'A bad decision': Mayor of Terry Fox's hometown slams icon's removal from Canadian passport

A B.C. politician is slamming Canada's new passport design because it no longer features an image of Terry Fox.

The changes were unveiled Wednesday and all images of historical figures were removed from the pages and replaced with "iconic images of Canada's natural beauty throughout the four seasons," according to a news release from the federal government.

Brad West, the mayor of Fox's hometown of Port Coquitlam, first expressed his displeasure online.

"Whoever made the decision to remove Terry Fox from Canadian passports needs to give their head a shake," he wrote in a tweet.

In an interview with CTV News Channel, West said he wants to see the move undone – and that he's far from the only one.

"Across this country, Terry Fox inspired and continues to inspire millions of Canadians, and millions of people around the world. We need more Terry Fox, not less Terry Fox. I have already heard from hundreds of people who are having a very immediate and strong reaction to this," he said.

"I hope whoever is making these decisions is listening and reverses very quickly what was a bad decision."

When asked why prior historical images were not included in the redesign, Refugees and Citizenship Minister Sean Fraser, who announced the changes in Ottawa on Wednesday, explained that the decision was based on consultations with government departments, such Canadian Heritage and Indigenous communities.

Families, Children and Social Development Minister Karina Gould, who oversees Service Canada, said that the redesign – including images of polar bears, people jumping in a lake, and birds in winter – captures the “spirit of who we are as Canadians.”

In addition to design changes, the new passport will have several new security features that the federal government says will make it more difficult to tamper with or counterfeit.

With files from CTV National News Senior Political Correspondent Glen McGregor