I'll be watching for when this "elevation" appears in grammar textbooks. Language does indeed march on.
I can't help but feel that there is a strong usage similarity between the end-of-sentence "Liverpudlian "like" as demonstrated by the Beatles in their day, like", and the Canadian "eh". FWIW, I don't think this "like" is used at all in the same way as the article states.

Speaking of end-of-sentence add-ons: don't the French often say, "non?" at the ends of statements? Are there other languages/cultures that do this? In a quick-think about why, I guess ... that we are seeking to establish whether the listener a.) understands what we are saying, and/or b.) agrees with us.