Tag Archives: federal politics

| TV

CTV will get NFL, Super Bowl rights

After almost 25 years on Global, the NFL is giving its Canadian broadcast rights over to CTV for this year and the next two years.

There are a number of reasons (money) for this, though some are theorizing that Global’s incompetence at HD technology might be part of it.

To answer the most frequently asked question, no, this will not mean we get to see American Super Bowl commercials. The CRTC still requires that cable and satellite companies substitute American feeds for Canadian ones when the two are showing identical programming.

However, the same loophole that took place last year might repeat itself. Because the high-definition broadcast signal out of Toronto instead of Montreal, the CRTC doesn’t require signal substitution. So people watching the Super Bowl in HD might still be able to watch the U.S. HD signal with its super-expensive commercials still included. Last year this was the case for Videotron and Star Choice HD customers, but not Bell ExpressVu.

| In the news

Save now for your disability!

Though the media is going all crazy over the federal budget being announced now (especially with the Liberals and NDP announcing they won’t support it), it looks like another snoozer with no tax bracket alterations, no GST cut, and only a bunch of minor fiddlings with the tax code and spending initiatives.

One change that caught my eye was the introduction of a Registered Disability Savings Plan (in the works for over a year, it seems), which helps parents save for their disabled children. The name is somewhat of a misnomer. It’s more like turning disabled children into mini-charities, and making contributions to their well-being tax-deductible.

The thing that bothers me most about it is that the government isn’t actually contributing anything to these kids. Shouldn’t services for people with disabilities be covered by the government, either through health care or other services?

And doesn’t saving for a disability just sound weird?

| Blogosphere, Media

It’s the sun, stupid

This post from ChuckerCanuck is funny.

Point taken about how the media refers to “top scientists” too liberally. And an interesting point about the planets getting warmer and how there may be other forces at work in changing the climate.

Of course, the inevitable conclusion is obvious: forget reducing our greenhouse gas emissions — we simply have to turn the sun’s thermostat down.

Anyone have experience slowing down the nuclear fusion of 1.9 octillion tonnes of superhot radioactive gas … in space?