No, I do not need new windows: Dont-call-me list above 12 million

These are stories Report on Business is following Friday, Feb. 14, 2014.

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Who phones during Downton Abbey?Canadians are increasingly choosing not to pause Downton Abbey or House of Cards only to be asked whether they need, want or would like to hear about new windows, doors, roofing or duct cleaning.

After about five years at this, registrations on the countrys National Do Not Call List now stand at more than 12.1 million, according to the latest quarterly report from the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission.

Thats up from about 6.7 million in March, 2009.

(Thats also a net number that subtracts the de-registrations from the registrations, though why anyone would want to de-register is beyond me. Its for both phone and fax numbers.)

And a scan of the CRTCs enforcement decisions through the years shows that while telemarketers for things like duct cleaning and roofing have been a factor, an overwhelming number are for windows and doors.

Home sales soften, prices rise The number of existing homes changing hands in Canada softened for the fifth month in a row in January, The Globe and Mail's Tara Perkins reports.

Sales of homes over the Multiple Listing Service dropped 3.3 per cent from December to January on a seasonally adjusted basis, according to data released today by the Canadian Real Estate Association, which represents the bulk of the countrys real estate agents.

Januarys sales were 0.4 per cent above those during January of 2013.

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No, I do not need new windows: Dont-call-me list above 12 million