The provincial election is now officially less important than hockey

That’s right—the CBC will be airing the Toronto Maple Leafs opening night match-up with the Montreal Canadiens on October 6 on its network news station rather than coverage of the results of the Ontario provincial election, which just so happens to fall on the same night (but, never fear, viewers with cable and satellite can still keep up with the political goings-on at CBC News Network). Apparently stuck between a rock and a hard place yesterday, the Corporation decided to crowdsource the decision, asking its audience which event they would rather watch. The results speak for themselves. Now, we won’t pretend this election has been particularly exciting thus far. In fact, we’ve made an effort to point out just how boring it’s been. But really? The CBC is a national broadcaster with a mandate to serve the public interest, and although neither Ontario politics nor the Leafs are expressly national issues, who forms the government of this province is probably more important than hockey—even if the Habs are in town. Read the entire story [Toronto Star] »