Ep. 083: The Legacy of EXPO 86

Guest: Jimmy Pattison

Expo 86 marked Vancouver's entrance onto the world stage.

The Transportation and Telecommunication Fair was a Class II specialized exhibition projected to attract 14 million visitors. It exceeded all expectations and in so doing transformed Vancouver’s place in the world.

In the lead up to the Fair, the economy of BC was in the doldrums. Former Tourism Minister Grace McCarthy went to the Premier with an idea she believed would jumpstart the economy and boost our confidence. Making it happen was anything but easy; former Mayor of Vancouver Mike Harcourt actively campaigned against it. Labour uncertainty in the province and on the Expo site worried Jimmy Pattison, the CEO of Expo 86. “I recommended at one time to Premier Bennett to not proceed with the fair until we got the labour situation sorted out.”

Pattison says because the Cold War was still on, getting a representative mix of countries on both sides of the Iron Curtain was challenging. “We had to get the Communists there, and who were the Communists? They were Cuba, they were Russia, and they were China. And of course we had to get the Americans there, actually which was one of the hardest things we did, was get the Americans.”

Thirty years later Expo 86 stands as the beginning of Vancouver’s transformation to an international city, one that is just starting to realize its full potential. The full story is still being written and decades away from being told.