Though Montreal’s Expo 67 was deemed the Greatest Universal Exhibition of all time, creating a perfect storm of success didn’t come easy. The organizing committee faced numerous obstacles, namely major disapproval on behalf the Federal government, who was responsible for half the budget.
When Montreal was chosen to host the 1967 Universal Exhibition, Conservative Chief of Opposition John Diefenbaker (1957-1963) did not bother trying to hide his disapproval.
Photo credit: Library and Archives Canada
Yves Jasmin, the Director of Advertising, Information and Public Relations for Expo 67, recalls these conflicts and the resistance of anglophone Canadians toward Montreal: “This is how it all began. With Diefenbaker’s irritations and fears that it would be too expensive. He hired two nice guys, Bienvenu and Carsley.” (Commissioners Bienvenue and Carsley resign in 1963.)
“The Expo wasn’t popular in Canada,” Jasmin affirms. “It was a bone thrown to Quebec, it was Jean Drapeau’s show. Lavish spending paid by Canadians for the benefit of Quebec. For Anglophones, it was a French Canadian Show; and for certain French Canadians, Shaw, Kniewasser, Redikker and Churchill were taking up a lot of space while the Francophones held minor positions. Organizing the press services wasn’t easy!”
According to the “Mayor of Expo”, Philippe de Gaspé Beaubien, Diefenbaker said:
“It’s a roman orgy. It’s out of control. Our money is being spent and wasted by the people of Expo and we should consider putting a stop to it.”
“It was a very big deal,” de Gaspé Beaubien continues. Lester B. Pearson’s government, however, was elected in 1963 and the site of Expo 67 came to life. The “old lion” mellowed with time.
On July 8, 1967, Diefenbaker finally set foot on the site of Man and His World, which he had so criticized, and assessed the enormity of its success.
Source : Interviews with Yves Jasmin and Philippe de Gaspé Beaubien, Feb. 2017.
