There are certain things, people, and places that are instantly recognizable by Winnipeggers. Our strong regional attachment and pride of ownership may not be immediately understood by visiting travelers.
Since 1973, what was then called Great-West Life, now Canada Life, has displayed giant paper-mache camels and Wise Men on their Osbourne Street building.
Suzanne Gauthier is originally from Lorette and now living on the east coast. She started working for Gordon Reimer at Reimer Display after graduating with a Fine Arts Honours Degree from the University of Manitoba in 1969.
Great-West Life had a Christmas tradition of hauling in a huge Christmas tree from British Columbia, which they wanted to change due to environmental considerations. They contacted Reimer Display to create a new Christmas decoration.
Gauthier based the camels on the bull that she had created earlier. It started with a plywood silhouette of the camel. Next was styrofoam, but to shape and glued to either side.
Learning from prior experience, she had the carpenter cantilever the legs, so they weren't coming straight down from the body. "Then I had two different types of necks cut out, so the camels wouldn't be the same," Gauthier said. The legs were positioned differently on all three to give them life.
The camels were then coated with paper mache before being dipped into fibreglass, giving it more weather-proofing. The robes were made with a thick, cardboard-like material that was dipped in acetone to make them malleable.
Information taken from the following article:
https://www.chvnradio.com/articles/mystery-of-the-canada-life-camels-solved?fbclid=IwAR1u1Y6Ibod-GI4CZAwgjNA-U5Gi7UScGlalt-NBuQuR4wtY3mF5EhhHByU