Doug and Jonathan,
My dealer here in Toronto (probably Canada's "#1" Pro retail outlet) explained it to me very succinctly - and it makes sense - from the time the camera was annouonced in August till it shipped end-November, they built-up a substantial order list. People are served in order of the timing of their deposits. From the outset, they received a small fraction of the cameras relative to the number of deposits. More cameras keep trickling-in from Canon, but more names keep adding to the list, so the movement is like a conveyer belt which receives merchandise at the back end and delivers at the front end, hence the names and faces change but the space between doesn't change much. So until the rate of shipments catches up with the rate of orders, the wait-list will persist. That will be alleviated when orders slow-down or production accelerates or both. The best you can do is order from a dealer who will put you in a trustworthy queue. From what I hear around here, the estimated queue length is in the range of 4 to 8 weeks, but I could be wrong on this.
Mark