So long, Mr. Floatie. We'll miss the crap out of you

There’s good news and bad news out of British Columbia this week. The good news is that the provincial government has ordered the city of Victoria to stop dumping untreated sewage into the ocean. The bad news is that this means Mr. Floatie is now out of a job.

For those of you who have never heard of him, Mr. Floatie is the costumed mascot for People Opposed to Outfall Pollution (POOP). For the past two years Mr. Floatie has been dressing up as a giant piece of poo to draw attention to the fact that Victoria shoots almost 130 million litres of raw sewage into the ocean every day.

He's done a great job. Mr. Floatie is a huge celebrity in British Columbia. Children, tourists, journalists -- everyone loves Mr. Floatie. Maybe it’s the jaunty sailor’s cap or the weird falsetto voice or the catchy songs (“I’m Mr. Floatie/The ocean poo/If you live in Victoria/I come from you”). Or maybe it’s just because he’s a no bullshit kind of guy.

My favourite Mr. Floatie story is when he tried to run for Mayor of Victoria and the city went to court to keep his name off the ballot.

It’s great that Victoria is finally going to stop dumping raw sewage in the ocean. But it’s shitty to think that Mr. Floatie is now out of a job. So long, Mr. Floatie. We’ll miss the crap out of you.