South Korea's Expo 2012 Too Pricey for Canada

Couldn't we just set up a Beaver Tails stand and a beer tent?

The federal government, which has totally been seen eating raw ramen noodles straight from the package lately, says it's way too poor to pay for a Canada pavilion at next year's Expo 2012 in South Korea. Heritage Minister James Moore* said "thanks, but no thanks" to the South Korean government's pitch of setting up a pavilion next year, as doing so would be a bit of a luxury in a time of supposed fiscal restraint (but don't tell the prison industry that). Plus, reports suggest that Canada isn't much of a draw at the world's fair anyway, and that interest only picks up when we throw in some Cirque du Soleil performers, as we did for Expo 2010 in Shanghai. World's fairs have long been seen as a good way of striking up business relations with host countries and stoking interest in tourism. Canada hosted them in Montreal in 1967 (which our parents still won't shut up about) and again in 1986 in Vancouver.

*= An earlier version of this post incorrectly identified Immigration Minister Jason Kenney as the minister who responded to the South Korean offer. This post has been amended with the correct cabinet minister.