Niagara Falls, Ontario, Saturday, March 3, 2007
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I would first like to say how pleased I am to have been chosen as Patron of Cuvée Weekend. Exactly a year ago, I had the great pleasure of attending this annual celebration of the Ontario wine industry. I enjoyed the warm ambiance, the impeccable hospitality and the quality of the meetings. I am overjoyed to find myself in your company once again. But I have not come alone, because wine is gregarious, it brings people together, it invites them in, it welcomes company. So I came with a delegation of proponents of Canadian wine; they, like I, came to celebrate Cuvée 2007, and, of course, wine.
Wine is one of life's true delights and part of a healthy lifestyle when consumed in moderation. It speaks of the country that sustains it and of the pride of the men and women who produce it.
Many years agomany many years agoin Persia and Egypt, poets and physicians united to sing the praises of wine, calling it both poetic and therapeutic, as Roman poets and thinkers would later do.
During the Middle Ages, the same was true in Italy, Spain, and especially France. François Rabelais, the illustrious French writer and physician, even showed that excessive consumption harmed neither the quality of thought nor good health. Eighteenth-century pharmacists identified the chemical and therapeutic qualities of every soil in France and named 164 medicinal wines. At about the same time, the English started using wine as an antibiotic and purchased their stock in Bordeaux. That might be why one of the wines I was served by Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II was an excellent clareta Pauillac which I am certain most people would prefer to the bitter antibiotics normally prescribed today!
Wine played many roles in the wars and battles of the 20th century: it killed pain, summoned courage and boosted morale. The 20th century also introduced Canada into the world of wines and we can now say that the 21st century will see Canadian wine blossom and be celebrated. And when I say celebrated, it is time to turn words into action.
Last year, I ended my remarks with an idea I had been considering. The Governor General's Awards celebrate literature, the performing arts, media arts, architecture and other endeavours that are vital to the cultural fabric of our country.
I believed that an award for the culinary arts that also celebrates our wine could easily take its place beside these other awards and that the idea merited some thought.
Participating in Cuvée 2006 sparked my enthusiasm for the idea, and I knew I had to keep my promise. However, I still had to talk to my wife, the Governor General, because in my excitement, I had acted alone without knowing what her reaction would be. My honour was at stake, and if she did not agree, the woman I love would be the one who paid the price. I just happened to have a few good bottles of Ontario wine and they surely strengthened my powers of conviction: my wife was very enthusiastic about the idea of a Governor General's award for the culinary arts, and all our collaborators agreed.
I was thus able to save my honour and we immediately began working on the idea, meeting people in every province during our visits to come up with an outline of these awards, which would of course also focus on wine.
Over the past year, we have become convinced that it is vital that culinary arts receive national recognition.
We have also drawn up a framework and found possible partners. The design and feasibility stages are over, and they allowed us to define the main purpose of these awards: to celebrate, honour and promote.
The awards will also bring each component of the culinary industry out of isolation and help develop a more holistic approach to the various sectors of the culinary arts. These awards will not be a competition between chefs or wineries; these types of contests already exist and are quite successful without our input, so we do not need to replicate them.
We are now entering phase two: making it happen. And we are still very open to discussion and consultation. Some of the people working on this project are here with me and they are ready to meet with people who want more information or have any suggestions. We appreciate your input.
If all goes well, we may be ready to give out the first culinary arts awards next year, thus proving that Canada can have a love affair with food and drink and that the poets were not mistaken in singing the praises of good food and wine. They represent our gift for happiness and joyful living: in short, what is best about culture and humankind, andI hopea Canadian virtue.
