Parks Canada has revealed that former Deputy Prime Minister Sheila Copps insisted on adding a smile to the agency’s beaver mascot during her time as Minister of Environment, despite opposition from staff. Blacklock's Reporter says according to internal records obtained through Access to Information, Copps intervened in the design process of the beaver logo in 1999-2000 as part of Parks Canada’s corporate identity program.“As our corporate identity program advanced, a decision was taken to redesign the beaver logo,” the 2022 document states. Gerald Boulet, Parks Canada's design advisor, recalled that Copps’ communications advisor requested “a smile be added to the face and cross-hatching on the tail.” Although staff advised against these changes, they were instructed to comply.For a time, the beaver sported a smile, but after a change in government following the next election, the smile was removed, although the cross-hatching remained. “Were they worried the beaver would not look like a beaver?” one Parks Canada director asked, questioning the redesign's logic.Copps, who served as Minister of Environment from 1993 to 1996 and Deputy Prime Minister after the 1997 election, was involved in the decision-making process despite staff objections. The beaver logo’s cross-hatching was finally removed in 2023, resolving legibility issues, according to a Trademarks Act filing.Parks Canada also introduced a life-sized cartoon beaver named Parka in 2011, a tourist attraction similar to Smokey the Bear in the U.S. However, public awareness of the beaver as a Parks Canada symbol remains low, with only 23% of Canadians identifying it correctly in a 2014 survey.The beaver has been an official symbol of Canada since 1975, though it first appeared on a Canadian postage stamp in 1851. Despite its historical significance, the smiley redesign left an impression that lasted until the government reverted to a more traditional version.
