AMEX is working to lower their merchant fees so that they can get increased presence. Anyone that has a premium AMEX card always has to carry a suitable backup. The Marriott Visa that used to be offered in Canada (by Chase) had two nice perks : no FX fees + 15 nights. The Canadian AMEX has neither of these, gives gold status at 30k (which many of us have), and 1 free cat 4 weekend night at 40k (which is not as useful given they're harder to come by).
Hopefully the updated offering will have better perks. Right now I'm keeping my AMEX for the next month or two to see what happens. I might call in next month to see if if I can get a retention promo. My spend is in the 6 figures.