The Icelandic Canadian - 01.05.2008, Blaðsíða 16

106
THE ICELANDIC CANADIAN
Vol. 61 #2
success.
Neil: Here is what happened in 1988
through 1989 with President Vigdis. In
1988 Vigdis was invited to speak at a semi-
nar in Vancouver. The Icelandic National
League would serve as her host while there
and the Canadian Government would pro-
vide for a day to see Icelandic sights in the
area.
Through discussions with the protocol
people, a plan was hatched to invite
President Vigdis to come to Canada on a
state tour in 1989 to help celebrate the
100th anniversary of Islendingadagurinn. I,
as President of the INL, was asked to invite
her with the assurance the Canadian
Government would follow through with
an invitation that had been offered by for-
mer Governor General Ed Schreyer during
his visit to Iceland some years before.
I issued the invitation at a Banquet
sponsored by the INL at the Hotel
Vancouver and President Vigdis accepted.
A great risk attended the issuing of such an
invitation as the INL did not have the
funds or capacity to host such a visit.
The protocol people asked us to put
together a fourteen day programme dotting
all the “i’s” and crossing all the “t’s” and
then await for their call which we did. The
President’s Executive Secretary General,
Kornelius Sigmundsson, came three times
the following winter to help us put the pro-
gramme together and I went to Iceland in
February of 1989 to complete the plans.
We got the invitation from the
Canadian Government in May of 1989 fol-
lowing the funeral of Emperor Hirohito of
Japan on 24 February 1989 where President
Vigdis and Madame Jeanne Sauve, the
Governor General of Canada, sat side by
side and discussed the forthcoming visit.
The Governor General of Canada then put
an action plan in place that allowed us a
nine day state visit beginning in L’Anse aux
Meadows and traveling across Canada
from Ottawa where there was a huge state
reception and the streets were lined with
Icelandic flags.
She went on to Toronto, Regina,
Edmonton, Markerville and Winnipeg with
a trip to Arborg, Hecla, and Riverton end-
ing in Gimli to celebrate the 100th
Anniversary of Islendingadagurinn.
Vigdis made a huge impression on
everyone she met and it truly marked the
beginning of a new relationship between
Canada and Iceland.
Kevin: My grandparents, your uncle
and aunt, Jon Gustav Johnson and Rosa
Johnson guided or supported you in your
life. Jon, I believe, demanded that you
work very hard in life to achieve success.
My father, Helgi Carl, fulfilled this role in
my life. But Rosa served the same role in
both of our lives; she had faith in our suc-
cess. Could you comment on the role of
your uncle, Jon, and aunt, Rosa, in your
life, and of any other key family mentors or
guides?
Neil: We have had a wonderful experi-
ence with the Icelanders here in Manitoba
in the past month (14 May 2007) with a
visit from the President of Iceland, setting
up a branch office of the National Bank of
Iceland and a most successful Arts Festival
and INL Convention.
You asked me in a former email the
influence Rosa and Jon played in my life
and I will give you a brief sketch of how I
remember that experience in the following
lines:
As a result of my father’s wartime
experience, my mother moved back with
her parents on 1023 Ingersoll Street and I
enjoyed the privilege of having an extended
family of her parents and siblings who all
lived within walking distance of the home
on Ingersoll. Each of mother’s siblings had
a role to play in my upbringing and each
brought a special meaning to my life. Jona,
a piano teacher, gave me my first lessons at
age four years. Rose had two sons similar
in age and I spent many happy hours at
their home and cottage at West Hawk
Lake. Harold was a grocer after he
returned from overseas and I spent time
with him as he delivered the groceries from
their store on Portage Avenue. Jon, my
God father, and my mother were very close
as siblings.
Jon was from my earliest recollection
very ambitious; he went from a foreman’s
job with the Winnipeg Electric to a CEO
for Westinghouse, no mean feat. Rosa, a
wise woman, dispensed her wisdom care-