"Si vis pacem, para bellum, that is to say, If you seek peace, prepare for war," SOCAN president Pierre-Daniel Rheault warned the 2007 Montreal SOCAN Awards guests. "We are still waiting for the results of the Copyright Board's deliberations on the Commercial Radio and Ringtones tariffs. As far as our position on the proposed Internet tariff is concerned, we have made a significant advance less than a month ago when the Copyright Board gave us some of the best rates in the world, but I know for a fact that these will be challenged by all of our opponents! So, my dear friends, it's a little bit too soon to rush out and buy the sailboat you've been dreaming of." On the other hand, the president added that his fellow SOCAN creators were "the cream of the cream. You are the people through whom Francophone culture survives in America!"

While Pierre-Daniel Rheault aired some sobering thoughts, the rest of the evening was the opposite of gloom, with SOCAN Awards being presented to authors, composers and music publishers for their 2006 accomplishments in the pop, alternative, concert, jazz, film and television music genres. This year, the internationally renowned composer Paul Baillargeon, who contributed to the success of cult series such as Star Trek Deep Space Nine, Voyager and Enterprise, was presented with the Lifetime Achievement Award. A very down-to-earth, but obviously delighted Baillargeon noted: "The past 64 years went by so fast! Maybe I only have one more 30-second jingle to write. I've never seen myself as a great composer, but I'm having lots of fun."

As he picked up his International Achievement Award, Corneille thanked SOCAN by saying: "You are the only bunch that recognizes me as a songwriter. Thank you, you are my security blanket!" This year's Special Achievement Award was presented posthumously to the Quebec music industry pioneer Ben Kaye, whose daughter Mélanie, visibly moved, told the audience how their home had been a meeting place for artists ranging from Céline Dion to Michel Pagliaro through Patsy Gallant. Both Pagliaro and Gallant were on hand to express their love and respect for their late friend, and Gallant sang "L'Hymne à l'amour" not only in memory of Kaye, but also of two other SOCAN members, Georges Thurston and Tony Roman, who passed away in 2007 as well after all sitting at the same table at the 2006 Montreal SOCAN Awards.

AV music winners, left to right, first row: Mark Gianetti, Daniel Scott, Laurent Guardo, Jeff Fisher; back row: Michel Corriveau, Guy Trépanier et James Gelfand. (Photo: Michel Gagné)

The creators of several Quebec songs having achieved more than 25,000 radio plays received SOCAN Classics awards. They included Stéphane Venne and Michel Conte, whose song "Évangéline" also qualified for an award in the Pop Music category, as well as Marjo (with co-writer Donald Hince), Marc Drouin and Robert Léger, and Richard Séguin and Pierre Flynn, all of whom were warmly applauded by their peers for their timeless creations. Michel Conte, 75, hit a particularly touching note in his acceptance speech, calling his colleagues "the most extraordinary tribe of today's pop music. And I would like to be the old shaman of that tribe."

Representing the Funeral Service Association of Canada, winner of the 2007 Patron of Music Award for advocating the rights of music creators, Marc Poirier described his organization's policy by explaining that "people deal with grief through rituals. Music is part of that. We wish to help you continue to write music that has a healing effect."

Two seasoned musicians, Oliver Jones and Denis Gougeon, were back on the podium to receive awards in the jazz and classical music categories. Both were treated to a standing ovation from their peers following an amusing and relevant presentation by their colleague, the classical pianist Alain Lefèvre, who shared that he understood "the thousands of hours of anguish and solitude that being a composer means." Oliver Jones updated the audience by reminding them that "this year, it's been 68 years since I gave my first concert, and I'm hoping to stick around for few more years."

The music creators being honoured also included younger rock and pop music creators such as Ariane Moffatt; Kaïn's Patrick Lemieux and Steve Veilleux; Wilfred Le Bouthillier, Sylvain Quesnel and their co-writer Danny Boudreau, who had made a special trip from New Brunswick to be part of the celebrations; Dany Bédar; the group Malajube, who was away on an international tour; K-maro and his co-writer Louis Côté; and Pascal Dufour and his co-writer Marie-Jo Morin. K-maro explained: "SOCAN is very good at keeping track of our songs' international performances, and that's why I am staying with this organization in spite of the fact that – no point in hiding it – other PROs have been wooing me." Céline Dion, who appeared through a video link with René Angélil to talk about her good friends Ben Kaye and Paul Baillargeon, was represented by one of her two co-writers Nelson Minville, who collected a Pop Music award for "Tout près du bonheur," Dion's first recognition as a composer.