I’ve avoided the Canadian National Exhibition for the past several years because it was tired and old and for me just not all that interesting. In the spirit of Rediscovering my Toronto, I sallied forth to the “Ex” the other day.

I wanted to be pleasantly surprised. I hate to say this but I wasn’t. Nothing I came across there sparked my imagination or made me smile or even felt inviting. I avoided all the weird deep-fried food – I don’t think this old body can even digest that junk anymore. Instead, I opted for a passable banh mi in the Food Building.

I got past any sentimental or nostalgic ideas I may have come in with fairly quickly and found myself thinking, this is bone lazy. Nobody has tried to really make the CNE something special or even fun in a long time. I can’t imagine it will last many more years without a top-to-bottom rethink. If I’m wrong, tell me about it in the comments.