Ávarp ráðherra á hátíðahöldum Vestur-Íslendinga í Manitoba, 17. júní 2015

Ladies and Gentlemen, kæru landar.

It is both a pleasure and an honour to be here and bring National Day Greetings from the Government and People of Iceland.

The bonds between Manitoba and Iceland are remarkably strong and complex. Just to state the obvious: It is for me quite a unique and positive experience to stand here in the heart of Winnipeg at the statue of our freedom fighter, Jón Sigurðsson.

The only other exactly  same statue of him stands at Austurvöllur in the center of Reykjavík where earlier today traditional celebrations took place. Winnipeg and Reykjavík are formally sister cities and  there are many connections between Manitoba and Iceland, both formal and informal. And this morning we had a memorable Icelandic service in the First Lutheran Church of Winnipeg with visitors from Sauðárkrókur, the Sauðárkrókur choir, their pastor and others. The Icelandic Flag is flying today at the Winnipeg City Hall and here. Nowhere else abroad could all this and many more Icelandic events happen on June 17th.

Before continuing, let me thank the Jón Sigurðsson Chapter of IODE, the Icelandic Canadian Frón Chapter of the Icelandic National League in North America, the Neil Bardal Funeral Centre and the many individual volunteers who make this cherished traditional event posible. May I also specifically mention the local Sólskríkja choir and the visiting Choir from Sauðárkrókur in Northern Iceland  whom are uniting in the singing here today. What a fine tradition they maintain in their respective communities, both sides of the Atlantic. I also mention with our gratitude the artists of Núna / now - the Iceland Canada Art Convergence - who organize the program at the Art Gallery a little later this evening.

During the past days we have visited New Iceland at Lake Winnipeg, such places as Gimli, Arborg and Riverton, and been fascinated by what we have seen and experienced. At the New Iceland Heritage Museum in Gimli we got to know how challenging the life of the first settlers from Iceland in North America was, after their difficult journeys from Iceland with nothing but their books.

Especially heartbreaking is to learn about the widows who were forced to leave with their children as they might become financial burden on their country.

They left dirt poor Iceland, mostly between 1875 to 1914, where ancient farming techniques could not bread-feed the increasing population. The stories of the Icelandic settlers in New Iceland and elsewhere in North America are stories of survival and rebuilding of lives in a new and challenging environment. The descendants of the settlers from Iceland in Canada  have done their foremothers and forefathers proud as hardworking and honest citizens at all levels of Canadian society.

This is my first ever visit to Manitoba and I am determined to not have it my last. The time spent here this first time is simply too short for me to see and experience all I eventually hoped to. I regard it as a strong calling to nurture and strengthen even further the unique and strong Icelandic - Canadian human bonds. As we honour the memories of those who toiled and made their and their descendants´dreams come true in a new and different environment we must look at the future and to the young.

We should encourage more youth exchanges like in the Snorri programs. We should also continue to support the many exchanges of young artists between Iceland and Manitoba and Canada as a whole. Tourism between Iceland and Canada is increasing and with it comes deeper knowledge of each other´s modern societies. And many Icelandic students have studied at great Canadian universities and brought back knowledge to Iceland.

Certainly Canada and Iceland share a common world vision today, based on democratic principles of freedoms, the rule of law and human rights. Canada and Iceland see eye to eye on international issues, for example at the UN and are founding partners in NATO and the Arctic Council. And recently the commercial sectors in our countries should be able to mutually expand Icelandic - Canadian trade  based on the new Free Trade Agreement.  As the present Government of Iceland was formed two years ago it was specifically stated in the Government Declaration that a special effort will be made to enhance even further the overall close relations between Iceland and the two North American States, Canada and the United States.

Next Friday, the 19th of June – the Women‘s Rights Day, will be a festive and joyful day in all of Iceland as we celebrate the Centenary of women's suffrage and their right to stand for election on the same footing as men, and I must be back home then for the festivities.  The Government has decided to give everyone a half day off work  Friday to commemorate. We celebrate because other rights derive from our civil and political rights.

In 1915, the members of Althingi, found it though appropriate to limit these rights to women older than 40. The large number of new voters who might cast their vote for other women and thus dismantle the current power structures, scared them enough to come up with such an idea. In 1920 Danish authorities abolished the age discrimination.

In 1907 women in Reykjavík got the right to vote for the city council and in the elections in 1908 they gained 25% of the vote for their first ever, but not the last, women's slate in Iceland.

We will remember the leaders in Iceland who fought for this important equality right that today we think is so self evident and natural. A hundred years ago opinions were on the other hand quite divided and the political battles were long and hard. The progressive elements won the day and the same can be said about this struggle in many other countries.

It is a well-known truth that gender equality does not come about of its own accord – which leads me to two remarkable women, whose struggle was personal, national and international at the same time.  

I am of course speaking about Margrét Jónsdóttir Benedictsson and Bríet Bjarnhéðinsdóttir. Those pioneers of a radical social movement who understood the power from below and only if women would show their strength and solidarity nothing could stop them.
To my surprise Margrét and Bríet are born in the same county in Iceland, Húnavatnssýsla, a decade apart, Margrét in 1866 and Bríet in 1856. They knew of each other as young women and both of them desired education more than anything else. Education was however off limits for them.
Bríet moved to Reykjavík to become an editor of her magazine Kvennablaðið (The Women's Paper) and to later found the Women's Rights Association in 1907 to fight for women's suffrage. Bríet was moreover one of the founders of the first women's labour unions in Iceland in 1914. In the meantime she fought successfully for legislation securing higher education and access to professions such as medicine and priesthood for women in 1911.
The two poor country girls Margrét and Bríet became public speakers, editors of their own and well-known magazines, and leaders of their movements. They married men who were avid supporters of full rights for women, Briet became a widow and Margrét and her husband divorced. They were single mothers but their own masters.
Strong lines of direct personal communications were between Iceland and the Western Icelanders for many of the first decades and there is no doubt that Icelandic women leaders in Iceland had direct contact with their Western Icelandic fellow sufragettes. On the coming 27th of January, Manitoba will celebrate its centennial of the right of women to vote in the Provincial elections. A key strength in the struggle that led to this provincial milestone, the first in Canadian history,  that was later copied elsewhere in the country, were the Western Icelandic lady suffragettes. And none more so than the strong and persuasive Margrét Jónsdóttir Benedictsson. She held effective lectures and talks and had a huge influence, not least through the remarkable magazine FREYJA, started in 1898 and continued by her as editor and main writer until 1910, a very influential womens´ magazine indeed.
Margrét's magazine Freyja was the first women's rights magazine in all of Canada. She fought for the establishment of women's societies and they “constituted a rich part of the fabric of the Icelandic communities and women were active in community life, both as writers and social reformers. As a result of the publication of Freyja, and the efforts of Margrét Icelandic women in Canada are recognized in Canadian history as ‘pioneers' in the Canadian suffrage campaign”. (Tilvitnanir í Björgu Hjartardóttur, doktorsnema sem skrifar ritgerð um tímaritið Freyju)  
So we have a lot to celebrate, both in Iceland and Manitoba and we therefore honor these two women and all the people who participated in the struggle for the political rights of women.
With these few words I conclude by wishing all a HAPPY 71ST ANNIVERSARY OF THE REPUBLIC OF ICELAND or as we say in Icelandic GLEÐILEGA ÞJÓÐHÁTÍÐ !
I wish the friendship and cooperation between Iceland, Manitoba and all of Canada even added strength.

May the bond accross the Atlantic continue to develop for the benefit of generations to come.

Eygló Harðardóttir, Minister of Social Affairs and Housing