Mr. Speaker, it is my honour to rise in the Chamber today to pay tribute to the Rural Municipality of Bifrost, which was recently commemorated with a celebration in the town of Arborg a short time ago.
The beginnings of the modern era for this region go back to 1875 when the Canadian government set aside a large portion of land on the west shore of Lake Winnipeg exclusively for Icelandic settlement. The following year, 1,200 people moved onto the land near Willow Point in what is now the R.M. of Gimli, which was incorporated in 1881. Residents of the north end of the R.M. soon realized they were too far removed from the government office so, on December 1, 1907, the R.M. of Bifrost was incorporated.
Bifrost is the Icelandic term for the rainbow bridge which joins the domain of humankind to Asgard, the land of the gods. It is noteworthy that First Nations people who resided in the area had to make way for the settler, but their generous nature becomes evident in the telling of the story of John Ramsey, a Saulteaux hunter who lived nearby.
A smallpox outbreak followed the settlement in 1876 which took the life of his wife, Betsy, and four of their five children. In that first hard winter, the settlers then experienced starvation, but John Ramsey applied his skills to supply them with moose meat which bridged them over to better days.
Over the years, other ethnic groups moved into the area leading to the diverse, cultural mosaic of today, which is the very essence of our country. The natural bounty of Lake Winnipeg and the surrounding rich farmland has been the base upon which this region has thrived.
Master of ceremonies for the Arborg event was Mr. David Gislason. Among other dignitaries, greeting were brought by the Honourable John Harvard, Lieutenant-Governor of Manitoba, Mr. Atli Assmundson, the Consul General of Iceland, Mr. James Bezan, the MP for Selkirk-Interlake, Mr. Harold Foster, the current Reeve of Bifrost and myself, for the Premier (Mr. Doer) and the Minister of Intergovernmental Affairs (Mr. Ashton).
On behalf of the people of the Interlake, I congratulate the people of the R.M. of Bifrost in achieving this milestone.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.