Yves Jasmin, O.C.

Yves Jasmin was Director of Public Relations, Marketing and Communications for Expo 67. By the time Mr. Jasmin was hired for Expo, he had already worked for such prestigious institutions as The National Film Board of Canada, Molson Breweries and Air Canada, to name a few.

A brochure that beckoned, "Make your plans now to be there".

Yves Jasmin's job was not easy. In it's earliest stages, Expo 67 was not kindly received by the press or the general public. Montreal and Toronto newspapers ridiculed it, predicting that it would cost loads of money, and that it would surely flop... Mr. Jasmin recalls 14-hour days and a minuscule budget to try to convince foreign countries to participate by building pavilions, and to attract the millions of visitors Expo 67 would need to become a success. This was no small feat!

An information kiosk at the Queen Elizabeth Hotel, 1964.

History tells us Expo 67 was an enormous success that came to represent the golden years of Montreal mega-projects. Yves Jasmin received the Order of Canada in 1968 for his contribution to Expo. In 1997, he released La petite histoire d'Expo 67, a book that chronicles how, in his words, Expo rose out of the St. Lawrence river "like Botticelli's Venus". His book, like my blog, serves to keep the legacy of Expo alive in our collective memory. Needless to say, I've read it over and over...

In 2004, I contacted Mr. Jasmin. We've met on several occasions, and I am proud to consider him a personal friend. Last October, I did a 2-hour interview with him for John Whelan's Expo 67 website.

Click here for the web page.

An autograph and a photo with Yves Jasmin.



images: (1) Yves Jasmin's personal collection
(2) daryl.chin.gc.ca (3) expo67.ncf.ca
(4-5-6) author's personal collection