The Icelandic Canadian - 01.06.1973, Side 29

THE ICELANDIC CANADIAN
27
THE LAND IN THE MIDDLE
The Icelandic Canadian has received
by courtesy of Eric Stefanson, Gener-
al Manager (Manitoba) Interlake De-
velopment Corporation, a very attrac-
tive and informative publication pre-
pared at the request of the Develop-
ment Corporation. It is a 76-page 11
by 8% inch publication, with a color-
ful glazed-paper cover, high-grade
paper, and copiously and imagi-
natively illustrated.
The optimism regarding the future
of the Interlake district, which for a
long time has awaited a much greater
development of its potenialities than it
has had in the past, is reflected in the
caption on the cover: “The Interlake—
lies between two great freshwater
oceans, a shaft of land pointing north
to form a natural corridor along which
development of Manitoba’s north must
flow”. And this, “It is a blend of the
beautiful, the rugged, the rich and
not so rich”.
Generally, the contents include a
description of the land and the ocean-
sized bounding lakes; the population,
varied national-ethnic origins; in-
dustries and occupations; towns and
rural districts; social conditions; re-
creation and tourism, and the im-
pressive development under way.
Industrial development is impres-
sive. To mention a limited number of
enterprises, at Gimli there is Saunders
Aircraft, Alwest Marine luxury alum-
inum houseboats, Misawa-Greenwood
prefabricated houses and Calvert’s 18-
million dollar distillery. At Selkirk,
not to mention the long established
Manitoba Rolling Mills, Universal
Woodwork, with its customs wood-
work has jobs brought them as far
afield as Saskatchewan and Ontario.
Selkirk has a 4% million dollar com-
prehensive school. Teulon has the first
hosiery mill to be established in Wes-
tern Canada. Arborg has a modern
cheese plant capable of producing 7
million pounds annually. Riverton has
the well-known boat works that builds
steel fishing boats and barges.
Tourism, from Matlock to Hecla
Island, is being strongly promoted. A
million dollars has been allocated to
revive and rebuild Winnipeg Beach
and Hecla Island is being turned into
“Manitoba’s show piece recreation
spot.”
By way of land adjustment, 35,000
acres have been purchased under the
FRED program, to be converted to
its best use, recreational, wildlife, for-
estry or forage crop production.
Riverton and Lundar have been
declared eligible for provincially assist-
ed sewer and water development under
the Manitoba Water Services Act.
Lake Winnipeg and Lake Manitoba
are noted for their fisheries produc-
tion.
Members of the 19-member Board
of Directors of the Interlake Develop-
ment Corporation with Icelandic
names are: Eric Stefanson, Arborg,
Manager; Dr. Baldur H. Kristjanson,
Chairman Manitoba Economic Advis-
ory Board; J. S. Sigurdson, Lundar,
Vice President, and Dori Holm, Gimli.
-W. K.