Canada urged to swap beaver emblem for bear
Conservative senator calls beaver 'toothy tyrant'
The Canadian Press Posted: Oct 27, 2011 6:51 PM ET
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/windsor/story/2011/10/27/north-polar-bear-emblem.html
A Conservative senator says it's time Canada was symbolized by something more majestic than a buck-toothed rodent. Senator Nicole Eaton wants the polar bear to replace the beaver as an official emblem of Canada.
Senator Nicole Eaton calls the beaver a 'dentally defective rat.'(Parliament of Canada)
She says the polar bear is Canada's "most majestic and splendid mammal," and a powerful symbol in the lives of aboriginal peoples in the North. She believes the furry white carnivore's "strength, courage, resourcefulness and dignity" add up to an appropriate symbol for modern-day Canada.
By contrast, she derides the lowly beaver as a "19th century has-been," a "dentally defective rat," a "toothy tyrant" and a nuisance that wreaks havoc on its environment.
Eaton acknowledges the beaver's involuntary role in founding Canada — providing the fashionable pelts that fuelled the fur trade — but she says it's now time for a change.