Apparently, you can't damage these passports, I've tried. I poured a large cup of hot black coffee on the photo page, and the thing is still totally fine. So if I show up with a damaged passport, it will be pretty obvious I voluntarily damaged it, which could lead to even more problems.
Only way I'm willing to "lose" a pssport is if I find a RCMP officer who's willing to help me, "find" the lost passport, return it to the government, and quickly open and close an investigation. Not really willing to risk an open ended investigation like that.
Doesn't matter right now anyway. Money first, then try one last time to get that validity restriction lifted.