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In March, Canada’s broadcast regulator, the CRTC, made a number of bold moves — for the year 1999. Cable companies, it ruled, would soon have to offer subscribers a “skinny basic” package capped at $25 per month. But hold onto your fax machines — there’s more!

As of December 2016, consumers will also be allowed to select channels on a “pick-and-pay” basis, meaning they will no longer be forced to pay for dozens of channels they rarely, if ever, watch. Success! Time to celebrate with the latest Janet Jackson CD and a cool glass of Surge soda.

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For many Canadians, this announcement came about 15 years too late: many have already “cut the cord,” fed up with archaic bundling rules that not only saddled them with loads of unwatched — and unwatchable — channels, but overcharged them for the privilege. With the exception of live sports, most everything on cable can be found online in one form or another, often for much less than the $40 the cable companies charge even for basic packages.