Expo 67 - Foreign Dignitaries
Expo 67 was an incredible event. Even now, those Canadians, and especially Montrealers, who visited the fair site frequently still speak of it admiringly as if it happened last year. To put it in perspective, more than 50 million visitors attended the Expo at a time when Canada's population was only 20 million. Every day there were special events and days to celebrate countries and cultures. The Centre des Arts in Montreal as well as other theatres had six months of performances by top world class artists in the world of song, ballet, music, singing and plays. On the day of many of the country celebrations, the top political leader or royalty would come to Expo 67 to celebrate. The fair was visited by many of the most notable people of the day including Queen Elizabeth II, Lyndon Johnson, Princess Kelly of Monaco, Jacqueline Kennedy, Charles de Gaulle, Queen Juliana of the Netherlands, Harry Belafonte, Robert Kennedy, Thelonious Monk, Ed Sullivan, Maurice Chevalier, Ethiopian Emperor Selassie, Carol Channing and Robert Wagner.
  
Queen Juliana. For me, the highlight of all the foreign dignitaries visiting Canada and Expo 67 was Queen Juliana of Holland. I have always admired the Dutch Royal Family and how they related to the Dutch population. When we heard over the radio that her plane was about to land at Dorval airport, we rushed out there and joined the crowd out on the observation deck, all Dutchies of course. She was greeted by Canadian officials and then, unexpectedly, instead of getting in the limousine she started to walk across the tarmac. Her security detail was not that thrilled with that move. She later explained that after a seven hour flight, I needed to stretch my legs. Walking straight towards the observation deck, Guus got all excited and yelled "Leve de koningin" (Long live the Queen). She looked up and waved to the crowd. That was an emotional moment for us. We were very fortunate to have received an invitation to a reception for the Queen at the beautiful Chateau Champlain Hotel in downtown Montreal. We had an opportunity to speak with her majesty and when Guus mentioned the airport encounter. She laughed it off saying that the security people weren't too happy about it. 
  
Charles de Gaulle. I never cared for de Gaulle as I found his air of pretentious grandeur hard to swallow. But it seemed he fit right in with the people of France. Some considered him a hero. The Quiet Revolution had begun in Quebec and separatists were beginning to make rumblings. De Gaulle was ostensibly in Canada to visit Montreal's Expo '67, an exposition organized in honor of the Canadian confederation's centennial. He refused, however, an invitation to visit Ottawa and address the Canadian parliament, choosing instead to arrive in Quebec by a French warship that refused to fly the Canadian flag, a violation of international law. Wearing his general's uniform, he visited Quebec City and then traveled to Montreal. De Gaulle, desiring, in his view, to redeem France for its lack of support to the French settlers facing English conquest 200 years before, endorsed the claims for an autonomous if not independent Quebec and uttered his famous "Vivre le Quebec libre" from the balcony of the Montreal city hall on July 24.  By repeating the slogan of a Québec separatist party, De Gaulle provoked a diplomatic incident that resulted in the cancellation of his visit and initiated an incredible campaign of French interference in the domestic affairs of Canada. De Gaulle's Montreal speech was condemned by Canadian Prime Minister Lester Pearson, who called it "unacceptable" and said "the people of Canada are free. Every province of Canada is free. Canadians do not need to be liberated. Indeed, many thousands of Canadians gave their lives in two world wars in the liberation of France". Pierre Trudeau, then Minister of Justice, asked what the French reaction would be if a Canadian Prime Minister shouted “Brittany to the Bretons?” After these rebukes, De Gaulle cut short his trip and went home. Interestingly, when Ben visited France in the late 90s, he uncovered that Trudeau's words were an understatement as it is in fact illegal in France to talk of separation. In other words, de Gaulle had misused a Canadian right which he had granted to separatists in France. He was no friend of Canada.
  
Lyndon B. Johnson. The America pavilion, as high as a 20-storey building, became "the" focal point on the Île Sainte-Hélène site. In the space of six months it was visited by 5.3 million people, making it the busiest pavilion at Expo 67. Its six inner floors, on the theme "Creative America", contained several hundred artifacts and works of art bearing witness to American genius, and some of the space rockets actually used in the Apollo program. However, everyone agreed that the highlight of the presentation was the building itself. The huge sphere, with a diameter of more than 80 meters, was imposing from the outside but discreet from the inside. At night, it was transformed into a sparkling jewel that dominated the landscape. In 1967, Buckminster Fuller, the designer, celebrated his 50th wedding anniversary, and dedicated the dome to his wife Anne when they visited the site in April of that year. On June 25, Lyndon B. Johnson, President of the United States, arrived at Expo 67 in a helicopter. Security was tight because of the war in Vietnam and in the Middle East. The person in charge of raising the American flag during the ceremony at Place des Nations also received threats. The Boy Scouts of Canada was assigned the task of raising the flag during Expo 67. The scout leader wore a bullet-proof vest and performed his task with no problems other than the accidental tearing of the flag as it was being raised. After the ceremony, the president visited the United States pavilion, where he was presented with the United States' gift for Canada's centenary: an enormous piece of crystal engraved with the coats of arms of Canada's ten provinces and two territories. President Johnson was at Expo for less than an hour. He then flew to Ottawa for a brief meeting with Prime Minister Lester B. Pearson. His wife, Claudia Taylor Johnson, known as Lady Bird, spent two days visiting Expo 67 and Montreal in late August. She was completely enchanted by her visit.