Statue stature: Moose Jaw wants to reclaim tallest moose title

Moose Jaw’s looking to reclaim the title of world’s tallest moose statue.

For more than three decades, Mac the Moose held the record at around 9.75 metres (32 feet) tall.

However, in 2015, Norway stole the crown when a silver moose statue was built in between its capital city of Oslo and Trondheim, narrowly edging out Mac by 30 centimetres.

On Jan. 11, Saskatchewan social media personalities Justin and Greg posted a video on Facebook, demanding Moose Jaw recover the title.

In a response video, Mayor Fraser Tolmie said he’s taking the fight personally, noting his family has a connection to Mac because it was named after his wife’s great-uncle and former city councillor, Les MacKenzie.

“There are some things you just don’t do to Canadians — you don’t water down their beer, you don’t tell them they can’t put maple syrup on their pancakes and you don’t mess with Mac the Moose,” Tolmie told 980 CJME on Thursday.

“(The Norwegians) purposely built a moose bigger than ours, but we’re going to be dignified and we’re going to win.”

Now, Tourism Moose Jaw has launched a serious campaign, asking people for suggestions on how Mac can make up the extra height.

So far, executive director Jacki L’Heaureaux-Mason said there have been more than 300 ideas — most of them coming from people outside the city.

“We’ve had people suggest maybe having a Mountie hold up a cup of Tim Horton’s coffee … to Warriors and Roughriders helmets, to skates,” she listed.

Clayton Boyer has lived in Moose Jaw for more than 20 years and said regaining the title is imperative.

“I think we’ve lost a little bit of our sparkle,” he said, adding a couple top hats and a cane would help Mac grow a few feet.

While L’Heaureaux-Mason admitted Tourism Moose Jaw is “not ready to break the bank” on this, she noted there is a small fund dedicated to maintaining Mac, so they plan to use that when adding on.

Justin and Greg also started a GoFundMe page with a goal of $50,000 towards whatever addition is decided for the statue.

Norwegians are playfully clapping back on the “international moose beef” on Facebook. In a video posted to a Norweigan media outlet Thursday afternoon, one woman said they’re “not letting this one go.”