What do electric ovens, lacrosse sticks and instant mashed potatoes have in common?
They were all invented in Ottawa and now they’re being featured in a new book by two of the city’s most well-known journalists.
Radio host Sam Laprade and Caroline Phillips have teamed up to chronicle the stories of how some of Ottawa’s weirdest, and most significant, inventions came to be.
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Ottawa Made, which is being published by Ottawa Press and Publishing, is set to launch later this month.
It’s a project that Laprade said she never saw coming.
“I was a radio host for many years at CityNews and, unfortunately, our station closed,” she told OBJ last week. “I bumped into Ron Corbett, the publisher of Ottawa Press and Publishing, and he was asking me what my world was going to look like. And he said, ‘Would you be interested in a new way of telling stories?’”
According to Laprade, Corbett wanted to feature some of the most prominent inventors, creators, innovators and changemakers to come out of Ottawa and the Valley over the years.
As she began work on the book, Phillips came aboard as well.
“It’s been a wonderful partnership with the three of us and she’s such a talented writer,” said Laprade. “She helped me up my game. I learned a lot from her.”
The timing of the book’s release couldn’t be better.
Since U.S. President Donald Trump started talking about imposing tariffs on imports of Canadian goods, conversations about buying local and purchasing from Canadian companies have bubbled up in the capital.
In addition to highlighting some of Ottawa’s greatest locally made products, Laprade said the book also showcases the kind of innovation and determination Ottawans are capable of.
“When we see the pressure from south of the border and we see the rise in Canadian pride, local pride, it’s just the cherry on top for this book. I think people will really resonate,” she said. “We have a lot of amazing people in this city. We captured maybe four dozen stories, but I hope this book has us asking who else in the community needs to be featured. Who else needs the spotlight shined on them.”
Laprade and Phillips met with dozens of Ottawa innovators and their families to chronicle the stories of how their inventions came to life.
Laprade said telling those stories was an honour, but also an eye-opening experience.
“I learned so much,” she said. “When we think about Ottawa, we think about it being a government town and we don’t think about the creativity and the innovation. We often talk about the Silicon Valley of the north and the tech side of it, but we’re so much more than that. Everything from BeaverTails to basketball, from the Instant Pot to instant mashed potatoes and everything in between.”
Throughout the course of writing, she learned about multiple everyday items that you wouldn’t think came from Canada. Things like the mitten boot dryer rack and the maple bat originated in the city. She wrote about the invention of lacrosse sticks, the electric wheelchair and the We-Vibe sex toy.
“I got to write about this amazing couple from North Gower, the humblest of people, who created a brand new sex toy and really revitalized that whole industry,” she said.
She also wrote about local pioneers such as Michael Cowpland, Michael Potter, Terry Matthews, Denzil Doyle and Rod Bryden.
The last story of the book, written by Phillips, highlights one of the few women inventors.
“It’s about a young woman at 19,” said Laprade. “What I love about it is that when we wrote the book, we realized there’s not a lot of female inventors when you look back in time. I really think by ending the book that way, it was really a shoutout to young people and hopefully to women and people of diverse backgrounds that they too can find themselves.”
Many of the stories highlight periods of challenge and strife, which Laprade said she thinks will resonate with readers on the edge of a possible trade war.
“The two inventors of the We-Vibe, as well as the Instant Pot – all three of those people were let go from Nortel,” she said, referring to a period in the early 2000s when the company laid off tens of thousands of workers worldwide. “They took that really challenging time in their life and they turned it around … Those stories, I think, will resonate with people and inspire them.”
She added that now more than ever is a time for pride.
“As Canadians, I think we’re sometimes shy about the innovations and the creativity,” she said. “I just don’t want to be shy about it anymore. I want to shout it from the rooftops. Never in a million years did I think I’d write a book. But I can’t think of anything I’m more proud of than being a person from Ottawa to feature these awesome people.”
