How long will we be able to buy ATSC-NTSC converter boxes?

[electroking]

This discussion makes me wonder what will happen with the (smaller) Canadian
market when the transition hits this country (still officially in
August, 2011).
Will manufacturers be interested in providing converters for this market, or
will we have to import used converters from the U.S.?

One aspect of the problem is as follows: from June, 1970 to some later date,
anyone marketing a 'television set' in Canada had to provide it with capabilities
to receive OTA channels 2-83 (later 2-69). But currently, with the wave of
deregulation we have been experiencing, many so called 'television sets'
come with no tuner at all. It might have been a good idea to mandate the
inclusion of an ATSC tuner on every TV set sold a few years ahead of the
transition, thus most households would now have the capability to receive
digital OTA broadcasts. Just my two cents' worth.