Not to bring any kind of racism forward, but as an observation, I thought our mascots were entirely based around something Japanese in origin, and didn't reflect anything wholly 'Canadian' in any way. (Unless they were going for the fact that Canada is very multicultural, and so a Japanese-style mascot.
After looking into it, I came across this article, stating that they were designed with children in mind. (Haha, Pedobear reference!) Still, I think they're very Japanese-sounding, and rather Japanese-looking in their design, too.
http://smt.blogs.com/mari_diary/2010/02/pedobear-is-2010-vancouver-olympic-mascot.htmlNot that I have anything against design concepts from other cultures, but for our own olympic mascots? Shouldn't we have something a little more 'Canadian'? Or native American, even, if they were going for a specific type of 'cultural' design. (Since Canada's such a mixing pot of cultures, anyways.)
To further Wotan's comment:
http://smt.blogs.com/mari_diary/2010/02/pedobear-is-2010-vancouver-olympic-mascot.htmlCheers;
-LS
