Rick
I agree with you.  I own fewer (eight) of John's picks simply because I focus more on pipelines and utilities where my experience has been, overall, that risk is lower and returns are higher. (I've found that, and this is a general and certainly not a specific comment, REITs and restaurant royalty companies tend to increase their divdends at much lower rates (in the area of 3% vs. 7%-8% for pipes and utes) which is why I generally lean to the latter.) Again I have found that stocks tend to increase in value (their share price rises) by around the same % that they increase their dividends, over time.
And I agree with your p.s. I believe if John Heinzl simply assembled his best columns into a book, it would be a good if not a best seller. 
There are very few books (I only know of one) that focuses on dividend / dividend-growth investing for Canadians.  And at least to me, there is a lot to learn and it can have a significant impact on Canadians and their retirement incomes.