Canada's government may soon require cable and satellite providers to unbundle TV packages, letting customers choose each channel they want individually.

"We don't think it's right for Canadians to have to pay for bundled television channels that they don't watch. We want to unbundle television channels and allow Canadians to pick and pay the specific television channels that they want," Canada Industry Minister James Moore said in a TV appearance, according to Reuters.

Moore is a member of Canada's Parliament and was appointed Minister of Industry in July of this year. In the next parliamentary session, he said the government will consider additional pro-consumer moves such as preventing airline overbooking and lowering the roaming rates charged by cellular providers.

Reuters noted that "[s]ome Canadian cable and satellite television providers have already begun to offer so-called 'a la carte' pricing."

Channel unbundling would be welcome in the US, too, of course. US Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) has been advocating this for years, most recently with the proposed Television Consumer Freedom Act. The bill would not require unbundling, but it would provide incentives that encourage providers to offer channels individually. For now, bundling is what's available to US consumers because it's the system that is most lucrative for TV providers.