Did you hear the one about the canal builder who forgot canals need water? The battle where everyone ran away? Or the boat made of ice, and the town that mixed up time? How about the shovel invented for soldiers with a hole in it? Colossal Canadian Failures is a lighthearted look at Canada’s unsung heroes the eccentrics, the failures, the misguided, and the just plain overoptimistic who never met an idea they could resist, no matter how crazy. From engineering blunders to business and political failures and more, Colossal Canadian Failures provides a muchneeded ego boost for anyone who thinks they’ve said "oops" one too many times.

Randy Richmond is an award-winning journalist living in London, Ontario. He is the former editor of The Packet & Times in Orillia, where he wrote the first Orillia Spirit, married, and had three children. He is the coauthor of Colossal Canadian Failures 1 and 2, also published by Dundurn Press.

Randy Richmond's profile page

Tom Villemaire is a newspaper reporter and editor and a freelance writer. He lives alone in Balaclava, Ontario, and, at times when she permits, with his girlfriend in Toronto. A failed astronaut and garbage man, Villemaire lowered his sights and settled upon writing as a career.

Tom Villemaire's profile page

a lighthearted look at Canada's unsung heroes or the just plain misguided who never met an idea they couldn't resist

The Telegram (St. John's, NF)

Colossal Canadian Failures provides a much-needed ego boost for anyone who thinks theyve said 'oops' one too many times.

National Post

An all-round good read.

Packet and Times (Orillia, ON)

a light-hearted look at plans and dreams that sounded better in theory than they were in practice.

London Free Press

a fiesta of fabulous flops.

The Beaver (now Canada's History) June/July 2003