Svea – A Sick Benefit and Benevolent Organization
Before provincial healthcare, Workers’ Compensation, and Employment Insurance provided relief from illness or accidents, which was especially prevalent among BC’s dangerous manual labour occupations — there was Svea. Svea operated as a sick benefit organization (including accidents and illness), which also helped with funeral costs, and donations to needy Swedes. Active during the years 1908-1968, it was initiated by Oscar L. Sundborg, a snuff manufacturer from Winnipeg who was later the editor of Svenska Vancouver Posten. There were ninety members in its first year and a list of members reveals that most came from a background as farmhands and labourers to work in Vancouver as loggers, carpenters, and labourers but also included such diverse occupations as waiters, a bartender, and even a civil engineer. An early rule from Svea’s statute book states that members should be Swedish-born men living in BC, with good character between the ages of 18-45. This was later amended to older members and their descendants, as well as Finn-Swedes.
To give an idea of the scope of Svea’s work, the following records indicate that from 1908-1922 (14 years) total revenue for the organization was $7,150.12 (approx. $175,700 in 2022 dollars). Keeping in mind that the pay was less than today, sick help was paid out in the amount of $2,697 (approx. $66,275 in 2022 dollars), funeral help was paid out in the amount of $300 (approx. $7,372 in 2022 dollars), and donations to needy Swedes was paid out in the amount of $414 (approx. $10,173 in 2022 dollars). A typical entry in their books on May 11, 1920 was the following: “Mr. A. Anderson presented a doctor’s certificate for the period April 13 to May 29. The society granted Mr. Anderson’s claim for sick help for a period of seven weeks, $35.00”, which amounts to $464.43 in 2022 dollars.
However, Svea was more than a sick benefit organization. As soon as it was established, a “munterhetskommitte” or merriment committee was formed to organize parties and celebrations such as their first Midsummer Fest held at Pete Larson’s North Vancouver Hotel. Party-goers were ferried across in a hired boat and enjoyed musicians and dancing on the spacious grounds of the new hotel. Women played a key role in donating their time and abilities to these social events, as well as fundraising activities — a role acknowledged in the Minutes by the Svea membership. Starting in 1910, there was lively debate about whether they could become members until 1921 when it was definitively voted down. One exception to the rule is the mysterious appearance of one Cecilia Wahlin, a domestic servant, registered in the membership log around the time the debate started.
Another committee was also formed in its first year. This was a political committee to improve Swedes’ political standing in Vancouver. Svea was also involved in social affairs and a committee in 1911 was formed to, “discuss if the society could do something for the suppression of the wild and unlawful life that happens in a few of the city’s pubs, where Scandinavians constitute the most prominent nationality”.
In the late 1950s, with changing government aid, Svea continued mostly to visit sick members and hold social meetings. Finally in 1968, after sixty years of service to the Swedish community in Vancouver, Svea disbanded.
