What a journey we have taken together. Expo is an inspirational event and so many of us have been inspired.
When Prime Minster Justin Trudeau declared at an UN-sponsored climate change conference after his election that “Canada is back,” we were hoping this also meant that Toronto is back—that our city was ready to seize the extraordinary opportunity of hosting the largest event on the plant, Expo 2025.
But as you are now aware, Mayor John Tory and his Executive Committee voted on October 26 to “not support the development of a bid to host Expo 2025 in Toronto.” Their decision was made after hearing five hours of deputations where each and every speaker spoke intelligently, urgently and passionately on how Expo 2025 would be an accelerating and exceptional city-building pursuit for Toronto.
Despite building a solid business case with tangible benefits that are irrefutable and convening an energized and diverse citizen coalition for Expo 2025, we must accept the stark reality that a bid from Toronto is not winnable without the active support of the Mayor.
For those of us who have been working hard to bring the World Expo to Toronto, we were not surprised when city staff stated in their Expo 2025 Feasibility Considerations report: “Expo 2025 has the potential to be the largest and most impactful economic and cultural event held in Canada since Expo ’67.”
Despite building a solid business case with tangible benefits that are irrefutable and convening an energized and diverse citizen coalition for Expo 2025, we must accept the stark reality that a bid from Toronto is not winnable without the active support of the Mayor.
A Mayor’s enthusiasm, soft power and tenacity has to be on full display when securing Expo support and funding from the other orders of government. The Bureau International des Expositions (BIE), the organization that sanctions the Expo, has made it clear that unwavering political leadership and support from the host city’s Mayor is most important when competing internationally for member nation votes.
The Expo 2025 Canada team accepts that we don’t have Mayor Tory’s support for an Expo 2025 bid and as such we will be putting aside our current campaign efforts at this upcoming City Council. Despite this difficult decision, we remain committed to bringing Expo back to Canada. We remain hopeful that Mayor Tory can take inspiration from all of you and choose to lead us in a bid for Expo 2030.
It takes a truly transformative event to bring together this cross-section of our City. This is the magic of Expo 2025. I want to see this magic continue. We cannot lose the spark that has been ignited in so many through Expo 2025.
The effort to bring Expo 2025 to Toronto has brought together an incredibly diverse coalition—leaders from the arts and business, community groups and the labour movement. Truly we had the widest group of thought leaders join the pro-Expo movement–from the Mississaugas of the New Credit First Nation to the entire board of the Toronto Stock Exchange, 30 start-up companies including youth entrepreneurs in Rexdale, as well as social innovators and immigration settlement services in Scarborough and the arts communities of North York. It was breathtaking. It was the face of Toronto.
It takes a truly transformative event to bring together this cross-section of our City. This is the magic of Expo 2025. I want to see this magic continue. We cannot lose the spark that has been ignited in so many through Expo 2025. The imagination that has been lit by Expo is what Toronto needs for ‘Big Thinking’ to happen. Over the coming weeks and months, I will be reaching out to you to hear your thoughts and ideas on how we can transform this energy and enthusiasm into an ongoing discussion about big ideas for our city and country.
City Council will be voting on the Expo Feasibility Report at 9:30am on Wednesday, November 9th in the City Hall Council Chambers (100 Queen St. W). I welcome you to join and show City Council that the movement behind Expo is strong and alive.
Sincerely,
Kristyn Wong-Tam