I guess Ms. Eaton got her 15 minutes of fame alright. As of this morning the google tells me that there are 154 articles on her friday floor speech to replace the ‘dentally defective rodent’ with the lands largest carnivore. Unfortunately for her, lots of the articles look like this:
While it’s true that a polar bear would surely win a fight between the two mammals in the wilderness and the bakery – where bear claws trump beaver tails – we’ll put our money on the incumbent beaver if this ridiculous, expensive notion of “emblem makeover” ever makes its way into the Senate floor.
Beavers have served this country well for over a century, assuming a strong, proud pose on our nickels and the Hudson’s Bay Company coat of arms. Beaver Lumber was a fine, all-Canadian retail chain, The Beaver (now called Canada’s History) was a respected magazine. In a down economy, beavers can be counted on for make-work projects like dams. They are also an organic member of the forest industry.
It is not time to replace the beaver as our national symbol, but it is well past time that Eaton took a cue from the dentally defective rodent and got busy on something more constructive.
I have to commend Sen. Nicole Eaton for making headlines on a slow news day seriously debating the pros and cons of the beaver versus the polar bear.
I think the citizens of Canada put you in charge of thinking a little more in depth about situations than that. Try your hand at social issues or ending poverty or something to get your 15 minutes of fame before you waste more of our taxes looking into changing a Canadian icon.
Polar bears are strong and majestic looking, so it’s easy to see their appeal over squat and toothy rodents. But looks, dear senator, aren’t everything. And what’s really curious (besides how this could possibly be a matter for the Senate to worry about) is why, as a Conservative, Eaton doesn’t see more to love in the beaver. They really are on the right side of so many issues.
They’re big on history. The lucrative trade in beaver pelts drove exploration in much of the country and formed the basis of our early economy. Beavers played a “formative role in the creation of Canada,” according to the Canadian Encyclopedia. No one ever says that about the polar bear. Yes, fashion is fickle and beaver fur has fallen out of favour. But, it could be argued, their tails have more than filled that void. Fried dough drenched in sugar — there’s no dessert named after a polar bear that can beat that.
Socially and fiscally, beavers fit the Conservative bill, too. They mate for life and their older offspring care for the younger ones. Why, if we were all like that, demands for a national daycare program would cease. Wouldn’t that be music to Stephen Harper’s ears? Each beaver family can maintain acres of wetland — creating valuable habitat and environmental benefits — and they don’t charge a dime for it. And when some of the furry fellas decide to munch on the good senator’s Muskoka cottage dock that, it could be said, helps the economy by creating new construction jobs.
Most animals take what comes their way but the beaver, second only to us, changes its landscape. They even have their own verb: it means to work hard. The polar bear, for all its “strength, courage, resourcefulness and dignity,” which Eaton so admires, is under serious distress from warming temperatures and loss of sea ice for hunting. There’s nothing the polar bear can do about it. In fact, it’s a bit odd that a Conservative senator wants to draw attention to the polar bear at all. The climate change file isn’t exactly the Harper government’s strong suit.
Eaton has put out her call to trade in a “19th-century has-been for a 21st-century hero.” We say the beaver is found across the nation, is a hard worker, cares for family, contributes to the community and yet is no pushover. What better national emblem could we have?
Long live the beaver!
Nice. Who knew beavers were so political? I mean, besides every single person who has ever lived in the city of Martinez? Or anywhere in Contra Costa? Or the greater Bay Area? Or the entire West Coast? Never mind.
Beavers ARE political. Everyone knows that.
