Content
Skip to Main ContentAccessibility Help
Manitoba

Move over bison, crocus - 'Bruce' could become Manitoba's dinosaur

It's not every province that has a dinosaur for an emblem.

Bill to make 80 million-year-old T-Rex of sea province's emblem introduced Tuesday

CBC News ·
A skeleton of a prehistoric reptile is seen in a museum.
Bruce the mosasaur was found in Thornhill, just outside Morden, Man., in a farmer's field in 1974. If the Tories' private member's bill passes, Bruce could officially become Manitoba's "marine reptile fossil emblem." (John Woods/The Canadian Press)

It's not every province that has a dinosaur for an emblem.

But that's one of the weighty issues discussed at the Manitoba legislature Tuesday, as legislators took a break from debates about leadership, cabinet composition and non-confidence motions. 

Progressive Conservative Cameron Friesen, MLA for Morden-Winkler, introduced a private member's bill Tuesday which proposes to make Bruce the mosasaur, officially tylosaurus pembinensis, the province's "marine reptile fossil emblem." 

Bruce, or rather the 13-metre fossil Bruce used to be, is on display at the Canadian Fossil Discovery Centre in Morden.

The bill has received first reading in the legislature.

Manitoba's 80-million-year-old mosasaur was discovered in 1974 in a farmer’s field just west of the city. 

“I believe this bill will highlight the significance of the CFDC’s world-class mosasaur exhibit and draw attention to Bruce the mosasaur as a Manitoba institution,” said Friesen in a news release. 

Bruce was awarded a Guinness World Record in September as the world’s largest mosasaur.

CBC's Journalistic Standards and Practices|About CBC News
Corrections and clarifications|Submit a news tip|