Edmonton
Canada's First Latvian Settlers
The historical record to date indicates that the first Latvian settlements in Canada were formed in the mid-1890s in Alberta and Manitoba, although there is evidence that at least one Latvian sailor settled on the Sunshine Coast in the 1860s.
One of the first settlers in Alberta was John Jones, who had begun his life in Jelgava, Latvia, in 1868 as Jānis Jankovskis. Jones (known in the Latvian community as Džonesa tēvs or Father Jones) was a sailor who had initially made his way to New York. After living there for a time, he decided in 1905 on a greater adventure—homesteading in Lake Isle, Alberta. He was joined there by his wife, Olga. They went on to have six children. Jones went off to war in 1914 with his oldest son, while his youngest served in World War II.
While Jones considered himself a son of the Canadian forest, he also never lost his love for the land of his birth. When he learned of the plight of the Displaced Latvian Persons in refugee camps after World War II, he resolved to do what he could to help. He lobbied government officials to bring more Latvians to Canada, hired some personally to work on his farm, helped found the Imanta Latvian Society of Edmonton in 1947, and supported the founding of the Latvian National Federation in Canada. He was famous for his warm welcome, care, and wise counsel. His wife, Olga, was likewise welcoming and did her utmost to support the Latvian community in Edmonton.
Konrads Dobelis and the Imanta Latvian Society of Edmonton
It would be hard to overstate the enormous role Konrads Dobelis played in the post-World War II history of the Latvian community in Canada. Dobelis, also born in Latvia, came to Canada in 1927. He studied engineering at university in Latvia and participated in the founding of the Philyronia fraternity in 1924. In Edmonton, he ran a successful renovation business. He spent 1945 and 1946 in Europe in the service of the Control Commission Germany (BE), which was responsible for governing the British Zone of Occupation and was therefore acutely aware of the needs of Latvian refugees in Displaced Persons camps. Upon his return, he founded the Imanta Latvian Society in 1947, spearheaded the founding of the Latvian National Federation in Canada, established two Latvian community newspapers, served as their publisher (Brīvais Latvietis [The Free Latvian] and Brīva Balss (The Free Voice]), and was the contact person for DP contract labourers on their way to work placements in the north. He coordinated with Mariss Vētra in Halifax, who gave people heading to Alberta Dobelis' contact information. For years, his home was a community hub for Latvians in Edmonton and the surrounding area.