I'm really honoured to have been asked to be one of Toronto's thought leaders tasked with championing our potential bid to host the World Fair & Exhibition in 2025.
Now, hungover as I was my only thoughts were "what the hell am I doing here with all these legit people?" and "I wonder if anyone has any aspirin". lol.
Nevertheless, after being in a room with 20 of Toronto's best & brightest, I left fully enthused to support this bid and am speaking at City Hall in a couple weeks in it's support.
In the meantime, here's a primer on the Expo and what it means for Canada...and especially Toronto.
Vicente Gonzalez Loscertales, head of Paris-based Bureau International des Expositions, is in Toronto urging the city to submit a bid to host Expo, the world’s fair, in 2025. Some say the event could build on the success of the Pan Am Games and galvanize government energy to jump-start Port Lands development. Others fear a costly boondoggle.
What were Canada’s previous Expos like?
Montreal’s Expo 67 is considered a massive success and key moment in Canada’s coming of age as it turned 100. The six-month “Man and His World”-themed festival drew representatives from 120 governments and more than 50 million visitors. Vancouver’s 1986 Expo was also a triumph, drawing more than 22 million visitors with a theme of “World in Motion — World in Touch,” and 65 pavilions showcasing themes from transportation to life in the Northwest Territories.