I find that offensive!

Sometime in the early-mid 90's Ontario was in the midst of a discussion/issue/challenge about whether religious school funding should be extended to all religions. There was a case brought about on it, I just can't recall the details.

One of the papers representing the media of the day (and remember, no #smartphones #twitter #facebook or #youtube) the Toronto Star ran an article on the subject which generated a few Letters to the Editor.

Mine included.

At the time I said that either all schools for People of Religion (henceforth known as PoR... or #PoR for the enlightened) should receive financing (aka are subsidized) or schools for #PoR shouldn't receive a dime of public money.

To have the four separate schools boards that we now have across countless school districts is beyond understanding and acceptance.

Imagine if there were 6? Or 10? How about 20?

Insane no?

I felt that if this issue wasn't addressed immediately at some point in the next 20yrs the challenge will have spread beyond simply schools for #PoR.

Well already this year alone has brought about #charliehebdo #bokoharum #ISIS and the mess that is the Middle East.

Murdered, stoned, raped or burned... all in the name of religions of peace.

Someone once said that actions speak louder than words.

If we agree to this then either your religion is a belief in peace and you are both a criminal and insane... or, yours is a religion of intolerance and oppression and you can just Fuck Right Off.

With that we are now at that point in time where seemingly every day #PoR are offended for this, or offended by that. Blasphemy! Blasphemy I say! Some, like the state of #Indiana (and surprisingly 19 others) have enacted legislation, enshrining in law the overriding 'protection' needed against their sensibilities.

What's next? I walk in to a public office wearing short sleeves and the #PoR behind the counter refuses to serve me under the I'm Offended Because You're Different Act because their religion says that my tattoo's are the markings of Satan and they bring about a work stoppage (under the Health and Safety Act) filing a grievance because they will burn in hell (or be murdered by a family member) if they even look at me?

Now that may be a stretch... but not by much.

Google this if you think me mad.

And now a the world's christians are in the midst of a major holiday.

Yet why is it a Statutory Holiday in this country? Why are we, as a a people and as a country financing this? Supporting this in our supposed National Anthem? In our oath?

It is way past time that all religious references are pulled from all institutions, government offices, schools and library's.

Only then can we as a people, be truly tolerant.

We spend our days demanding special treatment from those we see as different, without accepting that we are all of the the same race.

We are One Race.

I am Human.

If you can't accept that, then I could say that I feel sorry for you... but I won't. Read More...

Up North Part II

The French River

With a lifelong friend over the past few days up in Noelville, On.

The Hylands are a good bunch of people who willingly choose to have in their home someone who goes out of their way to sabotage their day.

Me.

:l

I give you a slideshow of our goings on, and of the beautiful French and Pickerel Rivers.

Read More...

Upper and lower case.

I noticed the 'other day'... Loblaws (notice the s) had on sale their Signature Presidents Choice Decadent Chocolate Chip Cookie (See image on the right... for a taste) for $2.99.

So of course I grabbed a bag.

For me, keeping chocolate, ice cream... or chocolate ice cream (my Signature being Haagen Dazs... any flavour really, but Haagen Dazs) around my place isn't the wisest of things. Not that I'd go loco on it (well... I might), just that I've found it better/healthier to go out and buy something if I want to satisfy that 'craving."
It's worked out well.

At any rate... I, uh... opened the bag 'as soon' as I got in, and immediately was taken aback!

Something was clearly amiss.

The Presidents Choice Decadent Chocolate Chip Cookie was now (for a man the size of me), shrunk... to bite-size proportions.

The Presidents Choice Decadent Chocolate Chip Cookie was now a decadent only in name.
It was now a lower case cookie.
A decadent... chocolate chip cookie, but a small one now.

This imposter was in its stead.

Pythons famous Dead Parrot sketch

It has expired and gone to see it's maker!

This... is an ex-cookie!




First Timmy's and now this!

Our Canadian institutions are under attack by mediocrity!

We've lost our cookie... and are about to lose our coffee.

As a native Torontonian I am accustomed (somewhat) to this. I mean no one has seen our hockey team in years.

Peace... For me that's a damn shame. Read More...

Well, well, well...

Yes, it's been a while.

With the arrival of spring, I found myself in my new home. But a two minute walk from Sunnyside Beach/Boardwalk... and I've been taking advantage of that on a daily basis.

Sunnyside looking West

Sunnyside looking East

Though the pain is still there each minute of every day... there is 'hope' (there's that word) on the horizon. I've been seeing a doc at a local pain clinic... it's simply a matter of getting the right mix of pain meds. That'll get me through the first few months of exercise, and I can start putting my body back together again.

Stretch... stretch and more stretching!!!

I also have some incredible family news, but... cannot 'share' it as yet.

Stay tuned!

I'll leave you with a little ditty I know...



Enjoy the rest of summer. Read More...

It's that time of year again...

The Stanley Cup

In 2 days time, on April 16, the 2014 Stanley Cup Playoffs begin.

It is the only time of year where I find myself 'glued' to the 'tube.

The time of year when hopes and dreams unite, and where crushing defeats mean you switch to golf (that right Leafs?)

Yes, for the 8th time in 9 years my beloved Maple Leafs will be golfing instead of playing for The Cup. They have yet to make the playoffs after a full 82 game schedule (since the '05 lockout (the only team, by the way.)

They are among a group of 6 Canadian franchises that did not make the playoffs.

They are the only Original Six team to not have made the grade.

Oh woe is me...

Where are Wendel and Dougie when you need them?

We had scoring, we had goaltending (well, at least one of them), and we had a power play.

What we didn't have (again) was the ability to keep the puck out of our net, heck, we couldn't even get the puck out of our zone.

Want an idea of just how badly we played?

Read one of many end of season report cards on the players/coaches/management. This one from the Toronto Sun's Lance Hornsby.

Pathetic, no?

"Defensive liability", "not hard on the forecheck", "weak in own end", "mistake prone"... these are the common thread that 'unites' my team.

And one of the many reasons why they will not partake in the '14 playoffs.

Funny I should be writing this today, as it is also the day of the arrival of our latest saviour.

Brendan Shanahan has been named as Team President (and Alternate Governer) of The Leafs. Today is the team pressser introducing him to the masses. And there will be masses in this hockey mad city.

Good luck Shanny, you're going to need it.

That being said, I am looking forward to the playoffs. I've not made up my mind (as yet) to cheer for the only Canadian team to make the playoffs... that being the Hated Habs. Yes, the Montreal Canadiens are the only Canadian team to have what it takes to play for the hardest trophy to win. I'm not convinced they can win it, but as a Canadian I have to cheer for them, don't I?

I just don't know.

Here are the first round matchups for the 2014 Stanley Cup Playoffs.

Round 1 matchups

Philly and the Rangers should be a good show, as should the Sharks/Kings.

I'd like to say Chicago and the Blues would be a good series, but with the Black Hawks having lost their top to players to injury, I can't see them making it out of the first round. You never know though with the Blues entering the playoffs on a six-game losing streak.

Perhaps I'll watch Detroit/Boston... in the hopes of the Red Wings (23 straight playoff appearances) can take down the dreaded Bruins (sorry guys.)

About the Stanley Cup, did you know that the Stanley Cup is two feet, 11 inches tall and weighs 34.5 pounds?

Or that the first team to win the silver trophy was the Montreal Amateur Athletic Association, who won Lord Stanley's Cup in 1893?

Here then are some fun facts, trivia and history on The Cup, and the NHL in general.

* The Stanley Cup was purchased in 1892 by the Governor General of Canada, Lord Frederick Stanley, who wanted a challenge cup that the best hockey teams in Canada could compete for.
* It has been around the NHL longer than any other team, player or coach.
* The Montreal Canadiens have won the Stanley Cup 24 times - more than any other team in NHL history.
* Henri Richard, of the Montreal Canadiens, won a record 11 Stanley Cup titles.
* In 1988, Wayne Gretzky set a Stanley Cup Finals record by scoring 13 points (three goals, 10 assists) against the Boston Bruins.
* Patrick Roy has been named the Stanley Cup Playoff MVP three times, more than any other player.
* During the 1905 Stanley Cup Finals, Frank McGee of the Ottawa Silver Seven scored 14 goals in one game.
* In 1905, a team from Dawson City, Yukon traveled for 23 days by dogsled, boat and train to Ottawa to play for the Stanley Cup against the Ottawa Silver Seven. After finally arriving in Ottawa, the team from Dawson City got smoked in both games: 9-2 and 22-3.
* When the New Jersey Devils won the Stanley Cup in 2003, goaltender, Martin Brodeur took the Cup to a movie theatre and ate popcorn out of it.
* In 1996, Sylvain Lefebvre of the Colorado Avalanche had his first child baptized in the Stanley Cup.
* The Stanley Cup has travelled to several different coutries including the Czech Republic, Sweden, Russia, Finland, Japan, Switzerland and the Bahamas.
* The Stanley Cup is now accompanied by a body guard on all its adventures.
* The Stanley Cup is two feet, 11 inches tall and weighs 34.5 pounds.
* There are more than 2,200 different names engraved on the Stanley Cup, including players, coaches and owners of the Cup-winning teams.
* Every 13 years, a new ring is added to the bottom of the Stanley Cup to add more names of the Cup's winners.
* The original Stanley Cup was just seven inches high. The names of every player from each winning team is engraved on the base of the Cup. The cup and base now stands 35 inches high.
* The Montreal Canadiens have won the most Stanley Cups, a total of 23. The Toronto Maple Leafs are second on the list with 13.
* Wayne Gretzky and Mario Lemieuxare the only players to be named MVP of three NHL All-Star games.
* Superstar Wayne Gretzky has won the NHL scoring title a record 10 times.
* Bernie Geoffrion is credited with bringing the slapshot to the NHL in 1951. He was given the nickname “Boom Boom” because his shot was so hard and fast.
* The first goaltender to regularly wear a face mask during a game was Montreal's Jacques Plante . A shot broke his nose in 1959 and he decided to wear one ever since. He was made fun of at first, but now every goaltender wears a mask. Thanks to him, many broken bones and stitches have been avoided.
* The first player who accumulate more than 300 penalty minutes in a single season was Philadelphia Flyer Dave Schultz, who had 348 penalty minuted in 1974. The next year, he broke his record with 472 penalty minutes, still the record.
* In the 1985-86 season, Edmonton Oilers center Wayne Gretzky scored 215 points, breaking his own record that he set four years earlier. Of the top 10 best-scoring seasons of all-time, “The Great One” has eight of them.
* Michigan has won the most Division I College Hockey Championships with nine, the last one in 1998.
* Toronto Maple Leaf Darryl Sittler scored 10 points in one game (six goals, four assists) against the Boston Bruins in 1976.
* Quebec's Joe Malone holds the record for most goals scored in a game with seven against Toronto in 1920.
* The World Hockey Association was a rival hockey league from 1973 to 1979. Hockey legends Gordie Howe, Bobby Hull, and Wayne Gretzky played in the league, but it couldn't compete with the NHL. Four current NHL teams came from the WHA. The Edmonton Oilers, Hartford Whalers (now Carolina Hurricanes), Quebec Nordiques (now Colorado Avalanche), and Winnipeg Jets (now Phoenix Coyotes). The Jets made a triumphant return to Winnipeg just a few seasons ago.
* Canada is widely considered to be the birthplace of hockey. The Hockey Hall of Fame is in Toronto, Canada. There is also a U.S. Hockey Hall of Fame for the players, coaches, etc. who are American born.

Not too shabby for a trophy that has been played/bled/fought for over 100 years.

Here is a slideshow on some more history, and a compendium of facts.

Finally, here is a complete list of past Cup winners.

April 16... two days from now, the hunt for the 2014 Stanley Cup Champion begins.

I'll be watching. Read More...

It was 25yrs ago today...

No, this post isn't about Sgt. Pepper.

This post is about the birth of the World Wide Web.

Today marks the 25th anniversary of it's 'birth.' It has seen some changes over the years, but before I get there lets take a at The Man known as 'TimBL.'

Anyone know who this is?

TimBL

Though it was Al Gore who famously laid claim to having 'invented' the internet, it was actually "Sir Timothy John "Tim" Berners-Lee, OM, KBE, FRS, FREng, FRSA, DFBCS (born 8 June 1955), also known as "TimBL", a British computer scientist. He made a proposal for an information management system in March 1989, and he implemented the first successful communication between a Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP) client and server via the Internet sometime around mid November."

I wonder if when he was coding what was then known as The Project he had any idea just how far reaching it's legacy would become. A look at the growth of what is (in some 'scenes') known as teh 'net, show's just how far it's come in what is a relatively short amount of time.

Source: VeriSign 2010

Here and here a couple of fantastic pages containing a number of stats and information on the first 25yrs.

And now... some random info;

* There are approximately 1,319,872,109 people on the Internet
* 78% of U.S. internet users are on Broadband
* It took the radio 38 years, the television 13 years, and the World Wide Web 4 years to reach 50 million users
* 80% of all emails sent are spam
* Domain names are being registered at a rate of more than one million names every month
* 80% of all pictures on the internet are of naked women
* In 2010 1 of every 8 married couples in the U.S. met online. Source
* 35.6% of internet users are Asian
* 1 billion users around the globe are surfing the Internet every month
* It is estimated that 18 countries still don’t have an Internet connection

Just take a look at what Google has to say about statistics and how they relate to teh 'net.

And now, let's take a look at the history and what was known as The Project... the first web page.

Personally, I started coding at age 15. My first job out of school (well, technically I hadn't graduated as yet) was running the payroll computer for Jetpower Credit Union, in Malton at the time. I was using email for work in the '80s. I built my first system in 1995, and to this day I am happily a tech nerd.
Only now I can make money at it.
:l
I simply cannot image a world that is not connected.

To that end, it's time I speak about what is (and will continue to) have a profound affect on teh 'net. And that is the erosion of privacy. Edward Snowden first brought Prism out of the shadows June 5, 2013. And that is simply the beginning. For years I'd been 'going on about' each and every digital phone call being tapped. For years I'd been going on about how easy it was to grab the signal from/to the satellites... and you thought me paranoid. Well, I've also always said paranoia comes from experience.

Finally... want to get involved?
Sign up at W3C, which develops interoperable technologies (specifications, guidelines, software, and tools) to lead the Web to its full potential. W3C is a forum for information, commerce, communication, and collective understanding. You'll find news, links to W3C technologies, help and ways to get involved. "Public participation is welcome."

Enjoy today, and celebrate what is now a connected world!

Greg Read More...

The finer sex

Alicia being real...

Today the world over celebrates International Women's Day 2014. ... I say the world over but that's really not the case, is it?

On this day women will not only enjoy time with their family's, their lovers... or enjoy a good book, they will also suffer, be raped, killed and brutalized.

I lost my Mom in 2010... I miss her every day.

The picture to the right is of my (soon to be) 22yr old daughter, Alicia Maree. Course, she has a little of me in her... her humour is evident. I asked for a pic of her for this post... else I'd post a duck-face one.

She sent me this.

I think it fitting.

The following is taken from the Wikipedia article.

"International Women's Day, also called International Working Women's Day, is marked on March 8 every year. In different regions the focus of the celebrations ranges from general celebration of respect, appreciation and love towards women to a celebration for women's economic, political, and social achievements. Started as a Socialist political event, the holiday blended in the culture of many countries, primarily in Europe, including Russia. In some regions, the day lost its political flavour, and became simply an occasion for men to express their love for women in a way somewhat similar to a mixture of Mother's Day and Valentine's Day. In other regions, however, the political and human rights theme designated by the United Nations runs strong, and political and social awareness of the struggles of women worldwide are brought out and examined in a hopeful manner. This is a day which some people celebrate by wearing purple ribbons."
Some sobering statistics
* 1.3 women (ages 18 and over) in the United States are forcibly raped each minute. That translates to 78 per hour, 1,871 per day, or 683,000 per year. * 60% of the women who reported being raped were under 18 years old * 29% were less than 11 years old * 32% were between 11 and 17 * 22% were between 18 and 24 * 7% were between 25 and 29 * 6% were older than 29

Number of U.S. troops killed in Afghanistan and Iraq: 6,614:

Number of women, in the same period, killed as the result of domestic violence in the US: 11,766

Number of people per minute who experience intimate partner violence in the U.S.: 24

Number of workplace violence incidents in the U.S. annually that are the result of current or past intimate partner assaults: 18,700

Number of women in the U.S. who report intimate partner violence: 1 in 4

Number of men in the U.S. who report intimate partner violence: 1 in 7*

Number of women who will experience partner violence worldwide: 1 in 3

Order of causes of death for European women ages 16-44: domestic violence, cancer, traffic accidents

Increase in likelihood that a woman will die a violent death if a gun in present in the home: 270 percent

Number of women killed by spouses who were shot by guns kept by men in the home in France and South Africa: 1 in 3

Percentage of the 900 million small arms that are kept in the home, worldwide: 75

Country in which 943 women were killed in honor killings in 2011: Pakistan

City in which man "butchered" his wife in front of their six children in 2012: Berlin

States in which man decapitated his wife with a chainsaw in 2010 and another man did the same, respectively: Texas and New York

Percentages of people killed in the U.S. by an intimate partner: 30 percent of women, 5.3 percent of men.

Number of gay and bisexual men who experience domestic violence in the U.S.: 2 in 5 (similar to heterosexual women)

Percentage of the 31 Senate votes cast against the Violence Against Women Act that came from older, white, male Republicans: 95.8

Percentage of the 31 Senate votes cast against the Violence Against Women Act that came from a younger, male Republicans, at least one of whom sits on the Science Committee but is unable to say how old the Earth is: 4.2

Number of legal, medical, professional, faith-based and advocacy groups that signed a letter protesting the stripped-down VAWA: 300

First year that the Republican-led House of Representatives eroded VAWA of provisions designed to increase protections for Native Americans, immigrant women, members of the LGTBQ community and, yes, men: 2012

Estimated number of children, worldwide, exposed to domestic violence everyday: 10,000,000

Worldwide, likelihood that a man who grew up in a household with domestic violence grows up to be an abuser: 3 to 4 times more likely than if he hadn't.

Chance that a girl of high school age in the U.S. experiences violence in a dating relationship: 1 in 3

Percentage of teen rape and abuse victims who report their assailant as an intimate: 76

Percentage of U.S. cities citing domestic abuse as the primary cause of homelessness: 50

Percentage of homeless women reporting domestic abuse: 63

Percentage of homeless women with children reporting domestic abuse: 92

Percentage of women with disabilities who report violence: 40

Annual cost of domestic violence in the U.S. related to health care: $5.8 billion

Annual cost of domestic violence in the U.S. related to emergency care plus legal costs, police work, lost productivity: 37 billion dollars

Annual number of jobs lost in the U.S. as a result of intimate partner violence: 32,000

Percentage change between 1980 and 2008 of women and men killed by intimate partners in the U.S.: (w) 43 percent to 45 percent; (m) 10 percent to 5 percent

Average cost of emergency care for domestic abuse related incidents for women and men according to the CDC: $948.00 for women, $387 for men

Increase in portrayals of violence against girls and women on network TV during a five year period ending in 2009: 120 percent

The number one cause of death for African American women ages 15-34 according to the American Bar Association: homicide at the hands of a partner

Chance that a lesbian** in the U.S. will experience domestic (not necessarily intimate partner) violence: 50 percent

Chances that a gay man experiences domestic violence: 2 out of 5*

Ratio of women shot and killed by a husband or intimate partner compared to the total number of murders of men by strangers using any time of weapon, from 2002 homicide figures: 3X

Number of people who will be stalked in their lifetimes: 1 in 45 men and 1 in 12 women (broken out: 17 percent of American Indian and Alaska Native women; 8.2 percent of white women, 6.5 pecent of African American women, and 4.5 percent of Asian/Pacific Islander women)

Percentage of stalkers identified as known to victims: 90.3

Percentage of abused women in the U.S. who report being strangled by a spouse in the past year: 33 to 47.3 (this abuse often leaves no physical signs)

According to one study, percentage of domestic abuse victims who are tried to leave after less severe violent and nonviolent instances of abuse: 66 versus less than 25

Average number of times an abuser hits his spouse before she makes a police report: 35

No. 1 and No. 2 causes of women's deaths during pregnancy in the U.S.: Domestic homicide and suicide, often tied to abuse

Number of women killed by spouses who were shot by guns kept by men in the home in the United States: 2 in 3

Percentage of rape and sexual assault victims under the age of 18 who are raped by a family member: 34

Number of women killed everyday in the U.S. by a spouse: 3+

The primary reason cited by right-wing conservatives for objecting to the Violence Against Women Act: To protect the family.

Percentage reduction in reports of violence after men and women in South Africa went through an educational training program on health, domestic violence and gender norms: 55

Number of members of Congress who have gone through an educational training program on health, economics, violence, and gender norms: 0

And those are just statistics from the U.S.
I can't imagine the numbers for the entire world.
It's clear we have a lot of work to do.
Do your part!
Start on this very day... celebrating the finer sex.

Greg Read More...

Don't forget!

Daylight Savings Time begins at 02:00 tomorrow morning. How many will forget?

Turn your clocks ahead 1 hour!

Read More...

Merci pour les souvenirs...

On this, the 180th Birthday of the City of Toronto, we again find ourselves on the verge of an election in Quebec... La Belle Province. And again there is talk of separation.
I read the other day that if Quebec feels that Canada (THE finest country in our world) is divisible... then I feel Quebec is divisible. On that note... thanks for paying back those untold billions of our tax dollars and... see ya later, we'll take Montreal. Read More...

Leafs win the 2014 Winter Classic

Thanks to o.canada.com

With the 2013 Winter Classic being cancelled due to the NHL lockout, many were looking forward to this years clash between the Toronto Maple Leafs and the Detroit Red Wings.

The location of the game was The Big House, the home of Michigan State in Ann Arbor, Michigan.

With snow pouring down on the crowd of 105,000 the teams didn't disappoint.

Though CBC lost it's feed with only minutes to go in the 3rd (and 'borrowing' the international feed), they eventually got it back in time for the final 3 minutes, OT and shootout.

The Leafs beat their arch divisional rivals in that shootout 3-2, with Tyler Bozak scoring the winner.

Looking forward to the remainder of the season.

Go Leafs Go! Read More...

oooo... dats scareeee!

Was reminded of the count the other day and thought he'd look better with bacon.
I was right.

Just had to. :l

SCTV's Count Floyd

Read More...

Grapes

Todays Toronto Star has an informative and thoughtful article on the life of Don Cherry.

"Love him or hate him — after all these years, there is still no middle ground — Cherry occupies a rarefied place in the pantheon of Canadian celebrity. The Stanley Cup Final begins this week and, once again, he will be cast into the national spotlight. He will hurl thunderbolts from the bully pulpit known as Coach’s Corner, polarizing an audience that’s expected to break records..."

Donald Stewart "Grapes" Cherry (commonly referred to as Don Cherry) (born February 5, 1934) is a Canadian ice hockey commentator for CBC Television. Cherry co-hosts the "Coach's Corner" intermission segment (with Ron MacLean) on the long-running Canadian sports program Hockey Night in Canada, and in addition recently joined ESPN in the United States as a commentator during the latter stages of the Stanley Cup playoffs. He is known for his outspoken manner, flamboyant dress, and staunch patriotism.

I still like and watch Grapes on Coach's Corner. I don't always agree with what he has to say, but, he always has something to say. I'm reminded of a quote by the late Jim Morrison;

I like people who shake other people up and make them feel uncomfortable.
Donald S Cherry... outspoken man and Canadian icon. Read More...

Fox it up...

Canadian and actor Michael J Fox has received the Order of Canada.

In addition to the epic trilogy Back to the Future, I quite enjoyed him in The Frighteners, as well as his most recent role as Dennis Leary's nemesis in s6 of the HBO drama Rescue Me.

Well deserved. Read More...

Back in Canada?

'Word' is that the Atlanta Thrashers owners are in discussions with the City of Winnipeg that would see the Thrashers sold and playing by the start of next season.

May happen, but I'll say this with certainty, Atlanta... this is the second time you've turned your back on our sport. It'll be the last.

Good Luck Jets! Read More...

Telecoms and Canada in 2011

With thanks to Michael Geist, this is a heads up that on a subject that is near and dear to many of us. The disaster that is our Telecom industry.

With a further edit coming, here is the original article. With thanks to its author Sean Michael.

Enjoy the read!

If the new Conservative majority government in Canada has its way, the telecommunications industry in Canada will be liberalized through some form of relaxation of foreign ownership restrictions in the sector. The existing foreign ownership restrictions in Canada, among the most onerous in the developed world, have up to this point protected Canadian firms from real competition and allowed them to enjoy inflated margins as members of a cozy oligopoly.

Liberalization could prove disastrous for incumbent Canadian telecom and media conglomerates, including Bell, Rogers (RCI), Telus (TU) and Shaw (SJR). While new developments in internet video technology have already threatened the existing telecoms business model in Canada, further liberalization of this market could accelerate the erosion of incumbents’ market share, pricing power, and industry control.

Major competitive threat from web-based firms

Even without liberalization, Canadian firms’ offerings are already being out-classed by web-based companies. For example, Rogers charges $7.99 for a single viewing of an HD movie through its Rogers On Demand service. For the same $7.99 Netflix (NFLX) offers unlimited viewing of a large catalog of HD movies for a month. Unsurprisingly, Netflix subscriber growth in Canada has been robust since it entered the Canadian market, even without any prior brand presence from a legacy DVD delivery service. Indeed, Netflix growth in Canada has been far quicker than it was in the United States, and subscriptions are expected to soon exceed 1 million, or 7.5% of Canadian households.

Meanwhile, Blockbuster (BLOAQ.PK) Canada has filed for bankruptcy just over six months after its parent company in the US. The trend toward low-cost subscription movie services and away from high-cost per-movie rental services appears unlikely to reverse any time soon in Canada.

Yet, no Canadian firm has announced any plans to introduce a low-cost subscription viewing model to become competitive with Netflix. Instead, the response of incumbent cable companies has been to lower caps on internet usage (typically around 25 GB per month, or one tenth of Comcast’s (CMCSA) 250 GB usage cap), and to enforce per-gigabyte charges on internet use above the cap of $2 to $5 per gigabyte in an apparent attempt to inflate costs for Netflix customers.

The incumbents have made their own far more expensive internet video offerings exempt from the bandwidth usage caps and overage charges. Netflix has responded by adding a “low quality” option which uses less bandwidth, out of consideration for Canadian customers who are trapped inside restrictive usage caps and face punitive overage charges. The company has also apparently stepped up its lobbying efforts in Ottawa.

In addition, incumbent ISPs have banded together and formally appealed to the CRTC to force Netflix to submit to regulation as a broadcaster, which would hobble the low-cost entrant with cumbersome red tape and Canadian content requirements. In Canada, broadcasters are subject to onerous and costly regulation of the content they show, but so far web-based video groups such as YouTube and Netflix have been exempt from this.

These attempts to stifle competition and protect their own market share have alienated many of incumbents’ own customers, prompting them to switch to competitors who offer unlimited internet packages. Incumbents have tried to convince the regulator to eliminate the ability of any firm in Canada to offer unlimited internet packages for residential customers, but this was met with a powerful wave of public and political opposition including a petition that went viral earlier this year, and culminated in a rare intervention by the Minister of Industry to stop the CRTC from allowing Bell to effectively impose usage based billing on the entire country.

Charging $2 to $5 per gigabyte to Canadian consumers for internet use in “usage based billing” schemes has been very profitable for major Canadian firms, and in some cases has been the main driver of revenue growth in the internet service business. But this has only been possible because of laws which prevent competitors from abroad from entering the Canadian market and eating the incumbent firms’ lunch. Shaw and Telus have indicated within hours of each other that they too will be introducing the hugely unpopular practice of capping and charging per gigabyte, following the lead of Bell and Rogers which have been doing this for years.

The Conservative government, now with a majority in Parliament, has indicated that they are preparing to allow more foreign players into the telecommunications market, and Globalive was just the tip of the iceberg.

Adding to the risks faced by incumbents is growing discussion of functional separation, or breaking up these vertically integrated behemoths to reduce conflicts of interest inherent in having companies that sell content also maintaining regional monopolies or duopolies on network access. And perhaps even more problematic is the growing proportion of adults under 35 who do not have a cable subscription and do not intend to get one, since they obtain virtually all their video entertainment, including TV shows, sports and movies through the internet.

Compounding this revenue-killing dynamic for Canadian broadcasters is the fact that young people in Canada are increasingly tech-savvy. Many, it is reported by senior executives at Shaw, already bypass the Canadian broadcasting system entirely by using one-click proxies, DNS spoofing services, or other methods to watch video content from lower-cost and/or higher quality content providers outside Canada, confounding any attempts to “geo-block” Canadian internet users. Growing numbers of Canadians now watch the Daily Show, Mad Men and House directly on US websites, cutting out Bell, Rogers, Shaw, and other Canadian middle men.

As Apple TV (AAPL), Google TV (GOOG), Amazon Prime (AMZN) and Hulu proceed with plans to aggressively expand into Canada, the future for Canadian broadcasters looks bleak. The situation is particularly bad for Shaw and Bell, who are still saddled with debt from their relatively recent acquisitions of major broadcasting corporations.

Foreign wireless companies will eat incumbents’ lunch

The same companies who control the mobile communications market have been able to realize huge margins from exorbitant prices on wireless voice and data plans. However, since the Conservative government allowed Globalive (controlled by Egyptian firm Orascom) to enter the wireless market, pricing has come under significant downward pressure. The incumbents' unions, rather than attempting to out-innovate the new entrant, have simply resorted to legal action, arguing that it is unlawful for Globalive to offer mobile phone services in Canada. Why innovate when you can litigate? Senior management at the major Canadian carriers claim to have no involvement or knowledge of the legal action being taken by their workers' unions against Globalive.

Reducing foreign ownership restrictions is also likely to change the game in the oligopolistic Canadian wireless industry. Even with the recent entry of Globalive, Canadian wireless plans (including mandatory fees and charges) are still so expensive that Canada’s mobile phone penetration rate was recently measured by the OECD at 67% - dead last among the group of 28 rich nations. There are millions of people in Canada who might consider getting a cell phone if only the cost of doing so was comparable to costs in the US, Europe or Asia. Mobile data costs in Canada are even further out of line with the rest of the world than per-minute voice rates.

Broadcasters and telecoms in many countries have been facing pressure from web-based competitors. But in Canada’s traditionally uncompetitive telecommunications and broadcasting industry, the impact of this latest technology shock may be particularly severe. Largely due to decades of telecom protectionism and some of the most draconian foreign ownership restrictions in the industrialized world, Canadian telecoms firms have enjoyed outsized margins, generous valuations and attractive dividend growth for more than two generations.

With a perfect storm of disruptive technology rendering traditional broadcasting all but obsolete, foreign entrants with superior services and lower costs, unfavorable demographics, a powerful pro-competition government, entrenched inflexible business models, lack of competitive and innovative edge due to decades of insulation from the rest of the telecom world, bloated balance sheets due to costly acquisitions of old-media companies, and regulatory uncertainty relating to usage based billing and functional separation, large telecommunications firms in Canada do not look well-positioned. Adding to this concern is the fact that none of them has any product - current or planned - which can credibly compete on cost and quality with web-based media services.

While Canada’s economy overall is likely to prosper under the Conservative majority government, any significant growth in Canadian telecoms is likely to come from smaller, more innovative firms who are able to keep up with new technologies, not bloated old-media companies whose business models depend on trying to artificially inflate the cost of internet service for the whole country and lobbying for legislation that kneecaps superior foreign competitors. Read More...