Tag Archives: Canadian

10 Favourite Quotes of Sir John A. Macdonald

Here are 10 of By George’s favourite quotes of Sir John A. Macdonald, Canada’s first Prime Minister and a Father of Confederation.

  • Politics is a game requiring great coolness and an utter abnegation of prejudice and personal feeling.
  • There were, unfortunately, no great principles on which parties were divided – politics became a mere struggle for office.
  • Anybody may support me when I am right. What I want is someone that will support me when I am wrong.
  • There may be obstructions, local differences may intervene, but it matters not — the wheel is now revolving, and we are only the fly on the wheel, we cannot delay it. The union of the colonies of British America under one sovereign is a fixed fact.
  • I don’t care for office for the sake of money, but for the sake of power, and for the sake of carrying out my own views of what is best for the country.
  • When fortune empties her chamber pot on your head, smile and say, ‘We are going to have a summer shower.’
  • If you would know the depth of meanness of human nature, you have got to be a Prime Minister running a general election.
  •  [Macdonald was well known for his wit and also for his love of drink. He is known to have been drunk for many of his debates in Parliament. Here is a story from an election debate in which Macdonald was so drunk he began vomiting while on stage. His opponent quickly pointed this out.]  The opposing candidate said: “Is this the man you want running your country? A drunk!” Collecting himself, Macdonald replied “I get sick … not because of drink [but because] I am forced to listen to the ranting of my honourable opponent.”
  • My sins of omission and commission I do not deny; but I trust that it may be said of me in the ultimate issue, ‘Much is forgiven because he loved much,’ for I have loved my country with a passionate love.
  • If I had influence over the minds of the people of Canada, any power over their intellect, I would leave them this legacy: ‘Whatever you do, adhere to the Union. We are a great country, and shall become one of the greatest in the universe if we preserve it; we shall sink into insignificance and adversity if we suffer it to be broken.’

(Photo Credit:  National Archive)

Chris George provides reliable PR & GR counsel and effective advocacy. Need a go-to writer and experienced communicator? Call 613-983-0801 @ CG&A COMMUNICATIONS.

Question: Was Pierre Trudeau a disaster?

A few years ago, an Ottawa public policy think tank – The Macdonald-Laurier Institute hosted a lively debate on the resolution: Pierre Trudeau was Canada’s most disastrous Prime Minister. The Institute brought David Frum to speak to the affirmative and Lawrence Martin to speak against the resolution. Decades after his departure from Parliament Hill, the question of Pierre Trudeau’s impact on our country still is a topic of heated discussion. Here are abbreviated highlights from the opening statements of both arguments regarding P.E.T.’s record in office.

David Frum: Yes, Trudeau was a disaster.

  • It has taken nearly 30 years to recover after Pierre Trudeau nearly bankrupted and split up the country.  Three subsequent important prime ministers — Brian Mulroney, Jean Chrétien  and Stephen Harper — invested their energies cleaning up the wreckage left by  Pierre Trudeau.
  • Between 1969 and 1979 — through two majority governments and one  minority — Trudeau tripled federal spending. In 1981-’82, Canada plunged into recession, the worst since the Second World  War. Trudeau’s already big deficits exploded to a point that Canada’s lenders  worried about default. Pierre Trudeau was a spending fool.
  • He believed in a state-led economy, and  the longer he lasted in office, the more statist he became. The Foreign  Investment Review Agency was succeeded by Petro-Canada. Petro-Canada was  succeeded by wage and price controls. Wage and price controls were succeeded by  the single worst economic decision of Canada’s 20th century: the National Energy  Program.
  • To win the 1980 referendum, Trudeau promised Quebec constitutional changes to  satisfy Quebec nationalism. Instead, he delivered a package of constitutional  changes that tilted in exactly the opposite direction. The government of Quebec  refused to ratify the new constitutional arrangement, opening a renewed  opportunity to separatists and bequeathing a nightmare political problem to  Trudeau’s successors.

Lawrence Martin: No, Trudeau was not a disaster.

  • Pierre Trudeau is beloved because he liberated Canada from old men, old thinking, narrow  traditions and colonial caution. To understand Trudeau’s impact we need first recall the type of Canadian  leaders who came before him. All these [past] leaders thought along conventional lines. Then came this phenom  with a roman cut, sandals and an air of Jesus Christ. Pierre Trudeau combined  intellectual electricity, star-power charisma, and a contrarian’s independent  mind.
  • Think of the ways in which he [transformed Canada], the ways in he became the country’s  liberator. With his repatriation of the Constitution, Trudeau liberated us at  long last from Great Britain. With his Charter of Rights and Freedoms, he  liberated us from the authority of the state. With his bilingualism and  multicultural polices, he liberated us from unilingual, unicultural trappings;  from anti-pluralist prejudice that had rarely seen a woman in top governing  posts, that saw no Jews in the cabinet or on the Supreme Court.
  • With ice in his veins Trudeau liberated us from the blackmail of FLQ  terrorism. With the same he took down the threat posed by René Lévesque in the  1980 referendum. With his never-back-down resilience, he provided a sense of  freedom from American encroachment, this at a time when the giant next door was  mired in war, racism, Watergate and economic nationalism.
  • Standards of living grew appreciably in the  Trudeau years, far more so than in the three decades following when they have  flatlined. Under Trudeau, the percentage of Canadians living in poverty dropped  from 23 per cent in 1968 to 13 per cent in 1984. Repeat, from 23 per cent to 13  per cent.

To read the full arguments, for and against, visit the Macdonald-Laurier Institute’s website, where they have reprinted the Ottawa Citizen columns containing David Frum’s and Lawrence Martin’s opening statements. Click here.

Chris George is an Ottawa-based government affairs advisor and wordsmith, president of CG&A COMMUNICATIONS. Contact: ChrisG.George@gmail.com

 

 

Interesting Facts about Canada’s and US’s Leaders

So, did you know that in the US, if the president and vice president both resign or die, the Speaker of the House becomes the president? It’s always good to know who will take over. For instance, there was someone in the wings when Jimmy Carter was “attacked” by a large swamp rabbit or when George W. Bush famously choked on a pretzel while watching a football game.

In Canada, there is no official line of succession if something were to happen to the prime minister. Who would have stepped in if Jean Chretien didn’t successful defend himself with a Inuit soapstone from the intruder at 24 Sussex Drive? Who today would step in for Justin Trudeau? Perhaps Chrystia Freeland and Catherine McKenna would have had to compete in an arm wrestling tournament?

Here are ten more interesting facts about U.S. Presidents that might surprise you.  

·         Ronald Reagan was the oldest president inaugurated (69 years old) and Theodore Roosevelt was the youngest president inaugurated (42 years old).

·         Jimmy Carter is the first U.S. President to have been born in a hospital.  No president of the United States was an only child for his parents. 

·         Eight presidents have died in office. (Taylor, Lincoln, Garfield, McKinley, Harding, F. Roosevelt, and Kennedy)

·         John F. Kennedy was buried without his brain after it was lost during the autopsy.

·         Ulysses S. Grant was once arrested for speeding in a horse and buggy and President Franklin Pierce was arrested during his term for running over an old lady with his horse (but the charges were dropped).

·         Gerald Ford remains the only unelected vice president and president and Richard Nixon is the only U.S. president ever to resign.

·         Theodore Roosevelt was the first to ride in a car, while Franklin Roosevelt was the first to ride in a plane.

·         All of the people in Lyndon Johnson’s family had the initials LBJ, including his dogs – and did you know that the S. in Harry S. Truman’s name does not stand for anything?

·         The White House officially got its name in 1901 and prior to that it had been called the President’s Palace, President’s House, and the Executive Mansion (BTW – John Adams was the first to live in the White House).

·         Then there are the traditions surrounding the Office: George Washington preferred the less formal address of “Mr. President”, which is still used today. Sarah Polk, wife of James Polk, selected “Hail to the Chief” to be played whenever a president enters a room. Every president has recited the same words when taking the Oath of Office.

Here are 10 interesting facts about our Canadian Prime Ministers.

·         Charles Tupper was the oldest prime minister (74 years old) and Joe Clark was the youngest prime minister (39 years old).

·         William Lyon Mackenzie King is the longest serving prime minister in Canadian history and in the history of the Commonwealth.

·         Most of Canada’s prime ministers have been lawyers, Justin Trudeau and Stephen Harper being the most recent exceptions.

·         Quebec is the province where the largest number of Canada’s prime ministers have come from (8 of 23). Yet, only nine prime ministers have been bilingual (If you are counting, you should know that Diefenbaker is not counted as being bilingual).

·         Louis St. Laurent was the first prime minister to be heavily covered on television.

·         Brian Mulroney won the largest electoral majority of any Canadian prime minister in the landslide of 1984.

·         Sir John Abbott was the first Canadian-born prime minister.

·         R.B Bennett is the only prime minister not to be buried in Canada.

·         The mansion at 24 Sussex Drive in Ottawa would stand for 80 years before becoming the official residence of the Prime Minister (yet, when it was built in 1868, one of its first visitors was Sir John A. Macdonald). Louis St. Laurent became the first PM to occupy the house, in 1951. Since then, every PM, except Kim Campbell, has lived in the house (Campbell lived at Harrington Lake for the summer of 1993 while the Mulroney packed – and by the time the keys were ready to be handed over, PM Campbell had lost her job).

·         Lester B Pearson gave Canada its maple leaf flag (in time for the Country’s Centennial) and Pierre Trudeau gave the country its national anthem.

 

Chris George is an Ottawa-based government affairs advisor and wordsmith, president of CG&A COMMUNICATIONS. Contact: ChrisG.George@gmail.com

In defence of Sir John A. Macdonald and his legacy

Reposting…. The Macdonald-Laurier Institute issued an important statement this day. Here is the media release and links to the pertinent articles. 

OTTAWA, ON (January 12, 2021): Those who see Canada’s history as little more than a shameful series of mistakes and failures have grown increasingly vocal in calling for the shunning of figures like our first Prime Minister, Sir John A. Macdonald. Macdonald, however, is owed not our contempt and derision, but our thoughtful measured thanks.

This is the message of more than 150 historians, policy experts, educators, business leaders, public figures, and thought leaders who have signed a joint statement in defence of Macdonald. This statement, a joint project of the Friends of Sir John A. Macdonald and the Macdonald-Laurier Institute, ran today in the National Post as a full-page advertisement to coincide with Macdonald’s birthday. The statement can be read in full here.

Macdonald’s legacy is one of remarkable accomplishments. He, alongside his contemporaries like George-Étienne Cartier, set themselves the task of creating Canada, overcoming sectarian and linguistic strife and years of mistrust and political deadlock. He led the original Confederation effort, persuaded three other provinces to join, hugely expanded Canada’s territory, dissuaded American expansionism, brought economic stability, promoted unity between Canada’s language and religions factions, and much more.

The statement’s signatories also note that Macdonald, like all national leaders, had significant failures. These include his policy establishing the residential school system – a decision with a dark legacy that hangs over the country to this day.

Macdonald’s undoubted errors must be weighed, however, against “an impressive record of constitution and nation building, his reconciliation of contending cultures, languages and religions, his progressivism and his documented concern for and friendship with the Indigenous peoples of Canada,” suggest the authors.

According to Professor Patrice Dutil, one of the organizers of this initiative, “the sustained attacks on monuments to Sir John A. Macdonald and the attacks on his good name in schools and at Queen’s University in 2020 prompted many of us to simply say: Enough!” Professor Dutil goes on to note that while Macdonald’s record is hardly without blemish, “his policy failures must be weighed against his phenomenal policy successes. This effort, I hope, will become a turning point in how Canadian society examines Macdonald, and its past generally.”

As MLI Managing Director Brian Lee Crowley puts it:

“It is easy to criticize the past and the decisions made there. But it is a conceit of each and every generation that it alone is free from poor judgments, intellectual shortcomings and historical myopia.”

“Macdonald was neither angel nor devil, but a fallible human being who accomplished great things. Looking solely at our past errors is not the right standard by which to measure Canada or Sir John A. and their great achievements,” argues Crowley, who was one of the signatories of today’s statement.

The signatories urge governments, historians, teachers, media and other engaged Canadians to ensure everyone has access to a balanced view of our common past and the people who made us.

“Looking at our history with a dispassionate eye will give us a much clearer vision of the future,” they write. “Let’s start with Sir John A. Macdonald.”

IN DEFENCE OF SIR JOHN A. MACDONALD’S LEGACY:

Born on January 11th, 1815, he came here from his native Scotland in 1820. When he died 71 years later, Macdonald had become one of our greatest immigrant success stories, and the most respected and honoured Canadian of his era, having been Prime Minister for 19 of our first 24 years.

Sir John:

  • Re-imagined British North America as Canada and did so with courage, wisdom and integrity.
  • Dissuaded aggressive American expansionism. Macdonald, with Cartier, stared down opponents of Confederation in Quebec and Nova Scotia.
  • Acquired territory that made Canada the second largest country in the world.
  • Persuaded Manitobans, British Columbians and Prince Edward Islanders to join Confederation. Brought economic stability, with a farsighted Bank Act and an economic National Policy.
  • Spearheaded the building of a railway to the Pacific.
  • Championed unity between English and French, Protestant and Catholic.
  • Promoted freedom of expression and the press.
  • Launched policies that failed, as happens to all national leaders. This is certainly the case with the establishment of a national policy on Indian Residential Schools. Even though widely supported at the time, the schools had a dark legacy that hangs over the country to this day.
  • Made many other mistakes respecting Indigenous peoples and policies Canadians today strongly disapprove; we understand the frustrations of the descendants of those affected by these mistakes. Macdonald’s failures must, however, be weighed against an impressive record of constitution and nation building, his reconciliation of contending cultures, languages and religions, his progressivism and his documented concern for and friendship with the Indigenous peoples of Canada.

All Canadians deserve to hear the full story about Macdonald, the founding of Canada and Canadian history generally. Only then can we form reasoned views about that historical record.

We urge governments, historians, teachers, media and other engaged Canadians to ensure everyone has access to a balanced view of our common past and the people who made us. Looking at our history with a dispassionate eye will give us a much clearer vision of the future. Let’s start with Sir John A. Macdonald.

View all signatories here.

Chris George is an Ottawa-based government affairs advisor and wordsmith, president of CG&A COMMUNICATIONS. Contact: ChrisG.George@gmail.com

Canada’s “Greatest Love Song”

It may catch many by surprise, but the distinction of being the By George Journal’s pick as our country’s greatest love song must go to the legendary, singer-songwriter, musician, poet and novelist Leonard Cohen for his hauntingly romantic “Dance Me to the End of Love.”

Most Canadians know of the iconic poet’s verse – but few have had the chance to appreciate Leonard Cohen’s endearing musical talents.

Below, we’ve provided the lyrics to our pick for the most amourous, the greatest love song any Canadian has ever written.  Here is a link to the ageless Canuck crooner performing his  “Dance Me to the End of Love.”  (You may prefer the song’s music video.)

Dance me to your beauty with a burning violin
Dance me through the panic ’til I’m gathered safely in
Lift me like an olive branch and be my homeward dove
Dance me to the end of love
Dance me to the end of love
Oh let me see your beauty when the witnesses are gone
Let me feel you moving like they do in Babylon
Show me slowly what I only know the limits of
Dance me to the end of love
Dance me to the end of love
Dance me to the wedding now, dance me on and on
Dance me very tenderly and dance me very long
We’re both of us beneath our love, we’re both of us above
Dance me to the end of love
Dance me to the end of love
Dance me to the children who are asking to be born
Dance me through the curtains that our kisses have outworn
Raise a tent of shelter now, though every thread is torn
Dance me to the end of love
Dance me to your beauty with a burning violin
Dance me through the panic till I’m gathered safely in
Touch me with your naked hand or touch me with your glove
Dance me to the end of love
Dance me to the end of love
Dance me to the end of love

.

ENDNOTE (Feb 2016):  Leonard Cohen is 81 and remarkably, just 4 years ago he released an album which was critically acclaimed the world over. Check here for the reviews of “Old Ideas.”

Chris George provides reliable PR & GR counsel and effective advocacy. Need a go-to writer and experienced communicator? Call 613-983-0801 @ CG&A COMMUNICATIONS. Contact: ChrisG.George@gmail.com

Return to the menu for the By George St Valentine’s Wish

Happy Birthday Sir John A.!

Happy birthday to one of Canada’s fathers of Confederation, our country’s first Prime Minister, Sir John A. Macdonald.

Take a look at the By George Journal archive of posts on this storied man.

Chris George provides reliable PR & GR counsel and effective advocacy. Need a go-to writer and experienced communicator? Call 613-983-0801 @ CG&A COMMUNICATIONS.

3 favourite photos of Sir John A.

Canadians celebrate Sir John A. Macdonald’s birthday this weekend. In advance of this special day, By George is posting three of our favourite photos of Canada’s first Prime Minister.

Arms crossed – confident

A visionary

With walking stick & fur lined coat 

 

(Photo credits: National Archives)

Chris George is an Ottawa-based government affairs advisor and wordsmith, president of CG&A COMMUNICATIONS. Contact: ChrisG.George@gmail.com

A favourite Sir John A. cartoon

Sir John A. Macdonald is seen in this 1873 caricature
as the heroic orator and leader Ulysses.
With his remarkable face and colourful habits,
our first Prime Minister was the favourite
subject for many cartoonists of the day –
all who held an admiration for the man.

(Photo credit: National Archives)

Chris George is an Ottawa-based government affairs advisor and wordsmith, president of CG&A COMMUNICATIONS. Contact: ChrisG.George@gmail.com

The answer to the all-important butter tart question is…

To conclude the By George celebration of “Butter Tart Month” let us share with you the results of our survey and that all-important question for all butter tart lovers:

“Does the ultimate butter tart contain raisins – or no raisins?”

Given the responses this month from our By George tart lovers, it appears the answer to this controversial question is…. raisins! 

Raisin 56 %

No-Raisins 33%

Other 11%

(“Other” responses include “both” or “neither,” and some answered with other ingredients like pecans or currants.)

RAISINS IT IS. Although, with one-in-three tart lovers not wanting those plump pieces of goodness in their fillings, we’re sure this debate will continue.  

By George has declared July as “Butter Tart Month.” Here is a menu of our delectable articles on Canada’s iconic dessert.

Chris George, providing reliable PR counsel and effective advocacy. Need a go-to writer or experienced communicator? 613-983-0801 @ CG&A COMMUNICATIONS.

By George’s “Best Butter Tarts – Ever”

At the By George Journal, we know the “best butter tarts – ever.”

First, we must distinguish between commercially- and home-made tarts (nothing will ever be quite like a home-made tart coming out of the oven). By George recognizes best butter tarts in each of these categories.

To find “the best” commercially-made butter tarts, one needs to travel the back way into Cambridge, on regional road 97, to make a stop at Dee’s General Store.  This landmark bakery opened in 1996 in Dee’s General Store, which opened its doors a decade earlier. Dee’s famous Butter Tarts (to Die For) are award winners! When The Kitchener-Waterloo Record held a “best bought butter tart contest”,  Dee’s tarts came out on top, winning over tried and true tart makers.

Aside from the General Store, Dee today has a bakery in Cambridge (downtown Galt) and her famous butter tarts can be ordered and shipped to your door. More about Dee’s butter tarts on the General Store website.

Dee’s motto: “Never Underestimate the Joy of a Homemade Butter Tart.”

And then there’s Dot’s Gooey Butter Tarts.

By George recognizes a lady in the northeastern Ontario town of Englehart as having made the “best butter tarts – ever.” Dot’s Gooey Butter Tarts are truly second to none. Though Dot may have taken the precise secrets of her perfect fillings to her grave, she did leave this recipe as a guide.

Ingredients

Pastry  

  • 1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
  • 1/4 tsp salt
  • 1/4 cup cold butter
  • 1/4 cup shortening
  • 1 egg yolk
  • 1 tsp vinegar
  • ice water

Filling  

  • 1/2 cup packed brown sugar
  • 1/2 cup corn syrup
  • 1 egg
  • 2 tbsp softened butter
  • 1 tsp vinegar
  • 1 tsp vanilla
  • salt to taste
  • 1/4 cup raisins (or currants)

Instructions 

  • Pastry: Combine flour and salt, cut in butter and shortening. In cup, whisk egg yolk with vinegar and add water. Sprinkle liquid into flour stirring briskly. Gather dough and press together into disc. Wrap in plastic and refrigerate for one hour.
  • Filling: Whisk brown sugar, corn syrup, egg, butter, vanilla, vinegar and salt. Set aside.  (You can adjust the filling ingredients depending on your preference of runny vs sticky tarts. For runnier tarts put more corn syrup in; for stickier tarts put more brown sugar.)
  • On lightly floured surface, roll out pastry to 1/8 inch thickness. Use 100 cm round cookie cutter and fit into 2 3/4 x 1 1/4 inch muffin tray.
  • Divide raisins into tart shells. Spoon in filling (do not over-fill).
  • Bake at 450 F on bottom rack for 12 minutes – or until filling is bubbling and golden. Let stand for 1 minute and remove tarts to cooling racks.

Thank you Dot! 

By George has declared July as “Butter Tart Month.” Here is a menu of our delectable articles on Canada’s iconic dessert.

Chris George, providing reliable PR counsel and effective advocacy. Need a go-to writer or experienced communicator? 613-983-0801 @ CG&A COMMUNICATIONS.

A Definitive List of Ontario’s Best Butter Tarts

Ontario Tourism has compiled a comprehensive list of butter tart bakeries and stores across the Province – and it is much more thorough than the short list Canadian Living magazine published in 2014.  This is a definitive list that tourists can plan their travels around!

CLIP AND SAVE THIS DEFINITIVE LIST OF THE BEST BUTTER TARTS IN ONTARIO 

Here are seven spots that stood out with multiple rave reviews.

Butter Tarts ‘n More – Little Britain

Betty’s Pies and Tarts – Port Hope

Dee’s General Store – Valens

DooDoo’s Bakery – Bailieboro

The Little Tub Bakery –Tobermory

Don’s Bakery – Bala (photo below) 

Harbord Bakery & Dark Horse Espresso Bar – Toronto

And here is the full list!

  • Marty’s World Famous Cafe – Bracebridge
  • Wolfe Island Bakery – Kingston
  • The Farmer’s Daughter – Huntsville
  • Trudy’s – Bancroft
  • Kawartha Dairy – Bancroft
  • Nancy’s Bakery – Sauble Beach
  • The Little Tart – Haliburton
  • West Guilford General Store – Haliburton County
  • Grandma’s Beach Treats – Wasaga Beach
  • The Buttertart Factory – Campbellford
  • Doohers Bakery – Campbellford
  • The Bear’s Den – Deep River
  • Cox’s – Quetico North
  • Elliot’s Bakery, Garden & Greenhouse – Wiarton
  • Fulton’s Pancake House – Pakenham
  • A Little Taste of Paradise – Sterling
  • Tazzi’s Cafe – Sault Ste. Marie
  • Andrew’s Scenic Acres – Milton
  • Country Mart – Buckhorn
  • Black Honey – Peterborough
  • The Bakery – Flesherton

The source article can be found here: Ontario’s Best Butter Tarts – as chosen by you!

AND I would like to add two more…. Baker Bob’s in Almonte and The Pakenham General Store. See the review on these bakeries here.

By George has declared July as “Butter Tart Month.” Here is a menu of our delectable articles on Canada’s iconic dessert.

Chris George, providing reliable PR counsel and effective advocacy. Need a go-to writer or experienced communicator? 613-983-0801 @ CG&A COMMUNICATIONS.

Torontonians’ Top 10 List of Best Butter Tarts

Here are the top 10 butter tarts in Ontario, according to two Torontonians who were on a self-appointed mission to test every one through the Province.

Michael Deforge and Jullian Tamaki, both Toronto-based artists, documented all the butter tarts they were eating over a period of a few years. The duo’s list of “best tarts” is Toronto-centric (it is uncertain whether they ventured to southwestern or eastern Ontario?).  A total of 6 of 10 places named in their list are in the City. Only two tart spots are outside of the GTA.

So, take it for what it is, here is the Torontonians’ list of “the top 10 butter tarts” – counted down in reverse order to allow your mouth to water in the revelation of the number one pick.

10 – Sweet Bliss, Toronto @ 1304 Queen St. E.

9 – Doo Doo’s, Bailieboro

8 – Karelia Kitchen, Toronto @ 1194 Bloor St. W.

7 – Harbord Street Bakery, Toronto @ 115 Harbord St.

6 – Maid’s Cottage, Newmarket

5 – Andrea’s Gerrard Street Bakery, Toronto @ 635 Gerrard St. E.

(photo credit – TO Blog) 

4 – Bakerberry’s, Toronto chain

3 – Hansen’s Danish Bakery Shop, Toronto @ 1017 Pape Ave.

2 – Grandma’s Beach Treats, Wasaga Beach

1 – Betty’s, Cobourg

(photo credit – Northumberland News)

Read the original Toronto Life magazine piece – which includes photos and great annotated notes for each selection. Go here: The top 10 butter tarts in Ontario

By George has declared July as “Butter Tart Month.” Here is a menu of our delectable articles on Canada’s iconic dessert.

Chris George, providing reliable PR counsel and effective advocacy. Need a go-to writer or experienced communicator? 613-983-0801 @ CG&A COMMUNICATIONS.

7 “Of Ontario’s Best” Butter Tarts

A few years back Canadian Living magazine had the nerve to select the 7 Best Butter Tarts in Ontario. Surprisingly, there were a total of three locations in Mount Forest that served up “the best.”  The Spot Restaurant. Munro’s on Main. Misty Meadows Country Market.

There was Cara Mia Bakery of Warkworth and St. Anne’s Spa. There was also Doo Doo’s, which apparently has the “X-rated” tart line (see photo below).

And also there is a friendly cafe in Peterborough – the Cravings Bakery and Market.  Here pastry chef Heather Dickie who is following a recipe that has been passed down through the family. The filling secret originated with Heather’s great-grandmother Ann.

Go here to read the original 2014 article: 7 Best Butter Tarts in Ontario

By George has declared July as “Butter Tart Month.” Here is a menu of our delectable articles on Canada’s iconic dessert.

Chris George, providing reliable PR counsel and effective advocacy. Need a go-to writer or experienced communicator? 613-983-0801 @ CG&A COMMUNICATIONS.

Butter Tarts – Plus

Take the classic butter tart recipe and give it a twist. This is precisely what pastry chefs did with this collection of mouth watering desserts. (Brace yourself for what you are about to see.) 

Butter Tart Cheesecakes 

S’more Tarts 

Brown Butter Tarts with Blackberries 

Butter Tart Muffins 

Butter Tart Cupcakes 

View more ideas and get all the sweet recipes from this Cottage Life article:

15 ways to reinvent the butter tart 

By George has declared July as “Butter Tart Month.” Here is a menu of our delectable articles on Canada’s iconic dessert.

Chris George, providing reliable PR counsel and effective advocacy. Need a go-to writer or experienced communicator? 613-983-0801 @ CG&A COMMUNICATIONS.

 

Maple Butter Tart Pie Recipe

Take an iconic Canadian favourite treat like a butter tart, add in more Canadian maple flavour & make it as a full sized pie!  – from Rock Recipes 
Ingredients
For the Pastry 
  • 1 cup very cold butter cut into small cubes
  • 2 ½ cups flour
  • ½ tsp salt
  • 1/4 – 1/3 cup ice water Only enough to make a dough form.
For the Filling
  • 4 eggs
  • 3/4 cup brown sugar
  • 2 tsp vanilla extract
  • 1/2 cup melted butter not margarine
  • 3/4 cup maple syrup
  • 1/2 cup dark corn syrup
  • 3/4 cup raisins
Instructions
For the Pastry
  1. Sufficient for two 10 inch pie shells. (freeze the second one for later)
  2. Using a food processor or a pastry blender cut cold butter into flour and salt until mixture resembles a coarse meal. Small pieces of butter should still be visible.
  3. Pour cold water over the mixture and work in by tossing with a fork until dough begins to form. Use your hands as little as possible and work the dough as little as possible.
  4. Divide dough into 2 balls, flatten into 2 rounds, wrap in plastic wrap and place in the refrigerator to rest for a minimum of 20 minutes. You can freeze the second round for another time.
  5. You can make your dough the previous day but make sure you take it out of the fridge for 10 minutes to warm slightly before rolling out.
  6. Roll the dough into a 12 – 14 inch round and place in the bottom of a 10 inch pie plate. Trim and flute the edges as desired.
For the Filling
  1. Whisk together the eggs, brown sugar, vanilla, butter, maple syrup and corn syrup until the brown sugar is dissolved.
  2. Stir in the raisins.
  3. Pour into the prepared pastry crust and bake at 350 degrees for about 50-60 minutes or until the middle is set but can still wobble bit.
  4. Cool completely before serving.

By George has declared July as “Butter Tart Month.” Here is a menu of our delectable articles on Canada’s iconic dessert.

Chris George, providing reliable PR counsel and effective advocacy. Need a go-to writer or experienced communicator? 613-983-0801 @ CG&A COMMUNICATIONS.

Almonte and Pakenham Bakeries are “Must-Stops”

A mere 45 minutes from Parliament Hill, there two bakeries that are “must-stops” for the butter tart aficionado.

On the main street of Almonte, Baker Bob’s is a traditional bakery; when you walk through the door it is like stepping back in time. The wooden floor, the smells, the baker’s smile… AND THE BUTTER TARTS. (There is nothing quite like Bob’s tarts. Their insides are painfully sweet and verrrry running. It’s kinda like biting into sugary molten lava.)

The second bakery in Mississippi Mills is found on the main street of Pakenham. The Pakenham General Store has a wonderful air about it. The establishment is the oldest “continuously operating” general store in Canada.

It’s claim to fame is its sticky buns and its tarts. The ladies at the store bake everything fresh and produce a variety of tarts, including no-raisin, raisin, pecan — and maple tarts. These butter tarts have a more-solid inside so when you bite into one you are not licking the syrup off your chin.

(So, now you have two destinations for a wonderful countryside ride from the bustle of Ottawa.) 

By George has declared July as “Butter Tart Month.” Here is a menu of our delectable articles on Canada’s iconic dessert.

Chris George, providing reliable PR counsel and effective advocacy. Need a go-to writer or experienced communicator? 613-983-0801 @ CG&A COMMUNICATIONS.

Wellington County Butter Tarts

Wellington County proclaims it is home to a provincially recognized Butter Tart Champion (?!). The County has excellent bakeries, farm markets and restaurants and it is actively promoting a ramble through the countryside to discover a “favourite butter tart.”

In Wellington County there are 13 stops that feature butter tarts. From Belwood Country Market to Strom’s Farm south of Guelph, there is a great map and wonderful write ups of the bakeries: Wellington County Butter Tarts.

Make a stop into Misty Meadows Market in Conn

Here is must-stop: Thatcher Farms Butcher Shop, Makery and Farm Market outside of Guelph

In previous years, Wellington County also has hosted an annual Butter Tarts and Buggies Tour. Check out this event – and let’s hope in the future it will resume.

And about the County’s claim of having the champion butter tart baker….

   “Helen Moffat has been entering (and winning) the butter tart competition at the Drayton Fair for 48 years. But this past fall, she decided to submit her prize-winning tarts to a new competition, which would make her eligible for the second annual provincial butter tart competition hosted by the OAAS (Ontario Association of Agricultural Societies). Moffat swept the competition at Drayton and then moved on to districts (there are 15 OAAS districts in Ontario) to face off against other local winners.’ In February 2019 she was crowned the grand champion of the OAAS for her butter tart recipe.”

   ‘She’s not revealing the secret to her prize-winning ways any time soon. Much to her family’s chagrin, she doesn’t have a recipe to pass down. “I eyeball it, I never measure anything. That’s just the way I’ve done it for years,” she says.’

By George has declared July as “Butter Tart Month.” Here is a menu of our delectable articles on Canada’s iconic dessert.

Chris George, providing reliable PR counsel and effective advocacy. Need a go-to writer or experienced communicator? 613-983-0801 @ CG&A COMMUNICATIONS.

The (Infamous) Butter Tart Tour

Yes, you can find everything sweet and delicious on Ontario’s infamous Butter Tart Tour. For example, go ahead and order a decadent slice of butter tart pie from The Spot in Mount Forest.

Spread across the Kawartha Lakes — a scenic region of forests, hills and shining waterways about two hours northeast of Toronto — this tour spans the heart of the province’s cottage country. The Butter Tart Tour has grown to over 50 locations across Northumberland County, Peterborough County, the City of Peterborough, and Kawartha Lakes.

You can walk, bike and drive along four suggested routes — and you can even boat to 19 spots located along the Trent-Severn Waterway!

There is a resourceful website for your family and friends to plan your tour(s): Butter Tart Tour. You can find this tour on social media, including a Facebook Page: Kawarthas Butter Tart Tour.

The most recent 1st place winner of the tour’s annual taste off is The Pastry Peddler in Millbrook. Learn more about this delectable spot here: The Pastry Peddler

Also, if you are planning to head out on a trek along one of the routes, you will be interested to read an entertaining article written for the WestJet tourism magazine. Check out the photos in this piece: Kawarthas Northumberland Butter Tart Tour

By George has declared July as “Butter Tart Month.” Here is a menu of our delectable articles on Canada’s iconic dessert.

Chris George, providing reliable PR counsel and effective advocacy. Need a go-to writer or experienced communicator? 613-983-0801 @ CG&A COMMUNICATIONS.

 

The Best Butter Tart Festival

The Best Butter Tart Festival is Canada’s original and largest butter tart festival. It is an annual event in Ontario’s butter tart heartland of Midland. Because of the coronavirus pandemic, the 2020 festival was cancelled, however the date for next year’s fun is June 12, 2021.

At the inaugural festival in June 2013, the bakers sold out of the 10,000 butter tarts available for sale by 11 a.m.  The number of butter tarts available for sale is increasing each year. In the last few years there has been between 150,000 to 200,000 butter tarts available! In 2019, the festival had a record 65,000 butter tart lovers in attendance. Find out more information here: Best Butter Tart Festival

The reigning champion of the festival contest is from Alliston. The Carriage House Bakery was recognized as the “Best In Show” and the bakery won in the category “Traditional: Professional Bakers.” Read more on this victory: Alliston bakery wins best butter tart, business has never been sweeter

BTW – you can find recent news, photos and comments on the festival on the I Love Butter Tarts Facebook Page.

 

By George has declared July as “Butter Tart Month.” Here is a menu of our delectable articles on Canada’s iconic dessert.

Chris George, providing reliable PR counsel and effective advocacy. Need a go-to writer or experienced communicator? 613-983-0801 @ CG&A COMMUNICATIONS.

Butter Tart Daydreams II

This is another By George original digital art piece of our favourite  daydreams…

(Seriously, doesn’t looking at this make your mouth water and your teeth ache?)   

By George has declared July as “Butter Tart Month.” Here is a menu of our delectable articles on Canada’s iconic dessert.

Chris George, providing reliable PR counsel and effective advocacy. Need a go-to writer or experienced communicator? 613-983-0801 @ CG&A COMMUNICATIONS.