The Icelandic Canadian - 01.12.2004, Síða 22

64
THE ICELANDIC CANADIAN
Vol. 59 #2
er together. As Iceland has become more
global in its actions and influence, it has
strengthened its political, diplomatic and
commercial relations with other countries,
especially Canada and the United States.
We are especially appreciative of Iceland's
generosity to the Department of Icelandic
Studies at the University of Manitoba, to
its support for Betel, for its support of the
Snorri program and for other similarly
meaningful initiatives that serve to unite us
all. As Steinthor Gudbjartsson, Managing
Editor of Logberg Heimskringla, notes so
eloquently, all Icelanders are simply part of
a large family -- the only real question
being how closely related they are to each
other. Indeed, there is reasonable evidence
that any two persons of Icelandic decent
cannot be less related than being ninth
cousins.
I personally experienced this reality
recently, after meetings with Managing
Director Fridrick Sophusson and Deputy
Managing Director Johann Mariusson of
Landsvirkjun in Reykjavik. Consistent
with the overwhelming passion that
Icelanders have with genealogy, the first
parts of our meetings were consumed with
family backgrounds and whether, or more
precisely, how closely we were related. In
our first meeting, we established that my
father and Johann were seventh cousins.
My father and David Oddson, the Prime
Minister of Iceland, were also seventh
cousins, while Johann and David were
third cousins. At the next meeting, after
some help from Nelson Gerrard research-
ing computerized genealogical records at
Hofsos, we were able to establish that
Fridrick and I were about sixth cousins.
I should just mention that after our
animated discussions on genealogy, we
eventually did get around to discussing
hydroelectric projects in Iceland!
In conclusion, it is both easy as well as
a real privilege to make a Toast to Iceland.
Collectively, people of Icelandic descent in
the Americas take pride in what Iceland has
accomplished, especially in the past centu-
ry. We all share in its successful nation
building, for promoting a society which
respects individual rights and freedoms for
all its citizens, in developing a vibrant, pro-
gressive and successful economy, in estab-
lishing a respected position in the interna-
tional arena, and for its generous embrac-
ing of Icelanders around the world. We are
also proud of the contribution that people
of Icelandic descent in Iceland and else-
where continue to make to social and eco-
nomic progress in their respective commu-
nities and globally. And, after all, we are
just one large extended family.
A3 lokum vil eg taka fram a3 J>a3 er
au3velt og telsp til sannkalla3ra forrettinda
a3 flytja minni Islands. Sameiginlega er folk
af fslenskum atttum her l Amerfku stolt af
og ber vir5ingu fyrir jaeim afrekum sem
unnin hafa veri3 a Islandi, ekki hva3 slst a
jaeirri old sem nu er nyliSin. Hi5 innra me3
okkur kennum vi3 serstaks stolts yfir javf
hve vel hefur til tekist me5 Jaa jaaatti I upp-
byggingu Islensku J>j63arinnar sem hafa
fasrt henni sjalfri sterkt og Kfvaanlegt efna-
hagskerfi og afla3 henni ordstfrs a
aljajoSavettvangi og jaa einnig yfir ]avl
hversu vel ]aj68inni hefur tekist a3 umvefja
alia Islendinga hvar svo sem Jaeir kunna a3
vera l heimi staddir. Hei3ur eiga Islendin-
gar skili3 fyrir a3 byggja si3menntu3u
jajo3felagi traustan grunn sem folginn er f
sannri virSingu fyrir retti einstaklingsins
og frelsi allra Jaegna. Vi3 erum stolt yfir
framsyni og hugrekki Islendinga og
afkomenda Islands hvar svo sem og hvenaar
svo sem jaeir leggja li5 felagslegum umbo-
tum og efnahagslegum framforum. Pegar
allt kemur til alls jaa erum vi3 bara ein
storfjolskylda.
Thank you and enjoy
Islendingadagurinn.
Pakka ykkur fyrir og go3a skemmtun.