As the Canadian Football League gets set to open its 67th season tonight in Regina where the Saskatchewan Roughriders host the Ottawa Redblacks, the league has never been more meaningfully Canadian.

Where once the league was a place where Canadians participated but Americans starred and held most of the important off-field titles, that is no longer the case.

In today’s CFL there are Canadians at every prominent role in the game – star running backs and receivers on offence, difference makers at all three levels of the defence, successful head coaches and general managers.

And yes, even at quarterback, where Saturday’s game between B.C. and Edmonton will feature the Lions’ Nathan Rourke and the Elks’ Tre Ford as the first Canadian quarterbacks to open a season head-to-head in almost 60 years.

Along the sidelines, four of the league’s nine head coaches are Canadians – two ex-players in Winnipeg’s Mike O’Shea and Saskatchewan’s Corey Mace, and two who’ve come up through amateur football in........

© TSN