February 2020 Nordic News 240 Sparks Street, PO Box 55023, Ottawa, ON K1P 1A1 An introduction to KONE - a Leading Company in People Flow: by Laura Kehusmaa Laura Kehusmaa Laura Kehusmaa works as a Coordinator for the Finnish elevator company KONE Inc. Ottawa. She comes to us highly recommended as a speaker by CNS member Tuula Bigras. Laura will make her presentation on Wednesday, February 19 at 7:30 PM at the Army Officers’ Mess, 149 Somerset Street West, Ottawa. Admission is free for members, $5 for non-members. Date Changes for Distinguished Speaker Evenings To make some of our upcoming distinguished speakers evenings possible, we have changed some of the dates from the usual third Wednesday evening of the month. The revised schedule for the rest of this season is now: • Wednesday, February 19 • Wednesday, March 11 • Wednesday, April 8 • Wednesday, May 13 (Annual General Meeting) ~ 1 ~ Bright Nights Baltic Nordic Film Festival Ottawa's annual film festival of the Baltic and Nordic countries: Lithuania, Denmark, Sweden, Finland, Estonia, Latvia, Iceland, Estonia, and Norway, takes place this year between February 19 and 26. For more information and the full schedule, please go to https://www.cfi-icf.ca/bnff The Nordic Model - Does it Still Exist? Treasurer Lennart Nylund (left) thanked Ambassador Ahlin on behalf of the CNS “The Nordic Model - does it still exist?” was the topic of the talk given by His Excellency Urban Ahlin, Ambassador of Sweden, on January 22. We don’t call our speaker series ‘The Distinguished Speakers Series’ for nothing,” is what I was thinking as I listened to the Ambassador. His background and experiences as leader of Sweden’s Social Democratic party, Chair of the Committee of Foreign Affairs, and Chair and Speaker of the House of Commons, among many other impressive accomplishments, gave so much weight to his opinions about this topic. Ambassador Ahlin strongly believes that the Nordic countries (in which group he includes Canada), have a major role to play in a world which is moving rapidly away from liberalism and democracy. He noted that the Nordic countries consistently appear on the lists of best countries to live in, using many different criteria. As managers of the CNS Facebook page, Hanne Sjøborg and I regularly post such lists and in fact, the day after the Ambassador spoke, the Ottawa Citizen published an article about the world’s ten most family-friendly cities. Helsinki came first, followed by Québec City. The list included Oslo, Copenhagen, Stockholm, Reykjavik, Calgary, Montreal and Gothenburg. Ambassador Ahlin proposed several reasons why the Nordic countries have been so successful in creating such well-functioning societies. One reason he cited was their history of never having been feudal states (with the exception of a small amount of feudalism in Denmark and in the southern tip of Sweden.) He suggested that this meant that the Nordic people had therefore never accepted subservience towards the state. They ~ 2 ~ expected to be treated fairly by the state and historically had rebelled against perceived injustice. The Ambassador also believes that Lutheranism, with its emphasis on hard work, good deeds and kindness to others, has had a huge impact on Nordic values. Other factors he mentioned were the public right of access to the forests and countryside, which allows anyone to share in berry and mushroom picking, and the very early establishment of public schools for all children. His final point on the success of Nordic societies was the influence of the harsh climate. People needed to be able to count on each other when times were difficult. Many had a subsistence livelihoods, so disaster and starvation were never far away and co-operation improved everyone’s chances of survival. The Ambassador noted that these were his own, personal thoughts on the background for the Nordic model, but I certainly found them well thought out and interesting. Ambassador Ahlin then spoke about the rapidly changing conditions of the world we now live in. He mentioned the current worldwide tendency in political debate to focus only on strengthening one’s own beliefs rather than engaging in true debate. This is reinforced by social media which allows the faceless expression of ideas that would never be spoken in public. He noted in particular the enormous amount of hostile online commentary his female political colleagues received. And since traditional media is no longer trusted by many people, politicians can get away with a great deal that they would not have been able to get away with in the past. The Ambassador sees the Nordic Model as being about trust and seeking consensus when looking for the best solutions. “What happens when trust dissolves?” he wondered. “What happens to democracy?” The Nordic countries, including Canada, stand up for the rights of women, children, LGBTQ, and minorities. Ambassador Ahlin believes that the Nordic countries must co-operate and work together to maintain these values or the world will continue to move in the wrong direction. The liberal world order is losing and the Nordic countries need to back each other up. This was the Ambassador’s strong message and it certainly resonated with the audience. Several questions and spirited discussion followed his talk, and the Ambassador’s experience as Speaker of Sweden’s House of Commons served him well. Several individuals also stayed behind to speak to him personally. It was both an enjoyable and a very thought-provoking evening. Grete Mohaupt (seated), Åse Boardman (left) and Councillor Kristin Udjus Teitelbaum, attended ~ 3 ~ Viking Gala Becoming a Key Annual Event Arriving guests knew they were in the right place when they were greeted by the very dapper “Lennart Nylund the Viking” The success of this year’s January 16 Viking Gala made it very clear that for many members, the Gala is a highlight of our CNS annual program. The annual Gala was initiated by Councillor Hanne Sjøborg in 2017, and she has taken the lead on it ever since - liaising with Collège de la Cité to establish the menu, issuing the invitations, organizing the program, and attending to all the little professional details that make these evenings so enjoyable. The gourmet Nordic meal prepared by the students of the culinary program under the supervision of their chef was original and delectable. The atmosphere was warm and friendly with Vice-president Trygve Ringereide as master of ceremonies. Norwegian Ambassador H.E. Anne Kari H. Ovind and Danish ambassador H.E. Hanne Fugl Eskjær were engaging and gracious as they addressed the guests. Rolf Christensen was impressive in his detailed knowledge of explorer Jens Munk’s Arctic expedition 400 years ago. Many thanks to Rolf for the second photo on page 6 and to Astrid Ahlgren for the rest (see below)! ~ 4 ~ On top of all her other contributions to organizing the Gala, Hanne Sjøborg enlisted the help of husband Henry Storgaard to put together the warm-up quiz about Denmark. CNS President Karin Birnbaum welcomed the guests warmly ~ 5 ~ The always eloquent Trygve Ringereide was the Master of Ceremonies for the evening, and is pictured here with his wife Marian McLennan. Left to right, Anne Kari H. Ovind, Ambassador of Norway; Rolf Christensen, President of Danish Federations in Canada and guest speaker; Hanne Fugl Eskjær, Ambassador of Denmark; Pétur Ásgeirsson, Ambassador of Iceland ~ 6 ~ David Bournes, President of the Danish Club of Ottawa, and his wife Marianne Bournes Len and Leena Sillanpää ~ 7 ~ Kristin Udjus Teitelbaum Aud Karin Sund, Carol Ann Godo, Hilde Huus ~ 8 ~ More from France Rivet on Voyage with the Labrador Eskimos 1880-81 In the spring of 2015, France Rivet told the CNS the story of the eight Labrador Inuit who were recruited by Norwegian Johan Adrian Jacobsen and brought to Europe to be exhibited in zoos. Many CNS members purchased a copy of her book on the subject. On December 1, 2019, she published the second edition of the diary Jacobsen kept during his travels with the Labrador Inuit. The book has gone from the original 86 pages to 300 pages! Dieter Riedel, husband of CNS member Doreen Riedel, assisted with this project. Here is France’s own description of the new edition: The first edition consisted of the English translation of the main portion of Johan Adrian Jacobsen’s 1880-1881 diary. It covered the period from June 28, 1880 (as he was sailing to Greenland to recruit Inuit to bring back to Europe) to January 20, 1881 (four days after the death of the last survivor of the group of eight Labrador Inuit). This portion of the diary was translated by Professor Hartmut Lutz from the University of Greifswald. Thanks to Dieter Riedel, the husband of CNS Member Doreen Larsen-Riedel, we now have access to a larger extract of Jacobsen’s diary. It starts in October 1879, when Jacobsen, his brother Jacob Martin, and zoo owner Carl Hagenbeck had the idea of purchasing a ship to travel to the Arctic to recruit Inuit; and it goes until July 24, 1881, the day before Jacobsen headed on his next mission: collecting artifacts on the Northwest Coast of North America for the Berlin Ethnology Museum. But that’s not all, thanks to Dieter’s dedication, this new edition also includes the English translation of: ~ 9 ~ • Jacobsen’s letters with the Greenland Inspector in July 1880 when he was denied the permission to bring Greenlanders to Europe. • Over 25 letters, Jacobsen received from family, friends, and business partners between November 9, 1880, and Dec 2, 1881, which mention the Labrador Inuit or give us insight into the world of 19th century “human zoos.” • Excerpts from two publications by Jacobsen where he talks about his travels on the Eisbar.