Canada is Boring

Eccentric Millionaire’s Bizarre Baby Contest in Depression-Era Canada

In this episode of Canada Is Boring, Rhys Waters and Jesse Harley dive into the unbelievable true story of Charles Vance Miller, a wealthy and eccentric Toronto lawyer whose bizarre will triggered one of the strangest competitions in Canadian history: The Great Stork Derby.
Miller, a successful Toronto lawyer, O’Keefe Brewery investor, and racehorse owner, used his fortune to play elaborate pranks that tested people’s greed, morality, and hypocrisy. But his greatest “joke” came after his death in 1926, when his will offered a massive cash prize to the married couple in Ontario who had the most children over a ten-year period—during the Great Depression, when families were already struggling to survive.

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In this final episode of the Tinfoil Tuque series, Rhys and Jesse dive into the bizarre true story of Todd Standing, a filmmaker and wilderness guide from Alberta who actually took the British Columbia government to court over Sasquatch. Todd claims to have encountered Bigfoot in the Rocky Mountains and even filmed a large bipedal creature back in 2005. That blurry, shaky video, along with his documentary “Discovering Bigfoot” and his guided Sasquatch tours, form the backbone of his argument that Bigfoot is real, endangered, and in need of government protection.

Rhys and Jesse dissect Todd’s evidence, the tone and structure of his documentary, and the way he has built a business around Bigfoot encounters. They walk through his lawsuit against the BC government, where Todd alleged a dereliction of duty and claimed his Charter rights were being violated because the province refused to recognize Sasquatch or issue an official statement on its existence. The hosts then unpack the BC Supreme Court’s response, including the judge’s conclusion that the court is not the place to decide on unproven scientific facts and that belief in Sasquatch is not an immutable personal characteristic protected by the Charter. They also discuss the infamous hair sample that turned out to be human, and the ultimate outcome: Todd’s claim was dismissed and he was ordered to pay the government’s legal costs.

Along the way, the conversation veers into Bigfoot churches, dudist ministers inspired by The Big Lebowski, early-2000s-style websites, and the broader way conspiracy-flavoured thinking from the 90s and 2000s has seeped into mainstream culture. Rhys and Jesse close out the Tinfoil Tuque summer experiment by reflecting on podcast listening habits in summer, why “everyone stops listening” is mostly a production myth, and why some of their own cryptid episodes felt more hit-and-miss.
They finish by teasing their return to regular Canada Is Boring programming with a wild story about a wealthy Canadian whose will turned his fortune into a series of outrageous contests designed to mess with people’s ethics from beyond the grave. If you’re into Bigfoot, weird lawsuits, or just want to hear two podcasters roast a Supreme Court–level Sasquatch case, this episode is for you.
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In this episode, Rhys and Jesse dive into the soggy saga of the so‑called Thetis Lake Monster—a five-foot fish-man allegedly terrorizing teens near Victoria in the 1970s. From the original reports by Robin and Gordon to the “supporting” sighting by Russell Van Nice and Mike, the story quickly unravels into exactly what it is: a teenage attention grab that somehow survived for decades online.

Along the way, the hosts compare it to Ohio’s Loveland Frog, talk escaped lizards, TV creature features, and why obviously debunked stories still thrive in the age of clicks, TikToks, and conspiracy content. Plus: black‑eyed children, porn-title brainstorming, and a peek into Rhys’s workaholic routine vs. Jesse’s summer slump.
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Rhys and Jesse dive into the mystery of the “extinct” Eastern Cougar in Nova Scotia and New Brunswick—sharing sightings, sketchy government responses, dubious DNA tests, and why officials might prefer this big cat to stay officially dead. Along the way, they detour into conspiracy vans in Vancouver, wild listener theories, dating updates, autobahn anxiety, and the surprising sex lives of kangaroos.

0:00 – Sleep Tracking & Being Exhausted
1:00 – Introducing the Eastern Cougar “Cryptid”
2:20 – Cold Open: Conspiracies & Canada Is Boring Intro
3:38 – Back from Break: Rhys and Jesse Reunite
4:05 – Ridiculous Cryptids & Livestock Jokes
5:00 – What Is the Eastern Cougar, Really?
6:00 – Sightings, Photos & “It Just Looks Like a Cougar”
7:30 – Dashcam Cougar, Trail Cams & Blurry Evidence
9:30 – Government Takes the Tape (Conveniently Lost)
10:30 – “Mistaken Identity” Animals & Official Charts
11:55 – Cougar Bar Jokes & Karaoke Research
13:00 – Biologists, DNA Evidence & Exotic Pets
14:20 – Snake Pets, Smells & Listener Call to Action
16:40 – More DNA Evidence & Jesse Calls Out Bad Science
18:05 – Extinction, Habitat Loss & Elusive Big Cats
19:00 – Why the Government Won’t Admit Cougars Exist
20:16 – Nova Scotia Politics & Reluctance to Change
20:57 – Condos, Empty Buildings & Rich Investors
21:29 – Do We Believe in the Eastern Cougar?
22:07 – Small Talk Dimension Intro (STD Zone)
22:56 – Rhys’s Europe Trip & Autobahn Anxiety
24:57 – Jesse’s Dating Life Update
25:34 – Listener Jess’s Top 3 Conspiracies
27:26 – Heartfelt Comment from Listener in Australia
28:00 – Kangaroos, Three Genitals & Weird Biology
29:26 – Googling Kangaroo Anatomy Live
30:19 – Teasing the Next Lake Monster Episode

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In this episode of Canada Is Boring: The Tinfoil Touque, Rhys Waters and Jesse dive into Project Magnet, Canada’s secretly funded UFO research program from the 1950s, led by government engineer Wilbert Brockhouse Smith.
They unpack how a respected radio and broadcasting expert went from establishing ionospheric monitoring systems and TV allocation standards… to claiming telepathic contact with “space brothers” and linking UFOs to psychic phenomena.
Along the way, they explore:
How Project Magnet tried to harness geomagnetism as a propulsion system
Why Smith believed UFOs were intelligent extraterrestrial craft
The mysterious status of never-fully-declassified Canadian government files
Parallels with Star Trek’s Prime Directive and modern UFO lore
What happens when a serious scientist appears to lose his grip on reality
The episode wraps up with small talk in the Small Talk Dimension, including ADHD, trying Vyvanse, near-miss pool-water drinking incidents, and a tease for the next East Coast cryptid/conspiracy story.
If you’re into UFO history, Cold War weirdness, Canadian conspiracies, or just well-crafted rants, this one’s for you.
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