Canadians looking for an alternative to the country's dominant liberal media outlets will be able to see Fox News beginning early next year.

Canada's liberal press has been irked by some of Fox's programming, which allows for a wide spectrum of political opinion no longer found in Canada.

For example, the CP (Canadian Press) newswire cited Bill O'Reilly for having called former Prime Minister Jean Chretien "a bum."

The CP service also reported that Fox's O'Reilly had "denounced Canada's medicare program as 'socialist.'"

Among his other "crimes," according the the CP, O'Reilly had criticized Canada's schlock press outfits, such as the Toronto-based newspaper The Globe and Mail.

"Hey you pinheads up there, I may be pompous, but at least I'm honest," the CP quoted O'Reilly citing a New York Times story.

Despite such incredible and outrageous examples of free speech and a free press not seen in modern Canada, CRTC said it found "there is substantial demand in Canada for Fox News," CP reported.

The CRTC claimed that 531 Canadians had filed statements in support of the network airing, and some 82 who opposed such a move.

In addition to approving Fox, the CRTC also approved the NFL Network, "allowing it to bring to Canada live sports, game previews, news conferences and other information shows all related to the U.S.-based National Football League."

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