back to article Canada founded on 'relentless pursuit of beaver'

A Canadian politician has rather deliciously insisted that vast tracts of his nation were opened by "the relentless pursuit of beaver", an agreeable concept that for some reason conjures an image of Silvio Berlusconi furiously paddling a kayak through white water rapids in pursuit of a fleeing supermodel. The description of …

COMMENTS

This topic is closed for new posts.
  1. Purlieu
    Holmes

    ok then

    have a polar bear eating a beaver

  2. atomic jam
    Coffee/keyboard

    Canadian Beaver

    I went on the same search ten years ago.

    How time flies.

    Americanised keyboards, the ", sorry, @ is in the wrong place!

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: Canadian Beaver

      "I went on the same search ten years ago. How time flies."

      And it's taken until now to consult all the pages that came up in that search for "canadian beaver"?

      1. atomic jam

        Re: Re: Canadian Beaver

        Yes!

  3. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Ha ha beaver.

    Ha. Beaver. That realy funny.

    Oh, jolly sorry chaps. Thought I was posting on youtube for a second.

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      First..

      Bitch...

      sorry....had to be done.

  4. Hollerith 1

    Being a Canuck myself...

    ...and knowing our history, the chap is exactly right. All of Canada was explored and settled by fur-traders. Unlike the USA, with its emphasis on the wagon-train and horse-rider, Canada was a land developed by those in canoes. Thus the beaver would be a good symbol on all counts. I always thought a dried beaver pelt would have been a better symbol for all of Canada than a maple leaf, which is associated with the east more than the west.

    But after reflection, I realised that this could and would be taken in vain by teenage boys down the centuries, so it's just as well we chose a leaf for our flag.

    1. Stumpy

      Surely you'd use the leaf to cover your beaver?

  5. Armando 123
    Pint

    Another image

    "conjures an image of Silvio Berlusconi furiously paddling a kayak through white water rapids in pursuit of a fleeing supermodel."

    Or an average Tuesday night in the Clinton White House.

  6. BoxedSet
    Coat

    I believe many a weekend foray into town is accompanied by a cry of "Let's shoot some beaver!"...

    Bravo, I say... before quickly grabbing my coat. Its the one with a copy of razzle in the pocket

  7. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    national emblem.

    "proposal to replace the beaver with the polar bear as the country's national emblem."

    Did anyone outside Canada notice the change from the maple leaf?

    1. mark 63 Silver badge
      Paris Hilton

      so its not the maple leaf?

      I asumed there was a difference between "national symbol animal" , and flag

    2. J.G.Harston Silver badge
      Joke

      Red field with union flag in the corner

      I never noticed the change /to/ the maple leaf ;)

    3. mark 63 Silver badge

      so its not the maple leaf?

      I asumed there was a difference between "national symbol animal and flag"

    4. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Devious Canadians

      It's a beaver disguised as a maple leaf.

  8. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Industry

    He added: "You can't beat a beaver for stoic hard work and industry, ..."

    It looks like he is talking about the oldest profession.

  9. Yet Another Anonymous coward Silver badge

    Beavers are cuye and furry

    Just like Canadians - Polar bears are big and scary!

    There is a serous side to this. The senator is from the Candian equivalent of the Republicans and there have been a whole series of measures to make canada more US-Republican like. The armed forces are to be renamed Royal-Army, Royal-Airforce, Royal-Navy. National anthem is to be promoted in schools.

    They have had a couple of narrow elections and in the last one the NDP (old-labour) came from nowhere to a close second so the conservatives want to make the country more conservative - along US lines.

  10. rpjs
    Coat

    And in related news,

    Finnbar Saunders announces he is emigrating.

  11. HP Cynic

    They could easily have both a Polar Bear and a Beaver flanking a Maple Leaf or something.

    But using a Polar Bear is risky in itself as global warming is driving them towards extinction - would such a symbol help raise awareness of their plight or quickly become a relic of a near-mythical creature.

  12. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Aren't Polar bears endangered

    Just askin'

  13. TRT Silver badge

    I don't think they are planning on changing the flag from a maple leaf, but I'd rather have a beaver on my flagpole than a bear.

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      re: "I'd rather have a beaver on my flagpole than a bear"

      How about a cougar?

  14. This post has been deleted by its author

  15. Sloping Shoulders
    Happy

    Two Beavers are better than one

    Can't let this thread go without posting a link to the classic song from How I Met your Mother http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1hqklWJxUTo

  16. earl grey
    Paris Hilton

    you can't beat a beaver

    I'll just have to ask....

    paris, because....

    1. Pascal Monett Silver badge

      Feels like motto material to me ;)

  17. Anonymous Coward
    Coat

    And from a conservationist's point of view.

    Save a tree...eat a beaver!

  18. Robert Moore
    Coat

    As a Canadian

    I have spent most of my life in the 'relentless pursuit of beaver', Nice to know there is an historical reason why I felt this compulsion.

  19. peyton?
    Paris Hilton

    "dentally defective rat"

    I'm pretty sure their teeth are supposed to be that way.

  20. Anonymous Coward
    Happy

    I for one believe MP Pat Martin!!

    While I have never confirmed this on a national scale, painstaking observation during my college years does in fact confirm that keg parties are often formed in relentless pursuit of beaver!!

  21. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Apparently, the driving force is beaver... first, last, and always.

    Can't remember the last time I saw one, though.

    ...and where's the IT? Never mind!

  22. ravenviz Silver badge
    Stop

    Where is...

    ...Sarah when we need her to moderate this peurile rant?

  23. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    And while you're chasing beaver...

    ...here's what to drink.

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y09YOkVmGg0&sns=em

  24. Dodgy Pilot
    Thumb Up

    The leisure activities of my Canadian friends certainly lend credence to the Beaver hunt theory.

    New Canadian Emblem: A Polar bear, wearing a maple leaf, stroking a Beaver.

    I'd vote for that :)

  25. Alan Brown Silver badge

    Aren't Polar Bears Irish?

    Thinking about it that might make it even more relevant as the canadian national flag.

This topic is closed for new posts.

Other stories you might like