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Foreword

Miss Joan Magee has written three books of great interest. A common theme pervades them. A Dutch Heritage was my introduction to it, and to the author. The Loyalist Mosaic fascinates me, as does her study of the national groupings in Canada. A Scandinavian Heritage portrays the enriching role of the Scandinavian community in Essex County.

It is a privilege to contribute a foreword to this narrative. Canada is a land of many people; the Windsor region is typically multi-racial. The Scandinavian community is a case in point. For a long time it has helped to strengthen the heritage of the two founding groups of Canada’s confederation.

The author emphasized in Loyalist Mosaic our multi-ethnic heritage. The Loyalists of the American Revolution were not all English and Anglican; they were as varied as their countries of origin, as were their languages and religions.

The historic sense and well governed enthusiasm of the author of A Scandinavian Heritage give the reader a picture of the adventurous Norsemen, who first came to this continent and their descendants who form part of the Canadian mosaic.

Miss Magee’s books have been needed for a long time; they underline the importance of the racial divisions in our country’s structure and the intention to avoid the melting pot process. The author fortifies this desire and, hopefully, this achievement in her portrayal of the development of a Scandinavian community in the several parts of Canada, where are to be found Norwegians, Swedes, Danes, Finns, and Icelanders. We are reminded of the difficulties and privations which attended the adventurous emigres. Not until 1870 was there an acceptable receiving system; it brought with it an increase in the number of willing newcomers, anxious to be relieved of the hard conditions of life in the homeland. Of course, the problems and trials of the new environment require portrayal, so well done by the author.

The achievements of contemporary Scandinavians in Essex County are duly described with references to living personalities. Happily ethnic survival combines pride of historic origins with new surroundings, aims, and achievements.

Miss Magee delights in her writing and enlightens her readers in the process. Her knowledge of the Scandinavians, the multiethnics, the French and the English in Canada strengthens her appreciation of the mosaic character of the Canadian nation. I like to recall the importance given to this concept by the great Sir Wilfred Laurier. He told a university audience in Western Ontario that Canada was the image of a cathedral he had recently visited in England. It was the image of the nation he wished to see Canada become. It was made of marble, oak and granite; here he wanted the marble to remain the marble, the oak the oak, the granite the granite. Out of these elements, he would build a nation great among the nations of the world.

Hon. Paul Martin

Windsor, Ontario

14 February 1985