After locking horns with Norway over who had the largest moose statue, Moose Jaw could have again faced a similar fight — except this time with a Canadian community.
Mac the Moose regained his worldly reputation for being the tallest moose on Oct. 10 after he regrew a larger set of antlers. Not more than seven days later, however, a mayor in a small town in Quebec pitched the idea of building the world’s largest moose statue as part of a children’s amusement park.
Mayor Nicolas Martel of Desbiens, Que., suggested the moose would pay tribute to Aboriginal people and the area’s first pioneers, while it would also be a nod to the many hunters in the area.
Luckily for Mac, though, Martel changed his tune three days later and announced he wouldn’t contend with Moose Jaw over who had the tallest moose statue. Martel told The Canadian Press (CP) that he wants Mac to be friends with his yet-to-be built Quebec counterpart. This would provide some insurance against anyone who might try to challenge Canada again for the record.
Desbiens is a town of just over 1,000 in Quebec’s Lac-St-Jean region. Martel explained that he initially wanted to get into the friendly feud and build a moose to surpass both towns, before having a change of heart.
“We saw that it stung the people in the Moose Jaw, so to be right with them, what we’ll do out of respect for them, given it’s part of the name of the municipality, we'll make our statue the same size as them but leave them with the record,” Martel told CP.
“We’ll assure that if the Norwegians decide to come back with a bigger statue, we'll be ready to reclaim the title for Canada because ours will be able to expand.”
According to CBC, Martel was unaware that Mac was getting a makeover and said it was just a coincidence that his announcement with media came days after Mac was fitted with new antlers, creating concerns about a new challenger. Martel assured he wanted to work in tandem with Moose Jaw officials.
“We want to work as a team with Moose Jaw — all with respect for our Canadian cousins,” he added.
The Quebec moose — the centrepiece of a children’s amusement park that officials expect to start building next year — is being built near a former fur trading post that has been turned into a museum, which is struggling to stay afloat. Martel noted the $500,000 project has been in the works for years. The construction of the moose would be part of the first phase next spring.
Martel did reach out to officials in Moose Jaw after announcing that his community wouldn’t built a moose to rival Mac.
Jacki L’Heureux-Mason, executive director of Tourism Moose Jaw, told the Express that this is not an issue or concern for her or the City of Moose Jaw.
“If they build it, then we’ll deal with it as we need to. But at this point, there is nothing to be worried about,” she said.
Mac the Moose fans, breathe easy. Your community mascot can celebrate his world title in peace — for now, anyway.
