Good evening ladies and gentleman

Many people asked me why first nation, why their ice hockey team and why Tomas Kaberle. The answer to these questions is quite simple. When I met Barbara, the teacher of Czech origin who has lived for several years in White Dog reserve, I heard numerous stories of the life of Wabbaseemong independent nation.

Just very few of those stories were not sad. In contrast to those stories, I have seen little kids of White Dog playing ice hockey in their arena. And there were completely different vibes on that playground. No desperation, no sadness, but enthusiasm, great effort, laughter and happiness. And dreams about seeing Maple Leafs in action. And dreams about meeting Tomas Kaberle.

Well, there is a long journey to help to fulfill such dreams. And there was number of ideas how to do it, which died on the way. Fortunately I have to say.

Because, if everything went according to my original plan from 6 months ago, none of us would be here in this magnificent Hart House tonight. If everything went according to my original plan, we would be getting up tomorrow morning at 6 AM, and butcher from Czech Republic would in front of your eyes perform traditional pig killing ceremony, exactly the same way it is still done in Czech villages. We would definitely not wear black suit and classical music would be a very unlikely background.

Well, sometimes it is good to listen to good friends, who openly describe some of your ideas as not exactly sound, to be diplomatic. My wise friend and mentor, George Heller, after patiently listening to my enthusiastic description how the pig killing and sausage making would turn into interesting cultural experience for the participating Canadians coolly said just one sentence:

Richard, do you really want to raise money this way?

So, thank you George for putting my feet on the ground many months ago and for your continuous support ever since.

I am very grateful to Mr. Karel Velan and also Charlie Coffey, who unfortunately could not be with us tonight. These two gentlemen, whose life-long dedication to the First Nation is reflected in their Native names – Good Leaf and Soaring Eagle, helped to carry the main idea of this evening over several bumps encountered on the way.

Also we would not be here without the constant support, which proved crucial in the most important times from the Ambassador Pavel Vosalik himself. Thank you, Mr. Ambassador.

I am also very grateful to meet and also to get significant help on the way from such interesting personalities, people full of wisdom and warm heart as George Gross from Toronto Sun, and Peter C. Newman, who unexpectedly had to leave for east coast and Vern Harper, who became the final shining piece of the puzzle of this evening just several weeks ago.

This evening would probably not even happen without the invaluable support of Mr. and Mrs. Bata, Milan Kroupa, Jerry Formanek and of our strategic partner Masaryk Memorial Institute and its head Alena Kottova.

Last but not least, I wanted to share with you a story of my Italian friend, who has lived in Toronto for more than 50 years. He told me that when he arrived as a teenager into this country, he would not reveal his Italian background voluntarily. Being teenager is difficult, but being teenager with Italian background in nineteen fifties was not appealing whatsoever - Musollini and Cosa Nostra just did not do good job for the image of the country. So, if he wanted to impress a girl, he would have to pretend to be from Switzerland. And, since nobody heard of Italian cuisine at that time, he would have to take her to a French restaurant.

What can half of the century do to a country. Today´s household names such as Ferrrari, Sophia Loren, Versace, spaghetti and Pinot Grigio tell completely different story; and they successfully tie the presence of Italy to the great past of da Vinci and Michelangelo. From our today ´s standpoint there has never been any interruption on the great image of Italy. Yet there was.

Czech Republic has a considerable advantage in comparison to Italy fifty years ago. It has no negative baggage tied to its name. In general it probably lacks brand name recognition, but from the marketing point of view, I believe Czech Republic has a great potential.

Okay, probably not in the case of cuisine. I do not think that pork knee and dumpling will ever make it as a standard fare for candle light dinner of future lovers.

But, we can definitely build on Havel and Masaryk the same way as French build on de Gaulle.

Pilsner Urquel is simply the best and the Budwaiser from Budweis tastes so much better than Budweiser from Saint Louis.

Skoda car company, only two decades ago target of jokes, is now the most profitable part of Volkswagen Group.

Technology and Tradition, Design and Architecture - all these are without any doubts our strong fields.

And I am not even talking about the so called “soft” power of names such as Pavel Nedved, Jaromir Jagr, decathlon world champion Robert Sebrle, Milos Forman or Miss World 2006 Tanja Kucharova. Or Tomas Kaberle J

No doubt Czech Republic is a great product. And with sound long term marketing strategy it could get high and far. During this evening, you will be surrounded by little sparks of Czech origin, number of bricks which Czechs could build on in the future. Lets see, where the next fifty years take us.