Remarks by
The Honourable Anita Neville, P.C., O.M.
Lieutenant Governor of Manitoba
ICELANDIC NATIONAL LEAGUE OF NORTH AMERICA CONVENTION
Lakeview Gimli Resort
Saturday, May 3, 2025, 6:00 p.m.
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Members of the Icelandic National League of North America, heirs to the sagas, friends from across a continent, it is a pleasure to join you here at this convention and this beautiful community.
It is a pleasure to welcome friends from across North America and from Iceland to this gathering on Treaty One land and the heartland of the Red River Metis. We are meeting in a place where people have come together for centuries and millennia to trade and share ideas and cultures.
As Lieutenant Governor of Manitoba, I acknowledge that our province is located on the treaty territories and ancestral lands of the Anishinaabe, Cree, Dakota and Dene nations and the homeland of the Red River Métis; and on lands that were and are the ancestral lands of the Inuit.
Manitobans are committed to working in partnership with First Nations, Metis and Inuit people in the spirit of truth, reconciliation and collaboration.
Manitobans have long had a special, close relationship with Gimli and the other communities on the shore of our inland sea. We know this is a place of beauty, creativity, heritage and passion for community.
So we are all happy to welcome visitors from beyond our province to this place close to our hearts.
Of course, it’s not just the beauty of Lake Winnipeg that’s brought you here, to the heart of Manitoba’s Icelandic community.
Holding your convention in Gimli this year, when the 150th anniversary of the arrival of Icelandic settlers is being commemorated here, is a coming – home for your organization and for many of you.
As you explore your history and culture at this convention, I’m sure you will see a web of connections between your own city or town, Gimli and Iceland itself.
And I am sure you will leave with a new appreciation of your Icelandic connections and the connections tying many communities together – here in Manitoba and across North America.
There are so many stories to be told about the bonds of family and friendship that link us. And as heirs of the saga tradition, you are ideally suited to tell those stories, to hold them close and to pass them on to others.
I wish you an inspiring and insightful time that strengthens the bonds of friendship connecting Iceland, Canada, the United States and the world.
Thank you. Merci. Meegwich. Shalom
