Barney Beaver

Brown text on a white background surrounding an illustration of a beaver raising its paw and wearing a captain's hat and a pin-back button on its chest 

Barney Beaver was a children’s safety mascot for the Toronto Transit Commission (TTC); Barney made his debut in 1968. The mascot was covered in dark brown fur with large teeth and, when captured on film, his image only appeared as a shadowy silhouette with bright eyes and teeth visible. He was distinguished as Barney Beaver by his only article of clothing, a TTC driver’s hat. 

The character came with a song, “I’m For Safety,”  and toured the city year-round, visiting local schools in a city bus that was also a mobile classroom. Kids watched the character and TTC staff showcasing how to act—and not act—on public transit, demonstrating bad behavior by swinging from the bars and falling on the floor. Barney fell out of use slowly, seeming to have entered retirement by approximately 2011. In 2006, he made his last public appearance in Toronto's Santa Claus parade.