Moose Truce: Both sides agree to end moose war

The Moose Jaw Moose Summit appears to have yielded a peaceful resolution to a 2019 international incident.

After a few months of going back and forth over who should rightfully have the title of world’s largest moose statue, it was decided that if Mac the Moose gets a size boost, the Norwegian town of Stor-Elvdal will not respond to it.

Linda Otnes-Henriksen, deputy mayor of Stor-Elvdal, travelled many kilometres — more than 6,300 of them — to meet Moose Jaw Mayor Fraser Tolmie to find a peaceful end. Moose Jaw does have to concede the Norway moose is a stunning piece of art.

One of the major positives for both towns has been the amount of attention the moose war has received. From songs to late-night talk shows, it was in the public’s eye constantly.

“Everyone’s seen a great opportunity to be out there in the media and we’re doing this as a national thing. I’m not just a representative of my municipality but all of Norway,” Otnes-Henriksen said Wednesday on 980 CJME’s Greg Morgan Morning Show.

She arrived in Moose Jaw on Friday and has been busy since arriving in the Land of Living Skies, doing school visits, visiting 15 Wing Moose Jaw and taking in a Moose Jaw Warriors WHL game.

Tolmie said there is currently some rumbling about the possibility of the two communities becoming twin cities.

“The more that we talk and the more that we are communicating, the more that we are seeing so many awesome links,” said Tolmie.

He said Moose Jaw had some people who immigrated from Norway waiting to greet Otnes-Henriksen when she first got off the plane. Tolmie said there are also plans to hold a Norway Day in the city.

But it hasn’t been all good news — not everyone is in support of how much time and effort went into the moose battle.

“We’re out there to get our name out there,” Tolmie said. “We’ve got a great name, we’ve got a great community.”

Engineers are currently working out the logistics of making Mac the Moose a little bit taller and it’s all being done with money that was fundraised.

On Wednesday, the two cities issued a memorandum of understanding about their agreement.