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Millie, the Guyanese macaw in Canada in 1967
Dear Editor,
Canada celebrated its 100th independence anniversary in 1967 with a grand world fair, Expo 67 held in French-speaking Montreal, Quebec. Guyana’s contingent to Expo67 included Millie, the Macaw (parrot). Millie arrived early for Expo 67 and she was kept on the exhibition grounds, as construction workers added the finishing touches to the pavilions. And Millie listened attentively as the workers were chatting and swearing.
When Expo 67 opened on April27, 1967, and when visitors arrived at the Guyana booth, Millie let out so many cuss-words in both English and French which she apparently learned from the construction workers. This forced the authorities to ask that she be banned from Expo 67 and be deported. So Millie was banned from Expo 67, and for the Christmas season that year special postage stamps were issued in Guyana featuring bilingual Millie.
In some quarters there were protests against putting a cussing parrot on a Christmas stamp. One member of the clergy asked why the Blessed Virgin Mary was not included, while another clergy member suggested in his news outlet that maybe the Guyana Post Office headquarters was overtaken by the Devil. Well, I suspect that the venerable clergy member might not have fully realized it then, that the Devil had already left, and replaced by that good, proud feeling of independence.
Wayne Jones
Hamilton, Ontario, Canada.
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