Canada's Perception Of The 1967 World Exhibition

The primary source above (Aerial view of the site and the pavilions) directly shows the location and attractions of Expo 67. For instance, one can see the various pavilions such as the nine-story inverted pyramid: the Canadian Pavilion, or the giant glass sphere: the US pavilion. The source indirectly reveals the magnitude of the event by displaying the large space, infrastructure and quantity of pavilions that were built solely for Expo 67. Expo 67, less commonly known as the 1967 World Exhibition, was an annual event to showcase the progression of various nations around the world. Typically the event is held by any country who wished to volunteer their land and time to run the event. The 1967 World Exhibition, was hosted by Canada to celebrate
the country’s centennial. This essay will further explain: why exactly Expo 67 so significant and the insights and ideas from Expo 67 that can be taken into the future. Expo 67 took place in Montréal, Québec and was located on two man-made islands in the St. Lawrence River, Ile Sainte-Helene and Ile Notre-Dame. The Expo ran from April 28th until the 27th of October in 1967. (Lambert) Expo 67, was a fun event for Canadians that a sense of pride and national unity. Expo 67 was one of the most influential events in Canadian history; the many complications to the creation of the event influenced its success, it was a momentous occasion, and it had many significant impacts.
The circumstances which formed Expo 67, were highly crucial to the success of the event. For starters, Canada only agreed to host the 1967 exhibition, after realizing the unique opportunity it present to celebrate the centennial. The idea was first proposed by the Progressive Conservative Senator Mark Drouin during a visit to the Brussels’ World Fair in 1958. (Francis) Drouin’s ingenious idea led to Canada’s involvement in a pivotal world event on the world stage.
Along with Senator Drouin, Senator Sarto Fournier presented the idea to the Bureau International des Expositions or BIE, in Paris. (Lambert) This idea was crucial to Expo 67’s success since it became a special event that celebrated the 100th anniversary of the hosting country, in addition to the world’s progression. Furthermore, Canada was fairly hesitant to host the Expo because of the large cost of the project. For instance, in 1966 the Canadian Corporation, a company created for the sake of building and running the exhibition, calculated approximately $320 million capital-incurred costs of Expo 67, with a deficit of $82 million. (Lambert) This was a huge deal, since hosting the 1967 World Exhibition would only result in Canada losing money. Moreover, since Canada did not have any suitable locations for Expo 67, the government was forced to expand Ile Sainte-Helene and create another new island, Ile Notre-Dame. This caused the cost of building the location to rise from $10 million to $40 million. (Lambert) This proved that the Expo would be a tremendous project to take on since the $40 million only covered building the location of the event. In addition, the pavilions of the Expo themselves were highly expensive. In fact,
the Canadian pavilion, also known as Katimavik cost approximately $21 million dollars, which was far more than any other country had spent on their pavilions. (Francis) The cost of the exhibition was troublesome for Canada, but it allowed Canada to build crucial aspects of Expo 67, such as the amazing pavilions. The collaborative effort to host the world exhibition hugely impacted Expo 67’s success. Initially, the 1967 Expo was to be held in Moscow, but in 1962 the Soviet Union was forced to cancel its plans due to financial reasons. Various Canadians heard about this and resubmitted a request to host the exhibition. (Hallowell 209) Without the efforts of the government and senators such as Drouin, Canada could not even have hosted Expo. Additionally, the Expo was only a success due to a three-way partnership between the federal, Québec and Montréal government. (Lambert) The entire event required a major group effort between Canada’s different levels of government to succeed. In fact, the government called a meeting between various educators and intellectuals to Montebello, Québec, to create a theme for the event. Eventually, the theme became “Man and His World” and was further divided into five main groups; Man the Creator, Man the Explorer, Man the Producer, Man the Provider, and Man and the Community. (Lambert) Due to the collaborative efforts of many different people, Expo 67 was a huge achievement for Canada.
Expo 67 was a momentous occasion in Canadian history. A primary cause of this was the fact the 1967 World Exhibition was a major success. Peter C Newman, a renowned journalist, declared Expo 67 as “the greatest thing we have ever done as a nation.” (Ferguson 369) This shows how various respected Canadians enjoyed and are proud of Expo, which is a major aspect of success, itself. The event also offered many popular attractions such as the famous amusement park, “La Rhonde.” In 1967, La Ronde attracted 22.5 million visitors and in 2001, Six Flags purchased the park from the City of Montréal and continues to invest in its success to this day. (Joy) This further displays the success of the event, since its attractions continue to exist and help other businesses. Another factor, contributing to Expo 67’s significance is the magnitude of the event. There were a total amount of 50 million paid admissions during the six months that Expo 67 was open, not including the 5 million admissions from performers, press official visitors and employees. (Lambert) This was a huge deal, especially since Canada’s population at the time was merely 20 million people. In fact, Expo 67’s attendance was so high that it is ranked the fourth best in attendance for World Fairs, the first being Expo 2010 in Shanghai with 73 million visitors. (Joy). The success of the fair was so great that 50 years later, it continues to hold one of the highest records in attendance. Countless nations participated as well and built pavilions either by themselves or in a team with another country. Russia, even spent about $15 million on their pavilion, while the US spent approximately $9 million. (Lambert) This shows that not only did other nations participate. they took a serious involvement in Expo 67 as they spent so much money on their pavilions. A third factor, which helped Expo 67’s success was the fact that it showcased Canada’s advancements to the rest of the world. Expo 67 included many great architect designs such as Arthur Erickson’s pyramidal, Man and his Community. (Lambert) Considering this was a pivotal building that contributed to the theme of the Expo, many visitors witnessed this amazing Canadian designs and realized Canada’s progression. Likewise, another memorable building was Habitat ‘67, designed by Moshe Safdie for an experiment to create cheap and effective housing methods, which still currently used for residential housing. (Lambert) This further displayed Canada’s societal and technological advances to other nations or citizens who visited Expo 67, which had a major impact on Canada’s future. Expo 67 was a highly significant event in Canadian history.
First and foremost, Expo 67 created a spark in the Québec Sovereignty Movement. On July 24th, Charles de Gaulle, the president of France who was visiting Canada for Expo 67, addressed a crowd at Montréal’s City Hall and stated, “Vive Montréal… Vive le Québec… Vive le Québec Libre!” (“Expo 67”) This speech inspired the beliefs of many Québec separatists such as Pierre Bourgault. Bourgault once said, “Because for the first time in 200 years he has come to our land to tell us in French what he thinks. He is the first man who is a winner to come and say to us: don't give up!" In other words, De Gaulle's statement ignited the hearts of separatists since the leader of their motherland was telling them that they were being oppressed by the anglophones in Canada, which only reinforced the opinions they already had. Furthermore, within a few months, Rene Lévesque launched the Parti Québécois with ideals that fueled the sovereigntist movement. (“Expo 67”) Expo 67, which was the reason for De Gaulle's visit, inspired many important people such as Lévesque, who almost divided Canada with the Quebec referendum. On the other hand, Expo 67 also had many positive benefits for Canada in the following years. As a result of Expo 67, there was a huge increase in tourist revenues of approximately $480 million. (Lambert) Global events such as Expo 67 often result in deficits, but it is still beneficial since they promote the country
to other nations, and increase tourist revenues. Furthermore, Expo 67 allowed Canada to build more infrastructure such as the Montreal Subway System in an efficient matter. (Francis) This improves Canada’s cities and creates a better quality of life for Canadians. In addition, the huge success of Expo influenced Canadian’s opinions of themselves and their country. For instance, the Montréal Star described Expo 67 as, “the most staggering Canadian achievement since this vast land was finally linked by a transcontinental railway.” (“Expo 67”). This proves that many Canadians were very proud of the event, and it changed their opinions of Canada and believed that it was a great country with many accomplishments. The last effect of Expo 67, was that the exhibition increased Canada’s prominence on the world stage. There was a total of 120 government’s present, with 60 pavilions and thousands of private exhibitors or sponsors participating in Expo 67. (Lambert) All of the nations that attended Expo 67, saw Canada as a strong nation despite only being 100 years old with many technological, societal and economic advancements. Moreover, following Expo 67, Canada hosted other international events such as the 1976 Montreal Olympics and the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympics. (Francis) As a result of Expo 67’s success, Canada felt confident to hold another international event and be successful.
Ultimately, Expo 67 was a monumental event. The background, cause and context of Expo 67 were crucial to the success of the event, due to the uniqueness of Expo 67, the collaborative efforts of different Canadians and the huge cost which allowed the creation the amazing attractions. Furthermore, Expo 67 was a defining moment, since it was highly successful, attracted millions of tourists to Canada and displayed Canada’s advancements. Expo 67 also, sparked the sovereigntist movement, positively impacted Canada and strengthened Canada’s reputation. From the 1967 world exhibition, one can learn the importance of international events on a country since it promotes the country to the world in a unique way, and increases national pride. Expo 67, unlike other events, is significant since it directly relates to modern-day Canada, as the country is approaching the 150th anniversary. Through analysis of Expo 67, Canadians can compare the progression of Canada from 50 years ago. Expo 67 fully established Canada’s prominence on the world stage, and 50 years later, Canada continues to be a respected country but has many more advancements such as a reformed constitution and a strong reputation of an accepting and diverse nation.