First immigrant from Iceland, Birgir Robertsson, makes his way to Gimli, Manitoba (Canada) - Winnipeg Free Press

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There's Gimli north of Winnipeg, right at the shores of Lake Winnipeg.

One day after my last post on the subject, it turns out that the idea of Icelanders moving to Manitoba to find work is becoming reality, with one person at least:

HE lost his job as a baker in Reykjavik, and now he has set his sights on starting fresh in Gimli.

Tales of cash-strapped Icelanders seeking refuge in Manitoba's "New Iceland" have made headlines for weeks, but Birgir Robertsson is among the first to travel from his economically hard-hit country to the community on the shores of Lake Winnipeg looking for work.

and looks like he's already been offered a job:

One local hotelier who recently pledged to bring over Icelanders as employees said if Robertsson is interested, he has an open offer. Corporate Hotels owner Michael Bruneau said he'd gladly sponsor Robertsson to work as a chef at his Misty Lake Lodge in Gimli.

Robertsson will fly home Friday to sort out the paperwork necessary to get him back to Manitoba as a labourer, rather than a tourist.

But with a new provincial program in the works to bring over more unemployed Icelanders, he could be the start of a new wave of immigrants.

So it looks like this is really going to happen. Very interesting.

Question for Manitobans: does being next to Lake Winnipeg give Gimli a climate much different from Winnipeg, about 40 km away from the lake?