If I were to tell you two countries were currently fighting about something, I’d expect your mind to immediately jump to politics.
Why wouldn’t it? The political landscape is so fraught at the moment, it’d be a surprise to absolutely nobody that tensions between different countries are rising.
But what if I told you the two countries involved are Canada, aka the nicest country ever, and Norway, aka the so-called best place in the world? Because that’s exactly what’s happening – and it’s all over a moose.
That’s right – Canada and Norway are currently involved in a brawl regarding a moose. Not a real moose, but statues of the animal which are erected in each respective country. I’m not sure which is worse…
Firstly, we have Mac the Moose, who was built in Canada in 1984 – in a city called Moose Jaw. Standing at 32 feet tall, the statue was the largest moose sculpture in the world for more than 30 years.
That is, until Norway decided they wanted a piece of the pie and broke the world record in 2015, building a (nearly) 33 foot moose sculpture named Storelgen.
Fraser Tolmie, mayor of the Saskatchewan city of Moose Jaw, told The New York Times both he and his town were taking the building of Norway’s sculpture ‘personally’.
He explained:
We take this personally. There are some things that you just don’t do to Canadians: You don’t water down our beer, you don’t tell us we can’t put maple syrup on our pancakes, and you don’t mess with Mac the Moose.
To say Canada is not happy would be an understatement. You’d be mistaken if you thought they were taking it lying down though – Mac is one thing Canada is not willing to be polite about.
The country is determined to do anything in its power to bring Mac back to his former glory – the mayor has even asked the public for suggestions on how they can make the sculpture bigger.
In a video streamed to Facebook, Mayor Tolmie said Mac was ‘practically family’ to him, and asked the public for inspiration on how to beat Norway.
He said:
What are the people of Moose Jaw willing to do to overcome this situation? Mac the Moose was the tallest moose in the whole world, and the people of Norway have taken that from us. Well I’m not gonna stand for it folks, and I need your help.
Mayor Tolmie's Wants To Know How We Can Make Mac The Moose Bigger
Mayor Tolmie is asking for suggestions on how Mac can reclaim his title of "World's Tallest Moose"! Tourism Moose Jaw Tourism Saskatchewan Norway Tourism Explore Canada Justin and Greg
Posted by City of Moose Jaw on Tuesday, 15 January 2019
And the people of Canada have delivered; a GoFundMe page has been set up by comedians Justin Reves and Greg Moore to make Mac the world’s largest moose again.
The page states:
We believe it is our duty as Canadians to not stand idly by while our national treasures are insulted with this creation.
Together, we will reclaim the title of World’s Tallest Moose for Mac and the people of Moose Jaw.
So far, $2,445 has been raised of the $50,000 goal – which I have to say is pretty impressive to say it’s all for a moose.
Even if they reach their target though, it isn’t to say they’ll reclaim their former glory; Norway have responded saying they won’t let go of the title easily.
Speaking to Dagbladet, the mayor of Stor-Elvdal, Terje Hoffstad, said he has no plans to let go of the title as the world’s largest moose sculpture:
We have watched the video and we will follow up. We are considering measures.
Hoffstad says he has contacted the artist who made the statue, Linda Bakke, about possible ways to extend Norway’s sculpture.
He explained:
We are happy with the challenge. She [Bakke] wants to check out what it will cost to make one that is 20 metres high.
However, he admitted they are currently at the ‘joke stage’ with their discussions, so maybe we won’t see any major moose extensions in the near future?
Or maybe we will, who knows.
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A Broadcast Journalism Masters graduate who went on to achieve an NCTJ level 3 Diploma in Journalism, Lucy has done stints at ITV, BBC Inside Out and Key 103. While working as a journalist for UNILAD, Lucy has reported on breaking news stories while also writing features about mental health, cervical screening awareness, and Little Mix (who she is unapologetically obsessed with).