Expo ’67
In 1967, Canada celebrated its centenary by holding International and Universal Exposition (known as Expo) in Montréal that year. The theme as Man and His World. It was huge undertaking, and it turned out to be one of the most successful fairs of the twentieth century. Almost 55 million people came to visit. Learn more about Expo67 on Wikipedia.
It also turned out to be a wildly popular attraction for the Latvian community.
Under the leadership of Viktors Upeslācis, the Latvian National Federation in Canada, in collaboration with the Baltic Federation in Canada, spent three years preparing for the event. They extensively lobbied the Canadian government to allow the Latvian Canadian community to participate and represent the independent Republic of Latvia. In conjunction with the Montréal Latvian community, they also planned an ambitious Latvian Days program over the Victoria Day weekend. Their efforts yielded partial success. Because Canada did not recognize the Soviet occupation of Latvia as legal, the Latvian community was allowed to participate in the opening ceremonies under the red-white-red flag of independent Latvia.
Each Baltic Canadian community was granted a national day. Latvian Day was Saturday, May 20. The Latvians planned a two-day event. The first day was to take place at the Place des Nations on the Expo67 grounds, while the second day was took place at venues in the City of Montreal. It was to be a mini-song festival with 300 singers and some 180 dancers. In addition to the local choir and folk dance group, Ačkups, there were more groups from Toronto, Hamilton, and St. Catharines, and even a choir from Boston, United States. The choral performance was led by Arvīds Purvs and the dance event by Zigurds Miezītis, both of Toronto.
Photo: Latvian dance groups on stage at Expo67 with the mass choir in the background on the wooden stage that was built at the last minute.
For additional Expo photos, see the Montreal Community section.
Three months before the event, LNAK received the disturbing news that the Latvian community would not be allowed to perform at the Places des Nations, the official performance venue on the Expo67 grounds for the participating nations. The Canadian government was clearly under pressure from the Soviets. This became a matter of some debate at the Baltic Federation. The Lithuanian community decided to withdraw from the event in protest, while the Estonians were less concerned because they had planned a smaller event.
Festival organizers offered the Latvian community an alternative performance space in a grassy field away from the main festival venues, which would make it difficult to attract attention and bring in foot traffic. The Latvians decided to accept the offer anyway, and the organizers hurriedly built a wooden stage to accommodate the Latvian show.
The cold reality was that the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics was also a prominent participant at Expo67. They built the most expensive national pavilion at a cost of $15 million in celebration of the fiftieth anniversary of the Russian Revolution. They also brought with them contingents from each Soviet republic, including one from occupied Latvia—the Latvian Soviet Socialist Republic. It was the first time the exile Latvian Canada community came face to face with representatives from Soviet-occupied Latvia. Some were top-flight musicians, artists and culture workers. Some were KGB operatives.
The Latvian community was very interested in the attractions from the Latvian SSR that the Soviet pavilion had to offer. It had, after all, been more than 20 years since they had fled the country and almost 30 years since the last normal days of the Latvian Republic. Some community activists observed this phenomenon and determined that the community should be in contact with the culture and arts sector in Soviet-occupied Latvia. It set up a dynamic of tension between those who considered it a priority to work on maintaining governmental policies of non-recognition of the Soviet occupation versus those who prioritized cultural connections. This was a highly divisive topic and had long-term ramifications for the Latvian community in Canada. It was also not unique to Canada—other Latvian communities abroad endured the same debate.