Canada is rife with the weird, wacky and off-the-wall from sea to shining sea: * Besides ''Canada,'' a slew of strange names were seriously considered prior to Confederation — New Britannia, Laurentia, Ursalia, Vesporia, Cabotia, Niagarentia — but the most bizarre of all, Efisga * The outspoken Hockey Night in Canada commentator earned the nickname ''Hot Lips Don Cherry'' when he kissed NHLer Doug Gilmour during the playoffs * When Alberta's first provincial legislature needed an official mace in a hurry, they made one out of plumbing pipe, shaving mug handles and a toilet tank float, and then painted the whole thing gold * In 1903, car licence plates in Ontario were made of patent leather * Each year, the Pumpkin Festival in Windsor-Hants, Nova Scotia, includes a weigh-off and a Pumpkin Regatta, where dozens of pumpkin boats compete in a 500-metre race * Canadian snow apparently is very cool in Puerto Rico: the white stuff has been shipped 3200 miles south on three separate occasions over the past decade and was kept frosty in large refrigerated containers. * You'll find these and many more strange and wonderful tales between the covers of BIZARRE CANADA!