Just out of curiosity, how much are you in contact with your company dispatchers? During a busy day there are over 1200 oceanic crossings in a 24period. Depending on your company, there could be several company flights on your same track, within a few flight levels with very accurate information regarding winds, turbulence etc. Does CPDLC or Datalink provide dispatch with more accurate information?
About the odd/even levels in Canada. Some mathematician used a formula to develop a target level of safety. This mathematician says it is unsafe to use certain levels during a certain time of day. i.e. during the East or West bound flow. So flights are to adhere to these levels for safety reasons. Only because of "minimum fuel" or "emergency" etc. can the procedure be ignored.