National Post

THE GREATEST CANADA DAY OF THEM ALL

In 1967, Canadians decided they were going to be happy — whether the state of the planet warranted it or not

- ROBERT FULFORD

Canada Day? No one of a certain age can ever forget the biggest, the costliest, the most successful Canada Day of them all. That was 1967, the centennial of Confederat­ion, when at Expo 67 in Montreal we expanded the celebratio­ns to last half a year, April 28 to October 29.

Expo 67 was beautifull­y designed, heart-warming to visit, an always surprising pleasure. Many Canadians thought it the best work of any kind we had accomplish­ed. (There were only a few dissenters — Mordecai Richler called Expo “a good-taste Disneyland.”)

In many ways, 1967 was a happy summer, and in many ways it wasn’t. But the country had made a collective decision to be happy, no matter what — even if Quebec separatism was rearing its head. We threw ourselves into a world exhibition that celebrated peace and progress as if there was little else on Earth. We adopted a mood of careless rapture on a national scale.

In ignoring trouble, we were not alone. That July, the Detroit race riot killed 40 people; it was one of 159 race riots across the United States in 1967. Fury against the war in Vietnam led to scores of other demonstrat­ions.

And yet Americans spoke, again and again, of 1967 as “the summer of love.” Hippies held love-ins in public parks and made their way across the continent to San Francisco to share drugs in Haight- Ashbury, the world centre of the countercul­ture. Peace and love reigned there, too.

Elsewhere, the Cold War was hardening attitudes. But at Expo, it took the form of duelling pavilions: The Soviet structure (designed like a factory, filled with industrial goods and plans for great projects) faced off with the American building (looking light as a dream in its Buckminste­r Fuller dome, filled with scenes from movies and Pop Art). Grim reality vs. joyful imaginatio­n, an unlikely metaphor of world conflict. Neither side mentioned the word “nuclear.”

During Expo’s fifth week, disaster erupted in the Middle East: The Egyptians, the Jordanians and the Syrians had provoked war with Israel, threatenin­g (as Cairo Radio said) to “put an end” to the Jewish state. And then, almost before it began, the Six-Day War was over, the Arabs were beaten and Israel was the victor, left with territory and people, burdens for decades to come. Workers at Israel’s pavilion said they were terrified, then suddenly relieved, then confused.

For many Canadians, the appearance of Charles de Gaulle in Quebec was the ugliest event of the centennial summer, and probably the most annoying visit by a head of state in Canadian history. De Gaulle was a brave man, an egomaniac and (at least in 1967) mischievou­s.

In 1964, he had promised not to disturb the good relations between France and Canada. But at some point he changed his mind. By 1967, half a dozen disagreeme­nts or perceived insults had in- truded between the two countries, all of them intensifie­d by France’s obvious desire to build relations directly with Quebec, bypassing Ottawa. Until July 24, however, only a few people outside government knew or cared.

Perhaps de Gaulle wanted to teach Ottawa a lesson. Encouraged by the Quebec government, he arrived in Quebec City and travelled in procession down the highway to Montreal, past cheering roadside crowds. He had the effrontery to tell Montrealer­s that he had “found the same kind of atmosphere as that of the Liberation” — by which he meant France’s Liberation from Germany in 1944. He didn’t mention that among those who died for that Liberation were a good many soldiers in Canadian uniforms. He shouted a few slogans, most notably “Vive le Québec libre,” a separatist war cry.

In Ottawa, Prime Minister Lester B. Pearson read a statement pointing out that Canadians are already free and do not require Liberation. He implied that de Gaulle should apologize. But de Gaulle instead flew home to Paris after a quick tour of Expo, acting as if he, and not Canada, had been insulted.

Separatist­s were greatly encouraged by his visit; federalist­s, notably Pierre Trudeau, were alerted to the task before them. But, somehow, just about everyone decided that we wouldn’t let this ruin the party.

In retrospect, it seems surprising how little we worried. We blissfully ignored the state of the world and for that matter the threat to Confederat­ion itself, the subject of our celebratio­n. We took Expo seriously and chattered about how its fresh design and architectu­re made it a historic event. Meanwhile, real history, the painful kind, was going on elsewhere.

 ??  ?? A painting featuring a trackless train that transporte­d handicappe­d people around Expo ’67 free of charge.
A painting featuring a trackless train that transporte­d handicappe­d people around Expo ’67 free of charge.
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