Dear submitter, as the article states, it's a summary of a post from the Wall Street Journal. The actual article is at http://blogs.wsj.com/canadarealtime/2014/01/16/canada-says-b... . The link is even given at the bottom of the page.

This reported statement, the Bitcoin isn't legal tender, has a very specific meaning. It says that people are not required to accept Bitcoin as a form of debt. This report should not be shocking or at all surprising.

While the details depend on the jurisdiction, "legal tender" is usually defined as a medium of payment which is valid for discharging debt. Other forms of payment, like checks and credit cards, are not legal tender but widely accepted. This being Canada, scrip like Canadian Tire money (see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canadian_Tire_money ) is also not legal tender, even if people other than Canadian Tire accept it a a form of payment.

For that matter, the US dollar is not legal tender in Canada, even if some people and places in Canada (especially those at border tourist towns) will accept it as a form of payment.

So, Bitcoin isn't legal tender in Canada? Big whoop. It isn't legal tender in the US either. Or any other country.