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Maybe you don't understand the U.S./Canada dynamic when it comes to television. The trouble is that, being kissing cousins such as we are, it's fantastically easy and economical for the U.S. just to export your culture up north, completely undercutting its Canadian counterparts. Thing is, we're not talking widgets here.

As much as you'd like to believe and as you must be aware, Canadians are not just Americans who live in the north. We share some values and not others. How do you think Americans would feel if your culture was threatened with being steamrollered by another country's cultural exports?

I understand your concerns - I used to have a grey market satellite dish for ExpressVU, and found some of the Canadian content particularly excellent. (Although the best stuff usually makes it to US TV soon enough, mostly comedy shows).

But I guess I just can't get past the fact that the government is, in essence, censoring a news source. A system like ExpressVU could carry FOX News, but perhaps not put it in the basic package, or perhaps sell a separate "Canadian" package for customers who want to limit themselves to Canadian content. That would be a reasonable market-based solution, rather than an agency making the choice for everyone.

And as for a news channel, I would think that sort of programmer would be the least offensive to the CRTC. Aren't they mostly worried about the continued production of Canadian TV shows and movies?