They were all wearing Speedos. At least that was the running gag when David Cronenberg presented Denis Villeneuve with a $10,000 cheque for Polytechnique, which won the Toronto Film Critics Association’s Rogers Best Canadian Film award on Tuesday in Toronto.

Beating out The Necessities of Life and Pontypool, a clearly surprised and speech-less Villeneuve joked, ‘I came here just to be in the same room as you David.’ The Montreal helmer thanked Toronto for being ‘very generous’ to him and ‘to Quebec, which touches me deeply in the heart.’ He then looked at the cheque, turned to Rogers Communications vice-chairman Phil Lind and sheepishly said, ‘I didn’t pay my Rogers bill,’ which brought the house down.

Toronto producer Don Carmody was also on hand to celebrate the prize for Polytechnique, which Maclean‘s film critic Brian D. Johnson describes as ‘a sensitive, unflinching eye to the Montreal Massacre – an event most filmmakers would consider untouchable.’

Previously announced awards that were presented at the gala include the TFCA’s inaugural Jay Scott Prize for an emerging artist, which went to Quebec writer/director Xavier Dolan, along with a $5,000 cheque, which was presented by director Atom Egoyan.