HD Feed Overrides Drive Me Nuts!

I've noticed something really annoying about my TV service over the past few weeks. I subscribe to all of the high-def channels, so naturally, 99% of my TV viewing time is in HD. I often notice that, if a show is running on a Canadian HD network and an American HD one, the sound quality is world's better on the U.S. channel. So, I hate to say it, but I select that one. But minutes into a primetime TV program, the broadcast will be over-ridden by the Canadian network's version. Why?

I understand that we need to air the Canadian commercials in Canada, and that's fine. And I get the Canadian content rules imposed by the CRTC. But why should I be forced to watch a worse-quality feed when I pay for these extra channels? Instead of enjoying the full surround sound experience, I'm stuck with hollow sound and an annoying echo or, as my partner described it, "processed...almost to the point of being over-compressed". It has gotten to the point where we've opted for the standard-def feed just because the audio quality is unbearable (especially when we know what it should be like!)

And then we wonder why Canadians have been slow to adopt the high-def experience! If Canadian broadcasters can't keep up with the U.S. ones, then let us watch the better quality programming, and insert the home-grown Canadian ads where they need to go. For Canadians to actually adopt HD as a mainsteam trend, we need to be able to enjoy it in its full glory. If there's a viable reason why I need to be forced to watch a feed from another network, I'd really like to know what it is.