The Icelandic Canadian - 01.09.2004, Side 9

Vol. 59 #1
THE ICELANDIC CANADIAN
7
His Honour John Harvard
by Kevin Jon Johnson
Kevin Jon Johnson interviews the
Lieutenant Governor of Manitoba, His
Honour John Harvard, P.C., O.M.
Kevin: I would like to conduct this
interview in a roughly chronological man-
ner, but with more emphasis on your more
recent activities. Was there anything in
your childhood in Glenboro that helped
prepare you or that perhaps foreshadowed
your future life?
Mr. Harvard: Perhaps the only precur-
sor was some of my activity in school.
Public affairs, called civics in those days,
always interested me. School organization
or school politics attracted my attention. I
served as student council President for a
couple of years, and excelled at History
and Geography. That drove me into jour-
nalism. People, and what they did, fascinat-
ed me. That took me into radio and televi-
sion news.
Kevin: In terms of your education,
whom would you regard as a major influ-
ence, and why?
Mr. Harvard: My major influence was
my High School teacher, Ruth Mooney
Christie, whom I featured at my installa-
tion. Ruth Mooney, later to become Mrs.
Ruth Christie, inspired me; I looked up to
her. She was my favourite teacher, and she
brought out the best side of me. The great-
niece of Nellie McClung, the well-known
suffragette of Manitoba, Ruth exemplified
the best in humanity; she motivated me.
She taught Social Studies and History. She
was warm and down to earth. It was com-
mon then, and is perhaps common now, for
students to denigrate teachers, thinking
that they do not understand student’s
problems and student’s lives, but Ruth
knew how to relate to young people. Her
enthusiasm for Canadian and Manitoban
history rubbed off on me.
Kevin: Has anyone in the Icelandic-
Canadian community either inspired or
assisted you in your career?
Mr. Harvard: Pastor Erik Sigmar con-
firmed me when I was twelve years old. As
a youngster, I looked up to pastor Sigmar.
Many years later I got to know Magnus
Eliason. Although we did not always share
the same political philosophy, I always
found time for Magnus. A dedicated public
servant, he worked always for the public
good. He is a man that I respect greatly,
and one whom I admire for his evident
respect for his Icelandic roots and Icelandic
heritage.
Kevin: Many Winnipeggers remember
you as a radio host on CJOB, and later as a
TV interviewer with CBC. How would
you characterize these experiences in radio
and on televison?
Mr. Harvard: When young, before I
entered into radio and television journal-
ism, I saw the world in simplistic black and
white terms. Through journalism I devel-
oped an appreciation of how much grey
there is in life, of how complex problems
are, that human situations very often defy
explanation and simple solutions. To
develop a comprehensive understanding,
life requires a nimble and flexible mind, not
a rigid and dogmatic one, because this par-
ticular problem may cry out for a particu-
lar solution, while another issue, that
appears the same superficially, may
demand a different solution. Through jour-
nalism I experienced and wrote about so
many kinds of issues, and met so many
kinds of men and women; journalism offers
the best liberal arts education obtainable. It