Sean O'Sullivan fonds

Sean O’Sullivan was born in Hamilton, Ontario, in 1952. At an early age, he demonstrated an interest in politics. A chance meeting with John Diefenbaker in 1963, when Sean was just 11 years old, marked the beginning of his involvement with the Progressive Conservative Party. Diefenbaker became a mentor to him, and the two exchanged correspondence for many years. Sean became an active member of the Party, and his political career took off quickly. In 1965, he was elected to the executive of the Hamilton Area Young Progressive Conservatives, in 1968 was elected President, and also served as Youth Director for Diefenbaker’s re-election campaign. In 1970 he was elected President of the Ontario Young Progressive Conservatives, and in 1971 became Youth Adviser to Premier William Davis. Later that year, Diefenbaker chose Sean to be his Executive Assistant. In addition to his political activities, Sean enrolled at Brock University in 1969 to study political science. In 1972, he resigned as Diefenbaker’s assistant in order to run as a candidate for Hamilton-Wentworth in the federal election that year. At just 20 years of age, Sean was the youngest MP elected to the House of Commons. While working as an MP, Sean continued his studies at Brock University part-time, graduating with distinction. After being re-elected in 1974, he rose to greater prominence when he succeeded in having a private member’s bill passed making the beaver one of Canada’s national symbols. In 1977, he resigned as MP in order to pursue religious studies and become a Catholic priest. After completing four years of studies at the Irish College of Rome’s Gregorian University, Sean was ordained a priest in Toronto in 1981. In July, 1982, he was appointed Director of Vocations (full-time recruiter) for the archdiocese of Toronto. In this capacity, he implemented a controversial and widely publicized campaign to recruit priests. The recruitment succeeded in generating interest in the priesthood, doubling the number of students in the archdiocese. He was one of the founding members of Serra House, a residence for students considering the priesthood. After his term as Vocations Director ended in 1985, O’Sullivan became publisher of The Catholic Register, a weekly church newspaper. That same year, he was awarded an honorary doctorate from Brock University. In January 1987, he was appointed a Member of the Order of Canada. Later that year, he submitted a report to the Attorney General of Ontario, titled You’ve got a Friend, after conducting an independent review of Advocacy for Vulnerable Adults in Ontario at the request of the government. In 1983, O’Sullivan was diagnosed with leukemia. The disease went into remission after treatment, but was incurable. In 1989, he had a bone marrow transplant at Princess Margaret Hospital in Toronto, but died shortly afterwards. He was 37 years old. A memorial fund was established in his name, and included contributions from prominent business, church and political leaders such as Prime Minister Brian Mulroney, Toronto Sun Chairman Doug Crieghton and His Eminence G. Emmett Carter. The O’Sullivan family requested that Brock University be the beneficiary of the proceeds of the campaign.

Message from the President of the United States transmitting documents relative to the execution of the first article of the late treaty between the United States and Great Britain.

"February 7, 1817, ordered to be printed for the use of the Senate." Message addressed to the Senate and dated February 7th, 1817. Consists of the covering letter from the President and a report from the Secretary of State, dated Department of State, February 5th, 1817; which itself consists largely of diplomatic correspondence between the United States and Great Britain Relates to the restitution of captured slaves by the British during the War of 1812-1814.

Message from the President of the United States, Recommending an Immediate Declaration of War Against Great Britain (1812)

"June 1st, 1812. Referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations. June 3d, 1812. Bill reported, declaring war ..."

Message from the President of the United States, transmitting a letter from the Marshall of the Northern District of the State of New York, respecting disturbances on the Canadian frontier (1838)

Message from the President of the United States transmitting a letter from the Marshal of the Northern District of the State of New York, respecting Disturbances on the Canadian Frontier.

Donald Ziraldo Fonds, 1968-2012, n.d.

Donald J. P. Ziraldo, C.M., BSc., LLD was born in St. Catharines, Ontario on October 13, 1948 to Fredrick and Irma (Schiratti) Ziraldo. He graduated Denis Morris High School in St. Catharines in 1967, and received his B.Sc. in Agriculture at the University of Guelph in 1971. In 1974, Ziraldo was running Ziraldo Nurseries when he met Austrian born schoolteacher, chemist and winemaker Karl J. Kaiser. They realized that there was a gap in the premium varietal wine market and decided to plant a premium traditional European variety of grape vine species, the Vitis vinifera. This was an innovation in the Niagara region because the current wine producers were not using premium European grapes at the time. Ziraldo and Kaiser founded and then formally incorporated Inniskillin Wines Inc. in Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ontario on July 31, 1975. Ziraldo successfully lobbied General George Kitching, CEO of the LCBO, for a winery license. In 1975, Kitching granted him a winery license, the first in Ontario since Prohibition ended. From the beginning, there was a division of labour where Kaiser focused on the winemaking and Ziraldo focused on the marketing and promotion of the wines. Ziraldo also became president of the company. Ziraldo and Kaiser worked on improving their winemaking techniques and promoting their products and company. Ziraldo has been called ‘one of the founding fathers of the Canadian wine industry’, and it is widely acknowledged that both men played a large role in the success and growth of the Canadian wine industry. Together they pioneered the estate winery movement in Canada. A major turning point Inniskillin came in 1984 when Karl Kaiser successfully harvested the first Icewine crop from frozen grapes on the vine and bottled Eiswein Vidal (Icewine). In 1990, Inniskillin received worldwide recognition for this Icewine when their 1989 Vidal Icewine won the most prestigious award in the wine world, the Grand Prix d’Honneur, given at Vinexpo in France. This victory has been called ‘the award heard round the world’ and it launched Inniskillin into the international wine arena. At the same time, this helped lift the profile of Canadian wines in general. Inniskillin not only became Canada’s leading producer of Icewine, but it also became known for producing ‘one of the world’s great wines’. After the 1990 award, Ziraldo began a major public relations campaign to promote Inniskillin and build Icewine into a worldwide brand. He travelled broadly every year to promote the brand and products and networked extensively with politicians, celebrities, chefs, sommeliers, etc. To ensure worldwide and long-term success, Ziraldo introduced Icewine to Asia and the United States which were new markets. He developed a new Icewine glass with George Riedel. Tony Aspler has called Ziraldo ‘Canada’s Wine Ambassador’. Ziraldo was President of Inniskillin Wines Inc. (Niagara) from 1975 to 2006. In 1992, Inniskillin merged with Cartier Wines, and in 1993 Cartier Inniskillin Vintners Inc. merged with T.G. Bright & Co. Limited, forming the new company Vincor International Inc. Inniskillin wines was now a subsidiary of Vincor. Ziraldo became a Director at Vincor International Inc. from 1993 to 2004. From 1989 to the mid 1990s, Ziraldo also became President of Inniskillin Napa, in Napa Valley, California. Inniskillin purchased Napa Valley vineyards and produced wines under the Terra label. In 1994, Ziraldo set up a subsidiary estate winery of Inniskillin in Oliver, British Columbia which was called Inniskillin Okanagan Vineyards Inc. He became President of the winery. This started as a partnership between Inniskillin and the local Inkameep Indian Band in the Okanagan. In 2006, Ziraldo left Inniskillin and since that time he has been involved in other Icewine related ventures such as running Ziraldo Estate Winery and producing Ziraldo Riesling Icewine 2007. He also is in partnership with the Niagara based Equifera Estate Winery to produce Equifera Icewine. His most recent projects include planting Picolit grapes in his parent’s hometown, in a project called Picolit Di Fagagna and becoming Managing Director of the Senhora Do Convento Port Winery in Portugal. Donald Ziraldo was instrumental in the creation of the Vintners Quality Alliance (VQA) in Ontario and was its founding Chair from 1988-1995. The VQA was established as a regulatory and appellation system which secured the quality and origin of Canadian wines made under this system. The VQA designation and bottle label gave the consumer confidence that the wines they were purchasing were 100% local products. The VQA system was set up first in Ontario and then in British Columbia.

President's Report to the Directors, Year 1963

The report reads: "The Company's sales in 1963 showed a decline of 5.6% in gallons and 6% in value. In spite of this, the net profit is $119, 706.03; down 3.8% from 1962. Increased competition from heavy advertising campaigns by the larger companies and a substantial upward trend in the sales of imported wines are the two main factors for our reduction in sales. Sales through all retail wine stores in Ontario are declining due to the large number of Liquor Control Board of Ontario Stores which have been opened in the past year. The 1963 vintage was very successful amounting to over 500,000 gallons raising our total inventory to well over a million gallons for the first time in history. By holding our overhead down and keeping the quality of our products at a high level, we hope to show a better profit in 1964.

Letter - President's Office of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints to Welland D. Woodruff

Letter from the President’s Office of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Salt Lake City, Utah. The letter is addressed to Welland D. Woodruff in response to his request regarding his ancestry. It is confirmed that the family descended through Matthew Woodruff who was the original proprietor of Farmingham Connecticut. The writer says that he has had interviews with several Woodruffs from Chicago and other places. The letter is signed by Wilford Woodruff [4th president of the Church of Jesus Christ of the Latter-Day Saints from 1889-1898], Dec. 7, 1887.

Letter to George Rykert (president of the Port Dalhousie and Thorold Railway), engineer from William Danforth, civil engineer

Letter to George Rykert (president of the Port Dalhousie and Thorold Railway), engineer from William Danforth, civil engineer in which he states that the preliminary survey has been made between Port Dalhousie and Centreville at which point it may intersect with the Great Western Railway. The estimate is included (2 pages, handwritten), July 25, 1853.

Report sent to the President and Director of the Port Dalhousie and Thorold Railway stating that the location of the line extension of the railway is completed

Report sent to the President and Director of the Port Dalhousie and Thorold Railway stating that the location of the line extension of the railway is completed. The distance from Thorold Station to Port Colborne is 20 miles. The estimate provides for construction of a permanent structure across the Chippewa and Welland River. Estimates for building a first class road, culverts and bridges will be of permanent and durable masonry. This includes estimates for various station buildings such as a warehouse in Port Colborne and a warehouse in Port Dalhousie. Surveys and plans are ready and will be registered this week. This is signed by S.D. Woodruff (2 copies) [one appears to be a rough copy] (The rough copy is 5 pages, handwritten and the other copy is 6 pages, handwritten), Apr. 8, 1857.

Letter from S.D. Woodruff to the president and directors of the Port Robinson and Thorold Macadamized Road Committee regarding extra work done

Letter from S.D. Woodruff to the president and directors of the Port Robinson and Thorold Macadamized Road Committee regarding extra work done (3 pages, handwritten), Aug. 6, 1857.

Letter to S.D. Woodruff from E. Harris, president of the Long Point Company

Letter to S.D. Woodruff from E. Harris, president of the Long Point Company in which he suggests that the principal provisions of the bill regarding shares in the Long Point Company be brought before the Ontario House (2 pages, handwritten), Jan. 15, 1887

Discharge of Mortgage signed by Henry Kalar, President of the Niagara Permanent Building Society

Discharge of Mortgage signed by Henry Kalar, President of the Niagara Permanent Building Society stating that John McNeilly [?] has satisfied all money due and the mortgage is therefore discharged. The right hand side of this document is burned. Text is slightly affected, Aug. 8, 1853.