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Expo 67 and National Identity

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Research Assignment: Expo 67 and National Identity
What does it mean to be Canadian? What is Canada’s national identity? These are questions which are difficult to answer. The International and Universal Exposition in 1967, or otherwise known as Expo 67, was an exhibition held in Montreal, Quebec from April to October, which was celebrating Canada’s centennial. I found many primary and secondary sources that recognize how Canadians perceive national identity through the exhibition. The theme for the Expo was ‘Man and his World’ and this raised the sense of national pride for Canadians. I found some sources that looked at ‘Canadian National Identity’ as a whole; as well as Canadian National Identity for the Natives, the French Canadians and English Canadians. Themes that are recurrent include how to represent Canadian national identity at the exposition, the French/English relationship towards Expo 67, as well as the search for a united Canada.
Primary Sources
Lister Sinclair’s pamphlet Change Comes to Canada was distributed at the Canadian Government Pavilion during Expo 67. Sinclair looks at the meaning of the name Canada. She analyses common points in people’s daily lives such as the meaning of ‘our home and native land,’ Canadian history, Canadian resources, transportation, climate and culture that tie each Canadian together. She claims that “every Canadian who thinks about Canada has his own idea about the meaning of that dream.” She argues that there is no actual national identity but individual identities that made up our national identity. She challenges the questions related to a national identity. It is interesting that something that questions the national identity would be distributed at Expo 67; but, it provides in...

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...ally and Joanne Sloan, 27-46. Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 2010.
Miedema, Gary. “Changing the Meaning of the Word ‘Canada’: State-Sponsored Public Religion at Expo 67.” In For Canada’s Sake: Public Religion, Centennial Celebrations, and the Remaking of Canada in the 1960’s, edited by Gary Miedema 114-136. Montreal: McGill- Queen’s University Press, 2005.

Ontario Department of Economics and Development. Predispositions and Expectations of Ontarians with Respect to Expo ’67. Toronto: Institute for Analytical Research, 1967.

Rembold, Elfie. “Exhibitions and National Identity.” National Identities 1, no.3 (1999): 221-225.
Sinclair, Lister. Change Comes To Canada. Montreal: Canadian Government Pavilion Expo 67, 1967.

Speir, Rosemary. “Indians Migrating to Expo Pavilion.” The Canadian Press, August 9, 1967. http://expo67.ncf.ca/expo_67_news_index.html.
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