{"id":21728,"date":"2018-12-31T06:49:24","date_gmt":"2018-12-31T11:49:24","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.northcountrypublicradio.org\/allin\/?p=21728"},"modified":"2020-03-26T03:10:57","modified_gmt":"2020-03-26T07:10:57","slug":"elections-levees-and-moose-milk-new-years-day-traditions-in-canada","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.northcountrypublicradio.org\/allin\/2018\/12\/31\/elections-levees-and-moose-milk-new-years-day-traditions-in-canada\/","title":{"rendered":"Elections, levees, and moose milk: New Year’s Day traditions in Canada"},"content":{"rendered":"
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A New Year’s Eve party, somewhere in Canada in the 1930s. Who could continue celebrating on New Year’s Day after a wild night like this? Photo: Charles Comfort\/Library and Archives Canada, 1995-019 DAP. Copyright expired.<\/p><\/div>\n

To many, New Year\u2019s Eve and New Year\u2019s Day are a big deal with parties containing abundant amounts of food and drink. To some of us, our observance of the roll-over of numbers on the world\u2019s odometer is more benign. We may have a slightly more interesting dinner than usual for a Monday night or a drink of something otherwise reserved for special occasions. Other than that, our New Year\u2019s exercise involves putting up the new calendars, usually obtained for free from a local business\u2014or in exchange for a donation to our favorite public radio station.<\/p>\n

Canadian New Year\u2019s Eve and day observances vary, much like they do among people and communities in the United States.<\/p>\n

Decades ago in Ontario, New Year\u2019s Day was municipal election day. Voters, who were probably tired or feeling ill from late-night celebrating, would go to the polls and choose new town or city councils, school board trustees, and utility commissioners. In\u00a0<\/span>The People\u2019s Power<\/em>, the history of Ontario Hydro by Merrill Denison, it is explained how voters in many towns and cities marked ballots on New Year\u2019s Day during the first half of the 20th<\/sup>Century to authorize local governments to create municipal power utilities and connect with the provincial transmission system as a source of electricity.<\/a><\/a><\/p>\n

Another political tradition, that is still very much alive, especially in English-speaking communities is the annual New Year\u2019s Levee. They are receptions held by mayors, legislators, military officers, religious leaders, provincial lieutenants-governor, and the Governor-General of Canada on or close to New Year\u2019s Day.<\/p>\n

The levees go back to the French and British colonial times. The word levee is taken from the French verb lever, \u201cto rise.\u201d Louis XIV of France (the \u201csun king\u201d) would begin each day with the\u00a0<\/span>lev\u00e9e du soleil<\/em>\u00a0<\/i><\/span>(rising of the sun). He would receive his male subjects in his bedroom before getting out of bed in the morning.<\/p>\n

In Great Britain, Ireland, and in the new world leaders preferred not to meet their constituents in bed.<\/p>\n

The levee in 18th<\/sup>Century Britain was a late-morning or afternoon reception held by the king or queen for men only with the women being presented at a separate reception in the evenings.<\/p>\n

In France\u2019s and Britain\u2019s colonies, the levee was held by the governor as he was the representative of the monarch. The masters of fur-trading forts began holding levees as well. The first New Year\u2019s Levee in New France was held on January 1, 1646 by governor Charles Huault de Montmagny.<\/p>\n

Today, the New Year\u2019s levees are public events which are informal. They\u2019re especially common in the more traditional English parts of Canada. Anyone may attend. Food and drinks are served.<\/p>\n

On Prince Edward Island, levee is a day-long affair, with some events starting as early as 8 am. In Kingston, Ontario, the Anglican Bishop of the Diocese of Ontario holds a levee. In Niagara-on-the-Lake where the Niagara River enters Lake Ontario, a cannon is fired, and residents gather for multiple toasts outdoors. In eastern Ontario, levees are held at the city halls in Kingston and Brockville.<\/p>\n

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A bottle of Caribou from a Quebec government liquor store. Photo: James Morgan<\/p><\/div>\n

One of the more common beverages served at levees is \u201cmoose milk,\u201d a bad translation from French of\u00a0<\/span>sang de caribou<\/em>, or \u201ccaribou blood.\u201d Nobody is really drinking milk from a moose or caribou blood though. Voyageurs however did drink the latter because it kept them warm in harsh winter conditions.<\/p>\n

The contemporary adaptation of moose milk or caribou is red wine or port mixed with pure alcohol or whiskey and maple syrup. It can be served hot or cold with spices added, like mulled wine. The beverage can be homemade, but in Quebec, the provincial liquor corporation sells a bottled version at its stores.<\/p>\n

New Year\u2019s Day in my family was always a bit dull. One of my grandmothers, whenever she lived nearby, always thought it was important to have a big dinner late in the afternoon. She always went to a great effort, but I always remember everyone being tired at those events.<\/p>\n

In my immediate family, it was the day to take down Christmas decorations at the instigation of my Mom, who quickly grew tired of them \u201ccluttering up the house.\u201d This was often done to the dismay of Dad, who recalled the tradition of keeping everything up until Epiphany, or \u201cOld Christmas.\u201d<\/p>\n

I\u2019m going to take New Year\u2019s Eve and day easy this year. It\u2019s time to clean up clutter and maybe spend some time outside enjoying nature. May everyone have a healthy, peaceful, and joyful 2019.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

To many, New Year\u2019s Eve and New Year\u2019s Day are a big deal with parties […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":112,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.northcountrypublicradio.org\/allin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21728"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.northcountrypublicradio.org\/allin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.northcountrypublicradio.org\/allin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.northcountrypublicradio.org\/allin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/112"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.northcountrypublicradio.org\/allin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=21728"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.northcountrypublicradio.org\/allin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21728\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":21898,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.northcountrypublicradio.org\/allin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21728\/revisions\/21898"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.northcountrypublicradio.org\/allin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=21728"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.northcountrypublicradio.org\/allin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=21728"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.northcountrypublicradio.org\/allin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=21728"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}