acceptance remarks, referred to
tfhe enrichment to Canada by the Ice-
landers who came here with their
wealth of inheritance, of tradition and
of culture. Within a short time, less
than a century, they had made a re-
The Right Honourable
LESTER B. PEARSON
Prime Minister of Canada
markable contribution, both in iwar
and in peace, to the building of this
nation and the protecting of its
cherished freedoms. On looking at the
plaque he noted that the space oc-
cupied by ithe Icelandic version of this
early “Chapter in Canadian History”,
was much less than that of the English
and the French texts. He, therefore,
suggested that Icelandic should be the
official language of the House of Com-
mons!
The ceremony was followed by a
reception in the Senate Chambers at
which the hosts were, Senator, the Hon.
William Benidickson and Mrs. Ben-
idickson, and the Hon. Gunnar S.
Thorvaldson and Mrs. Thorvaldson.