1967 is remembered as one of the most notable years in Canada. It was Canada's centenary and celebrations were held throughout the nation. The most prominent event was Expo 67 in Montreal, the most successful World's Fair ever and one of the first events to win international acclaim for the country. Montreal would later host the Summer Olympics of 1976, which also brought international attention.
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.
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 Final until 1986.
Author and historian Pierre Berton has famously referred to 1967 as "Canada's last good year". 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. Toronto hockey fans also note that the Maple Leafs have not won a Stanley Cup since.
April 27: Expo 67 Official Opening Ceremony broadcast in color live via satellite to an estimated worldwide audience of 700 million viewers and listeners.
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.
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