Edmonton EXPO 2017
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Edmonton Expo 2017 was a proposed bid to host an Expo in 2017 in the city of
Edmonton Edmonton ( ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Alberta. Edmonton is situated on the North Saskatchewan River and is the centre of the Edmonton Metropolitan Region, which is surrounded by Alberta's central region. The city ancho ...
, Alberta, Canada, during the
sesquicentennial of Canada The 150th anniversary of Canada, also known as the 150th anniversary of Confederation and promoted by the Canadian government as Canada 150, occurred in 2017 as Canada marked the sesquicentennial of Canadian Confederation. Planning Major pl ...
.


Bid details

In 2007, the City of Edmonton began a high-level assessment of a bid to host an expo in 2017 or 2020. A citizen committee comprising 40 community and business leaders participated in developing a conceptual report. The findings of the report suggest that there are sufficient and compelling reasons to proceed with developing a national bid and business plan for an expo in 2017. On October 29, 2008, Edmonton City Council approved pursuing this next step on the condition of
Government of Alberta The government of Alberta (french: gouvernement de l'Alberta) is the body responsible for the administration of the Canadian province of Alberta. As a constitutional monarchy, the Crown—represented in the province by the lieutenant governor—is ...
support and cost-sharing. City Council voted unanimously on April 15, 2009, to release funding for the project's 2009 phase: building a national bid and business case, which involved conducting feasibility studies and reviews of the viability and costs of holding an expo, consulting Edmontonians, evaluating potential sites and financing formulas, and developing a theme. In spring of 2009, the
Government of Canada The government of Canada (french: gouvernement du Canada) is the body responsible for the federal administration of Canada. A constitutional monarchy, the Crown is the corporation sole, assuming distinct roles: the executive, as the ''Crown ...
's
Department of Canadian Heritage The Department of Canadian Heritage, or simply Canadian Heritage (french: Patrimoine canadien), is the department of the Government of Canada that has roles and responsibilities related to initiatives that promote and support "Canadian identity ...
, through the
Federation of Canadian Municipalities The Federation of Canadian Municipalities (FCM, ''Fédération canadienne des municipalités'') is an advocacy group representing over 2000 Canadian municipalities. It is an organization with no formal power but significant ability to influence d ...
, distributed a request to Canadian cities to express their intent to bid on an EXPO in 2017. By May 29, 2009, Edmonton, Alberta and Calgary, Alberta formally expressed its intent to submit a national bid on November 30, 2009. Other Canadian cities that had expressed interest earlier did not formally express their intent to the Government of Canada by May 29. On July 20, 2009, the national bid received funding from the Government of Alberta. "An event like this provides a platform to celebrate the uniqueness and vibrancy of our capital city and province," said
Lindsay Blackett Lindsay Blackett (born February 8, 1961) is a Canadian politician and was a Member of the Legislative Assembly of Alberta, representing the constituency of Calgary-North West as a Progressive Conservative. Early life Blackett was born Febru ...
, Minister of Culture and Community Spirit. "I wish the City of Edmonton all the best in its bid preparations." On November 2, 2009, Calgary withdrew its intent to bid on an expo in 2017. At the end of the month, Edmonton submitted its bid to the Government of Alberta and Government of Canada. On May 13, 2010, Alberta Premier
Ed Stelmach Edward Michael Stelmach (; born May 11, 1951) is a Canadian politician and served as the 13th premier of Alberta, from 2006 to 2011. The grandson of Ukrainian immigrants, Stelmach was born and raised on a farm near Lamont and fluently speaks ...
announced that the Government of Alberta would support the international bid for Expo 2017. "We are certainly supporting Edmonton, the business community with its bid. I think it's the kind of energy and optimism that should be supported by the province," said Stelmach. "Should we be successful, there are three levels of government that will be expected to contribute," he added. News broke on November 22, 2010, that the federal government had declined to issue funds for the expo, effectively killing the bid.


Reception

The bid was criticized by the
Canadian Taxpayers Federation The Canadian Taxpayers Federation (CTF; french: Fédération canadienne des contribuables, link=no) is a federally incorporated, non-profit organization in Canada. It claimed 30,517 donors and 215,009 supporters in 2018–19. Voting membership, ...
for being excessively costly, calling it "a terrible idea". However, in a survey conducted in the summer of 2009, 83% of Albertans and Canadians supported an Edmonton bid.


See also

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World's fair A world's fair, also known as a universal exhibition or an expo, is a large international exhibition designed to showcase the achievements of nations. These exhibitions vary in character and are held in different parts of the world at a specif ...
*
Bureau of International Expositions The Bureau international des expositions (BIE; English: International Bureau of Expositions) is an intergovernmental organization created to supervise international exhibitions (also known as expos or world expos) falling under the jurisdiction ...
*
Expo 17 Expo 17 was a Canadian non-profit organization founded in 2005 to promote an international exposition, or world's fair, to celebrate the sesquicentennial of Canada in 2017. In 2007, the organization publicly unveiled a 51-page proposal, iFrencha ...


References


External links

* {{webarchive , url=https://web.archive.org/web/*/http://edmontonexpo2017.com/ , date=* , title=EXPO 2017 Official Site
EXPO 2017
on the City of Edmonton website
ExpoMuseum's Potential Bids for 2017 and 2018 Page
EXPO 2017 Expo 2017 Astana was an International Exposition which took place from June 10 to September 10, 2017 in Astana, Kazakhstan. The expo's theme was "Future Energy", and aimed to create a global debate between countries, nongovernmental organizati ...
Culture of Edmonton 2009 in Alberta 150th anniversary of Canada