What People Do with Signs and Symbols

From Glimpse Number 29, Sept 1984:
"Ontario's Ornithological Symbol
A newsclipping furnished by Kurt Fuerst tells of a controversy in a recent meeting of Ontario, Canada's legislature in which the argument centered on the blue jay. The problem was choosing the province's official bird. Ross McClellan, a member of the provincial parliament representing the National Democratic Party, called the bird 'a misbegotten, thieving, poison-colored scavenger' and said it was chosen only because its plumage matches the official Tory color. But the general manager of the Federation of Ontario Naturalists, Mike Singleton, said the federation isn't opposed to the blue, jay, although it thinks the grey jay would have been a better choice because it's found widely throughout Ontario and the blue jay is limited to the south. Conservative Jim Pollock, who introduced the private member's bill, stuck by his guns, and the legislature passed in principle the Avian Emblem Act, making the blue jay the province's ornithological symbol. Pollock said the blue jay is an ideal provincial emblem becuase it's common, recognizable and colorful."
Glimpse Update: Emblems and Symbols - Common Loon