News and Events
Icelandic celebration in Gimli
Thousands of people came to the present resort city of Gimli, the former capital of the New Iceland settlement on Lake Winnipeg, to take part in the festivities. The presence of a large number of people of Icelandic descent was evident as usual, as well as the many visitors from Iceland.
This year’s guest of honour was Sólveig Pétursdóttir, Speaker of the Althing, the Icelandic Parliament who delivered the Toast to Canada. Constance Magnusson was the first woman in the Festival’s history to Toast Iceland. The prestigious address of the Fjallakona, Lady of the Mountain, was presented by Erla Helgason Wankling.
Following his words of greetings to the Festival audience in Gimli Park, the Ambassador of Iceland to Canada, Markús Örn Antonsson, gave a brief account of the Icelandic Government’s request to start negotiations on an air transport agreement with Canada in order to secure direct air links between the countries. Currently the travelers between Iceland and Canada have no choice but to connect flights through a third country. Icelandair has shown interest in serving a number of Canadian destinations with flights directly from Iceland.
The Ambassador also addressed the issue of trade relations between Canada and Iceland which are at a surprisingly low level. The free trade negotiations between Canada and the EFTA states, including Iceland, which have been stalled since 2004, are destined to pave the way for an agreement to abolish tariffs in bilateral trade relations between Canada and EFTA and consequently bolster the commercial activities. Attempts are now being made to have the negotiations resumed.