Canada at 150

Happy Canada Day!!

Do fifty years a difference make?

Once upon a time the symbol for Canada's 100th year.

In the lead-up to Canada's 150th birthday, I just didn't see or feel that same tremendous sense of celebratory anticipation that July 1, 1967, genuinely stirred-up in Canadians, including those years in the lead-up to the actual centennial date.

In the early 1960's, this country really came together and pulled out all the stops to celebrate Canada's 100th birthday.


I was a Gazette paper boy that year...

And early that particular April morning I was tasked with delivering this heavy 152 page special edition. Fortunately I was able to borrow a friend's wagon for the only day in the three years I was a carrier that I had to use a wagon to deliver my route.

See that small box on the top left corner... the Habs may have won game four 6-2 to tie the Stanley Cup series that spring, however, the Toronto Maple Leafs went on to win the cup in game 6.

Here's an example...

Try to imagine private enterprise doing something like this today.

Did you get to ride on this?

Ah yes... not to be confused with Canadian Pacific Railway's train "Expo Limited" mentioned right above.

The Expo Express was a rapid transit system consisting of five stations and a 3.5 mile route, running from Cite du Havre to La Ronde in Montreal, Quebec. Built for the 1967 World's Fair Expo 67 at a cost of around $18 million (CAD), these trains carried 1,000 passengers each and ran approximately every five minutes.(Wikipedia)

Remember these?

First, you'd have to be old enough to remember.

One can only wonder how many millions of these are squirreled-away in the hope that they may one day be valuable. Not likely ever in my opinion... and it won't buy today what it could 50 years ago.

Is that right?

This unchanged and enduring Canadian symbol has been around longer than the Canadian flag.

The dollar bill may have disappeared along with most passenger trains but the CN noodle is still around.

The more things change the more they stay the same...

but maybe they shouldn't stay the same

Canada's 2017 PM

Canada's 1967 PM

What was that line about history rhyming but not repeating itself?

Never mind.

Lines that rhyme don't necessarily make for good prose and poetry.


Anyway...

Happy Canada Day!

The Oddblock Station Agent