By Spencer Sterritt

Nanaimo RCMP mascot completes cross-Canada trek

Feb 2, 2019 | 11:10 PM

NANAIMO — The cuddliest member of the Nanaimo RCMP completed an epic voyage and is now enjoying some East Coast hospitality.

The Nanaimo Bear, which was a new mascot designed to inspire and foster a different type of engagement with police, left the harbour city in July and essentially hitchhiked his way across the country. He was left with a note encouraging travellers to take him with them on their own adventures and share photos online of all the interesting places he landed.

He recently resurfaced in one of the furthest points away from Nanaimo as possible in Newfoundland.

RCMP Cst. Gary O’Brien said though the Nanaimo Bear did travel far and wide, it didn’t exactly go all according to plan.

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“”He was dropped off at the coffee shop in the Coast Hotel in Williams Lake. We actually spoke with hotel staff and they saw him kicking around the coffee shop. Suddenly, he disappeared. How he got to Newfoundland, we don’t know.”

O’Brien said their top investigators are now on the case of retracing the Nanaimo Bear’s steps.

Though the Nanaimo Bear didn’t have a major social media presence on his journey, O’Brien said the bear achieved his goal of sharing a different type of police story.

“It’s a means of connected with the public on a different level. They often hear about violence and tragedy. This is a fun story to engage with people from different cultures throughout Canada.”

It’s unclear where the Nanaimo Bear will go from here, though O’Brien said he hopes the mascot will make it to Haida Gwaii at some point.

spencer@nanaimonewsnow.com

On Twitter: @spencer_sterrit