Missing mascot: Team New Brunswick's gnome gets lost on the way to Canada Games
The unofficial mascot of New Brunswick’s Canada Games team has gone missing.
Mac the Gnome was last seen in a package destined for Ontario.
“I sent him out by courier last Tuesday,” said Bruce MacFarlane, communications manager with Team New Brunswick.
While Mac was supposed to make it to Niagara for the opening of the 2022 Canada Games, he never turned up.
“Well the gnome is in his bubble wrap cocoon with my clothes somewhere,” said MacFarlane.
Mac has been with the team — in different embodiments — since 2013, becoming a social media sensation along the way.
“The gnome has had several Twitter accounts and Instagram accounts and it's just sort of been passed down from games to games,” MacFarlane said.
“The gnome also visits the host town, city, province — he goes all around to every location and visits all the sites and gets his photo snapped.”
Team New Brunswick had to compete without their companion on the first day of the games.
"We're seeing strong performance from our athletes. Female box-lacrosse made its debut at the Canada Games yesterday,” said MacFarlane.
He says Mac’s legacy lives on through the memory of games past.
“Someone always asks about the gnome,” MacFarlane said.
For now, Mac’s arrival is a waiting game, but MacFarlane says soon it will be time to pull one of his family members out of retirement.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
B.C. seeks ban on public drug use, dialing back decriminalization
The B.C. NDP has asked the federal government to recriminalize public drug use, marking a major shift in the province's approach to addressing the deadly overdose crisis.
Orca calf that was trapped in B.C. lagoon for weeks swims free
An orca whale calf that has been stranded in a B.C. lagoon for weeks after her pregnant mother died swam out on her own early Friday morning.
Trump's lawyers try to discredit testimony of prosecution's first witness in hush money trial
Donald Trump's defence team attacked the credibility Friday of the prosecution's first witness in his hush money case, seeking to discredit testimony detailing a scheme between Trump and a tabloid to bury negative stories to protect the Republican's 2016 presidential campaign.
Sophie Gregoire Trudeau on navigating post-political life, co-parenting and freedom
Sophie Gregoire Trudeau says there is 'still so much love' between her and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, as they navigate their post-separation relationship co-parenting their three children.
Air traveller complaints to Canadian Transportation Agency hit new high
The Canadian Transportation Agency has hit a record high of more than 71,000 complaints in a backlog. The quasi-judicial regulator and tribunal tasked with settling disputes between customers and the airlines says the backlog is growing because the number of incoming complaints keeps increasing.
More than 115 cases of eye damage reported in Ontario after solar eclipse
More than 115 people who viewed the solar eclipse in Ontario earlier this month experienced eye damage after the event, according to eye doctors in the province.
'I was scared': Ontario man's car repossessed after missing two repair loan payments
An Ontario man who took out a loan to pay for auto repairs said his car was repossessed after he missed two payments.
76ers All-Star centre Joel Embiid says he has Bell's palsy
Philadelphia 76ers All-Star centre Joel Embiid has been diagnosed with Bell’s palsy, a form of facial paralysis he says has affected him since before the play-in tournament.
U.S. flight attendant indicted in attempt to record teen girl in airplane bathroom
An American Airlines flight attendant was indicted Thursday after authorities said he tried to secretly record video of a 14-year-old girl using an airplane bathroom last September.