I quite liked the CBC piece, although I was surprised to see that it had turned into a "Leslie & Friends" story. AFAIK, over the 8 months it took the CBC to put the program together, they followed Jeff, Emanual, Chris, Ben Ferreira, Shawn Sawyer, Joannie, Cynthia Phaneuf and Leslie. I don't know if they covered Mira at all.
I think the reason the CBC shifted its focus to Leslie Hawker is because she had a more interesting story to tell (in terms of public appeal). Its been a tougher road to the podium for her, being a relatively late bloomer, coming from a huge family, parents who could not afford the sport, having to work fulltime to pay for her training etc. The other competitors, although equally good or better skaters than Leslie might be, haven't necessarily had to put in much else than just a great deal of hard work and determination to get to where they are. For example: Jeff, Emanual, Chris and Joannie have financial sponsors and opportunities so the costs associated with the sport are largely taken care of. Don't know about Cynthia and Shawn, but certainly they have national team funding and winnings from their assignments and show skating. Since making the top 8 in the country Leslie received some funding, and now that she is on the national team, the money has increased, but she (AFAIK) hasn't had the invitations to guest skate in tours e.g. Celebration on Ice etc., and therefore hasn't collected the pay cheques that some of the other skaters have. As far as school goes, Leslie did try to do post-secondary in addition to working as a waitress and training, but she couldn't manage it all and had to put the schooling on hold (like Jeff has). You really have to root for someone who has to work their pattutti off to achieve what she has!
As far as Jeff goes, he is a VERY NICE person off the ice. On the ice however, when he is under pressure or is stressed, he is like any other highly strung competitor, prone to temper tantums and tears.
There are some advantages of living in Atlantic Canada. 
