Local dessert stand backs the beaver as Canada’s mascot
BeaverTails co-owner Grant Hooker speaks in support of the beaver as Canada’s national symbol. NOURISH // ALEX BOYD
BY ALEX BOYD
BeaverTails is taking a stand, and they’ve got a new 12-foot monument dedicated to the beaver to prove it.
The Ontario-based chain known for its fried-dough desserts isn’t happy about Senator Nicole Eaton’s recent suggestion that the polar bear should be the new face of Canada, kicking out Canada’s most famous wetland-dweller in the process.
“Recent questions regarding the beaver’s suitability as a symbol of Canada and its people cause deep concern,” said Grant Hooker, co-founder of BeaverTails Canada Inc. in a press before the monument’s debut on Tuesday. “We can hold our tails quiet no longer. We must sound an alarm and we are doing that in the heart of the nation’s capital.”
The bustling BeaverTails location in the Byward Market now sports a polar bear-sized sign emblazoned with a large cartoon beaver perched above the word ‘Canada,’ spelled out with tiny yellow lights. The monument was unveiled by Hooker, who founded the BeaverTails chain with his wife in 1978.
“We’re here to stand up on our haunches and support our national symbol,” he announced, a large stuffed beaver at his side.
“Beavers and Canadians have a lot in common,” he said, noting a shared work ethic, commitment to the environment and family values.
Hooker takes particular offense to the negative comments Eaton has made about the beaver in the past, vowing that “we are not going to let them go unchallenged.”
He was especially dismissive of Eaton’s criticism of the beavers who have been snacking on the supports holding up the dock at her lake cottage.
“I’m sure if she was at her lake and she saw something swimming toward her, she would prefer that animal to be a beaver, to a polar bear,” he said.
The National Post released a study on Nov. 4 that suggested the polar bear is gaining support as the traditional beaver loses popularity. This conclusion was reached after an analysis of two weeks of online debate on Twitter.
The study found that four per cent of respondents thought the polar bear was “majestic looking” and “alarmingly handsome,” whereas 11 per cent thought of the beaver as a “dentally defective rat.”
However, clearly not everyone thinks the beaver should be so easily dismissed.
Micheal Dean is an Ottawa resident who stopped by Tuesday’s event to grab a BeaverTail pastry.
“The beaver is more synonymous with Canada,” he said. “When people think of polar bears, it’s already used for Coca Cola and a bunch of other corporations.”
“Anywhere I go in the world, if you have beaver paraphernalia, people associate that with Canada.”
As Hooker puts it, “Long live the beaver, vive le castor!”
