1967 is remembered as one of the most notable years in Canada.[1] It was the centenary of Canadian Confederation and celebrations were held throughout the nation. The most prominent event was Expo 67 in Montreal, the most successful World's Fair ever held up to that time, and one of the first events to win international acclaim for the country. The year saw the nation's Governor General, Georges Vanier, die in office; and two prominent federal leaders, Official Opposition Leader John Diefenbaker, and Prime Minister Lester B. Pearson announced their resignations. The year's top news-story was French President Charles de Gaulle's "Vive le Québec libre" speech in Montreal. The year also saw major changes in youth culture with the "hippies" in Toronto's Yorkville area becoming front-page news over their lifestyle choices and battles with Toronto City Council. A new honours system was announced, the Order of Canada. In sports, the Toronto Maple Leafs won their 13th and last Stanley Cup.
The nation began to feel far more nationalistic than before, with a generation raised in a country fully detached from Britain. The new Canadian flag served as a symbol and a catalyst for this. In Quebec, the Quiet Revolution was overthrowing the oligarchy of francophone clergy and anglophone businessmen, and French Canadian pride and nationalism were becoming a national political force.
The Canadian economy was at its post-war peak, and levels of prosperity and quality of life were at all-time highs. Many of the most important elements of Canada's welfare state were coming on line, such as Medicare and the Canada Pension Plan (CPP).
These events were coupled with the coming of age of the baby boom and the regeneration of music, literature, and art that the 1960s brought around the world. The baby boomers, who have since dominated Canada's culture, tend to view the period as Canada's halcyon days.
1967 was an exciting year for Canadians. Communities across the country planned celebrations to mark the 100th anniversary of confederation. The Federal Government sponsored events from coast to coast and provided funding and organization for such things as the Centennial Train and the Centennial Voyageur Canoe Pageant. Even Canada's military got the spirit by producing the Canadian Armed Forces Tattoo 1967 that toured the country from coast to coast with over 150 shows from St. John's, Newfoundland to Victoria, BC with a two week long production at EXPO 67 in Montreal. Tattoo 1967 was so successful, there were calls to have the show tour the world as a representative of Canadian culture.[2] The show set a world's record for the longest running military tattoo, a record that has never been equaled.[3]
While to Montreal it was the year of Expo, to Toronto it was the culmination of the Toronto Maple Leafs dynasty of the 1960s, with the team winning its fourth Stanley Cup in six years by defeating its arch-rival, the Montreal Canadiens, in the last all-Canadian Stanley Cup Finals until 1986.
Author and historian Pierre Berton famously referred to 1967 as Canada's last good year. In his analysis, the years following saw much of 1967's hopefulness disappear. In the early 1970s, the oil shock and other factors hammered the Canadian economy. Quebec separatism led to divisive debates and an economic decline of Montreal and Front de libération du Québec (FLQ) terrorism. The Vietnam War and Watergate Scandal in the United States also had profound effects on Canadians. Berton reported that Toronto hockey fans also note that the Maple Leafs have not won a Stanley Cup since.[4]
April 27: Expo 67 Official Opening Ceremony broadcast in colour live via satellite to an estimated worldwide audience of 700 million viewers and listeners.
April 28: Expo 67 opens to the public at 9:30 a.m. in Montreal
April: Bill C-243, The Canadian Forces Reorganization Act, is given third and final reading in the House of Commons [7]
July 24: During an official state visit to Canada, French President Charles de Gaulle declares to a crowd of over 100,000 in Montreal: Vive le Québec libre! (Long live free Quebec!). The statement, interpreted as support for Quebec independence, delighted many francophone Quebecers but angered the Canadian government and many English Canadians and was voted as the top news story from Canada by newspaper and radio journalists.[8]
July 30: The Caribbean community in Toronto stages the first Caribana, with only eight bands and 1,000 spectators. It later grows into the third largest carnival in the world, drawing over 1 million spectators and 250,000 visitors a year.
^Britannica Book of the Year 1968, covering events of 1967, published by The Encyclopædia Britannica, 1968, "Literature" article, "Canadian" section, page 483
^ abcdeGustafson, Ralph, The Penguin Book of Canadian Verse, revised edition, 1967, Baltimore, Maryland: Penguin Books
^Web page titled "The Works of George Woodcock" at the Anarchy Archives website, which states: "This list is based on The Record of George Woodcock (issued for his eightieth birthday) and Ivan Avakumovic's bibliography in A Political Art: Essays and Images in Honour of George Woodcock, edited by W.H. New, 1978, with additions to bring it up to date"; accessed April 24, 2008
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