Nicole Who?

I wish the honourable Senator had spent her time pondering a replacement for the "rat" who heads the Conservative Party - a "tyrant" who is doing his level best to "wreak havoc" on the environment.

:)

By the way, had anyone ever heard of Senator Eaton before she stepped into the spotlight ... other than Mr. Eaton and all the little Eatons, I mean? No, I didn't think so.

I can't help but wonder

if this gambit to switch our symbol from the builder beavers to the top predator Polar bear isn't in fact a signal of the new role for Canada in world affairs.

Perhaps, as the carrion feeding eagle goes down to self destruction, Canadian military prowess is supposed to take up the slack...after all, it was our planes which help in the destructive bombing of Libyan infrastructure.

Are you ready for our new role in world affairs? Obviously, we need a better symbol for it.

Who cares.

The beaver is a symbol of the Hudson's Bay Co. form a era we would really all like to forget. The polar bear might son be extinct. I would get rid of the royalty symbols. Canada need a Queen a lot less than the beaver or any other.

Good idea!

You're right. Since human animals count as animals too, we could use the Queen or perhaps the Prince as our official animal. Or even David Suzuki.

I would miss the beaver though.

Here, here

Forget the symbol, the reality is worth our acknowledgement and admiration.

When in Fort McMurray I was struck by how the urban boundaries of the townfolk is surrounded by Beaver dams. On one side of the fence are rows of ticky tacks, little boxes in a row, pre-fab housing, and on the other side nature as developed by the Beaver.

And if you want to see how marvelous the Beaver can build dams just head up north.

Even when we attempt to prevent the Beaver from expanding its territory the animal comes up with the most ingenious methods to thwart our intentions.

To prevent a drainage culvert from being dammed up the authorities place a massive iron cage in front of the culvert. In short time one can see the Beavers already starting to adapt. With just small "hands" and a paddle for a tail they pack dirt up against the cage. Over a few years vegetation starts to grow and both the Beaver's work along with the vegetation the cage becomes an effective dam.

Now here is a superb candidate for the Order of BC and Canada.

At times one can see a Beavers along with their newborne in Jericho Beach park.

Keep the Queen

But surely the best argument for keeping the Queen is the alternative: President Harper with his picture hanging in the public place and the Toast to the President of Canada. I much prefer to drink the Loyal Toast the present lady who does not cost me much and who also does not interfere with my life.

But the noble polar bear is truly worthy of consideration. If we are going to bestride this narrow world, imagine the new icon with teeth beared in majestic ferocity. He hunts humans. He kills them. He eats them and wastes not. Let us now recommend him for at least the Order of Canada, as a start, and have the Senator hang the medal about his neck in person on an ice floe.

What did the beaver ever do to Senator Nicole Eaton?

She is an Eaton. the Hudson bay company owned the Beaver. Enough said.

But Citizen123..

...You can always get rid of Harper by electing someone else. The queen or the royals we are stuck with for what?

And she's on the payroll!

One of our politicians, who doesn't understand the history and nature of her country.

What the deuce! Beleagured beaver deserve better.

Grey Owl must be turning in his grave.

That said, at this time of year, there are beaver dams that have to have a small gap punched in them to allow salmon upstream to spawn. It is a temporary setback for the beaver, and they repair the damage overnight. Meanwhile hundreds or thousands of salmon make it upstream.

I have several beaver skulls in my collection, all collected from carcasses I might add, and beaver have AWESOME dentition.

Senator Eaton has been getting too much bed and not enough sleep. It doesn't do to go to work from a different direction every morning, especially in the same clothes.

So sensitive about changing symbols?

Canadians are identified with a buck-toothed cute rodent that builds dams. Yup that works for me. But then so would the elk or the polar bear, or the bison, or whatever. I'll bet that they had the same kind of discussions during the famous flag debate. But perish the thought that we should actually hear from a senator who is thinking about Canadian symbols and not on how soon she can get to Florida for the winter.

How many senators can you name besides Eaton? Don't look it up. How many?

Beavers of course.

When I was a kid I sat for hours beside a beaver pond and watched them. They were fascinating. Why do people always want savage predators as their symbol? Nutsy!

Beavers are also very courageous in defending their young and each other.

Wonderful symbol of a wonderful country.

The Beaver is a Survivor

The Beaver survived being hunted by fur trappers of yore...the Beaver will survive Climate Change and, hopefully, the nutty Eaton who has nothing better to do with her time than insult this fine and industrious animal. The Beaver is our national symbol and the majority of us like and respect him a lot more than we respect this Eaton woman!!

Senator Nicole Eaton has still a thing against beaver?

She may well belong to that DELETED FOR OFFENSIVE, SEXIST REMARKS. -- MODERATOR

Let me see, is there anything else I can say about Senator Nicole Eaton without getting my post deleted? Well, for one thing she is as out of touch with the real world as she can get and you could shoot the next Star Wars movie between her ears.

Why do people like her ever get elected? She is an embarrassment to her gender, to all politicians and to this country. It is a pity we can't burn witches at the stake, because if she were thrown into the Rideau Canal, tied to a chair, she would float for sure.

Apart from her rant against beaver I am sure she is a nice a nice person.