Saskatchewan

Norway makes nice on dispute with Moose Jaw, with moose truce on the horizon

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Moose Jaw's mayor Fraser Tolmie says despite overtures, goal is still to make Mac the biggest

Mac the Moose, left, was dethroned as the largest moose statue in the world by Storelgen in Norway. (Natascia Lypny/CBC, Mariusz.ks/Shutterstock)

Moose Jaw could become the site of the next great peace talk of our times.

After nearly three weeks of volleys and diplomatic tensions ratcheting up over who will have the biggest moose in the world, the Norwegians have extended an olive branch to Moose Javians.

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Norwegian news agency Dagbladet first reported that the municipality of Stor-Elvdal's vice-mayor Linda Otnes Henriksen may travel to Moose Jaw to initiate peace negotiations on sharing the world record.

"There's been a reach-out concerning a truce from the Norwegian people," confirmed Moose Jaw Mayor Fraser Tolmie. "I think they know we have the resolve to make Mac the bigger moose of the two, and so this is a change in tone from them."

Moose Jaw Mayor Fraser Tolmie says Mac the Moose must be made bigger, after the nation has rallied around Mac's cause. (CBC)

Moose Jaw had pledged to make Mac the Moose big enough to reclaim the world record, after Norway created a moose expressly for the purpose of besting that record.

Tolmie said he's happy to welcome Henriksen — "a wonderful woman" — to his city, and to have a talk about resolving tensions. For Tolmie, that could involve twinning the two municipalities, or having a display in Moose Jaw that recognized Norway's giant moose.

But he won't be backing down on a pledge to make Mac the biggest moose in the world.

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"I rallied the nation and they've answered the call to making Mac bigger. So it would be very dishonourable of me to back down," said Tolmie, pointing to the $12,000 in donations made on GoFundMe, a $25,000 donation from Moosehead Breweries, and offers of work-in-kind made to the city to increase Mac's height.

Mac's over 35-years-old and has taken some flak from personalities as high-profile as Stephen Colbert for his cartoon-like appearance. But with the donations, it's a possibility he'll get a makeover, according to Tolmie. That's secondary to getting that height boost over Norway's Storelgen.

"They purposely built their moose bigger than Mac in 2015," said Tolmie. "You mess with Mac, you're going to get the antlers here."