Canadian trivia lovers shouldn’t bother applying to appear on Jeopardy!.
The reason? Canadian privacy laws, apparently.
Jeopardy!'s website includes a question in its FAQ section about Canadians becoming a contestant on the popular game show. The answer? “At this time we are precluded from accepting registration information from Canadian residents. We are currently evaluating this matter.”
It's not entirely clear why... But Jeopardy! spokeswoman Alison Shapiro told The Ottawa Citizen that it may have something to do with anti-spam legislation that was passed by Stephen Harper's government in 2014.
"As international laws governing how information is shared over the Internet are ever changing and complex, we are currently investigating how we can accept registrations from potential Canadian contestants," she said in an emailed response.
The anti-spam law restricts the transmission of commercial electronic messages.
Longtime Jeopardy! host and fellow countryman Alex Trebek (Trebek was born and raised in Sudbury, Ontario) himself told Global News and the Citizen that "new rules set down by the Canadian government" have precluded the game show from accepting Canadian entrants.
Another thing you can thank Harper for.
