|The Golden Cane presentation has been a New Year tradition for over 130 years, but ship captains were honoured as far back as 1840.
Photo Credit: Radio-Canada

Port of Montreal New Year tradition continues

The first ocean-going vessel of 2017 through the Port of Montreal was honoured yesterday with the annual presentation of the gold-handled cane to its Captain, Danel Ju.

The Chem Sirius tanker, which is registered in Liberia, left Antwerp Belgium on Dec. 24th and arrived at  3:16 a.m. on New Year’s Day.

Sylvie Vachon, executive director of the Port of Montreal, boarded the ship Sunday morning to present Captain Ju with the cane, in a ceremony that dates back to 1840.

At that time it was a a top hat that was presented. But it was replaced by a gold-handled cane around 1880 “to reflect period tastes,” according to the port’s website.

The 178 year-old ceremony developed during the winters when the ice on the St. Lawrence River isolated Montreal from the rest of the world. Now the port is open year round, but the tradition continues.

The cane, or walking stick, features a 14-karat gold top bearing Canada’s coat-of-arms and an inscription that reads: “Presented by the Port of Montreal to (captain’s name), Master of the (ship’s name), the first ocean-going vessel in the port in (year).”

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