Magnus Eliason

Magnus Eliason (June 21, 1911–November 11, 2005) was a founding member of the Co-Operative Commonwealth Federation. From 1969 to 1989, he was a Winnipeg City Councillor.

He was born in Arnes, Manitoba, the son of Icelandic immigrants.

He published his autobiography in 1997, Magnus Eliason: a Life on the Left (ISBN 1-896474-04-7). Magnus, like his elder brother Helgi, was born an albino, and so had only ten percent normal vision due to the lack of pigment (melanin) and poor development of his retina; this is the definition of clinical blindness in Canada. Magnus's parents refused to send him and Helgi to the CNIB (Canadian National Institute for the Blind) where he would have been "taught to be blind", as Magnus saw it. Even in his advanced years, Magnus never used a white cane, and his skill in navigating the physical world was so adept that no one would have suspected his visual impairment. Early in his life, in his twenties, Magnus made a sobre and objective evaluation of the things he could do, and the things he could not, and then simply focused on those things he could do, forgetting about the rest. Nevertheless, this did not stop Magnus from riding the rails in the hungry thirties or from sawing shingles.

Despite his personal limitation, Magnus had the gift of an extraordinary memory that helped him serve as an effective political organizer in Western Canada for the CCF, Co-Operative Commonwealth Federation, and its later incarnation, the NDP, New Democratic Party, both Socialist parties in Canada. In theology Magnus was a free-thinker; he attended the Unitarian Church in Winnipeg, and like many Canadian socialists, it was his desire to help those less fortunate in Canada that led him into politics. Magnus loved to meet new people, and succeeded in the insurance field during his time as a Winnipeg City Councillor. Magnus married late in life, and happily. The dedication in 'Magnus Eliason: A Life on the Left' reads: "To Kay, my wife and my pal through thick and through thin". Kay predeceased Magnus, and they had no children.

Magnus cherished his Icelandic heritage, and in his last years he often recited Icelandic poetry at social gatherings in the Icelandic-Canadian community of Winnipeg. He had memorized numerous poems, both light-hearted and sombre, that he delivered eloquently with his rich baritone voice to great applause. An accomplished orator and racconteur, Magnus was fluent in Icelandic, his mother tongue, and English. For his political and cultural services, Mangus received the 'Order of the Falcon' from the Icelandic government, its highest civilian honour. His Unitarian religion was also a natural outgrowth of his Icelandic-Canadian heritage.

Magnus gained his political apprenticeship during the hungry thirties in the shadow of Socialist giants in British Columbia. From there, he travelled east across the Western provinces of Canada: Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba. In Alberta he helped fight the tide of Social Credit, rubbing shoulders with Ma Murray and Hazen Argue. Magnus had the deepest respect for Tommy Douglas, a Baptist minister and Premier of Saskatchewan. Douglas, the father of the Canadian medical-care system, by some is regarded as the greatest Canadian ever; one of Canada's most brilliant orators, Tommy Douglas was also a man of impeccable virtue. Magnus counted him as a friend.

Magnus had dogged determination. He lost thirteen elections, before winning his first political office as a Winnipeg City Councillor. In Manitoba, Magnus played a key role in bringing Edward R. Schreyer into the Premiership of the Province. Magnus could feel politics in his bones, and he helped entice Schreyer out of Federal politics to lead the NDP in provincial Manitoba politics; Magnus foresaw correctly that under Schreyer, the NDP would form the government in Manitoba. Mr. Schreyer later became the Governor-General of Canada, the highest position appointed by the Queen of the United Kingdom.

Magnus was a man of great personal courage, strength, wisdom, friendliness and generosity. In his 'Foreword', the Right Honourable Edward Schreyer wrote of his friend: "Our thanks to a decent, solid citizen democrat for whom virtue is its own reward." Magnus believed that simply living our lives was not sufficient, but that life requires each of us to contribute in a meaningful way to enhance the life of our fellow men and women; Magnus achieved this goal, and like most good human beings, the vast number of his good works remain unpublished.

Because Magnus had deteriorating vision in his final years, his autobiographical novel, a Canadian social history, was written by Kevin Jon Johnson and edited by Melinda McCracken. Melinda interviewed Magnus, and Kevin transcribed the cassettes, checked the names and accuracy of the account, and edited the text for grammar, frequently moving passive verbs into their active counterparts. The published work is around 65,000 words, derived from the 100,000 word entire corpus. The original cassettes, a hard-copy of the 100,000 word original transcript, and a large body of texts from Magnus's personal library are available to researchers at the Archives of Manitoba in Winnipeg. The writers of the book chose to keep it as a first-person narration, and the unique voice and personality of Magnus shine through on each page.

References

• "Globe and Mail obituary". Retrieved March 12, 2006.