Hi CC. I see you are quite close to my philosophy, but hey, I have to make a living. One thing though is that I will not sacrifice quality and flavour, my business is built on this and is retained even though I am more or less an a par, price wise, with the BIRs.
On the point about PC and his books. He was an original pioneer in this area from way back in the early 70s, and some of his early works provided some good info to newbies. On principal I would not use his stuff, fo the same reason you have provided, but of late I have tried and modified a couple of his recipes to see how they perform; and they do. Anyway PC has retired and someone else has bought & taken over his Curry Club.
Happy Cooking
C.P
PS My Brother in Law and Sister in Law live in Canada; Ottawa & Vancouver respectively. I am told by my wife and family you are fortunate to have some very good Indian restaurants there (big place I know!). Went to one in Montreal but not impressed.