Diplomatic gesture
Ambassador recognized in Senate

Paul Park, Ottawa, ON

The outgoing Icelandic ambassador to Canada and his wife were saluted in the Senate of Canada on October 29. Manitoba senator Marilu McPhedran invited Hlynur Guðjónsson and his spouse Lulu Yee to watch Question Period in the red chamber. During statements by members, she paid tribute to the pair and their home country. She also heralded the work done by another Icelandic Canadian.

“Some in this chamber will remember Manitoba’s Conservative senator Janis Johnson, one of the few Icelandic Canadian parliamentarians who was retiring as I was arriving here, after persuading me to apply under Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s new system,” the non-affiliated senator noted.

She remarked on the 150th anniversary of the settlement of New Iceland. The largest number of Icelanders living outside of the island are in Manitoba, she asserted. In Gimli, it is possible to go the entire day speaking only in Icelandic, she added.

Senator McPhedran offered a history lesson to her fellow senators. She reminded them of the Women’s Day Off on October 24, 1975, when the female population of the country refused to work to highlight inequality in the nation.

“In the decades since, Iceland has transformed ideals into action, becoming the global benchmark for gender equality, closing more than 90 percent of the gender gap,” she concluded. “But progress is not just measured in numbers. It is built on solidarity, courage and the belief that equality uplifts everyone.”

The senator closed her speech by wishing Hlynur and Lulu well and vowed to see them in Iceland.