VassB
@vassb.bsky.social
policy designer + writer
Managing Director of the Canadian Shield Institute (@canadianshieldinstitute.ca)
+ Co-author of The Big Fix, which is all about improving Canada’s competition policy
https://sutherlandhousebooks.com/product/the-big-fix/
Managing Director of the Canadian Shield Institute (@canadianshieldinstitute.ca)
+ Co-author of The Big Fix, which is all about improving Canada’s competition policy
https://sutherlandhousebooks.com/product/the-big-fix/
Reposted by VassB
I could not agree more strongly with this. www.cbc.ca/news/canada/...
Senators call on prime minister to ban advertising for sports betting | CBC News
Two senators are calling on the federal government to ban advertising for sports betting in Canada. A letter to the prime minister from Charlottetown Sen. Percy Downe and Waterloo Sen. Marty Deacon as...
www.cbc.ca
November 23, 2025 at 10:30 PM
I could not agree more strongly with this. www.cbc.ca/news/canada/...
The budget doesn’t specify exactly what roles could be replaced with AI, but other institutions have already attempted to introduce the technology to customer-facing roles — with poor results. www.nationalobserver.com/2025/11/24/a...
Carney's sweeping public service cuts reflect a troubling legacy
The last time the government laid off a substantial percentage of the public service and attempted to replace them with new technology, it went poorly, leading to a debacle that the federal government...
www.nationalobserver.com
November 24, 2025 at 2:51 PM
The budget doesn’t specify exactly what roles could be replaced with AI, but other institutions have already attempted to introduce the technology to customer-facing roles — with poor results. www.nationalobserver.com/2025/11/24/a...
Reposted by VassB
A really good roundup from @marketplace.org, a full hour on food, from lab grown chocolate to what it means that grocery prices are up 25% in the past 5 years.
Perfect for the holiday season & just so fascinating, every segment
www.marketplace.org/shows/shows/...
Perfect for the holiday season & just so fascinating, every segment
www.marketplace.org/shows/shows/...
www.marketplace.org
November 23, 2025 at 12:39 PM
A really good roundup from @marketplace.org, a full hour on food, from lab grown chocolate to what it means that grocery prices are up 25% in the past 5 years.
Perfect for the holiday season & just so fascinating, every segment
www.marketplace.org/shows/shows/...
Perfect for the holiday season & just so fascinating, every segment
www.marketplace.org/shows/shows/...
Reposted by VassB
🚨New article!🚨
There's a danger the Canada Strong growth plan will enable a sell-off of Canadian companies to foreign investors - and that this would be considered a *win* for the strategy.
This would be a mistake.
Here's why 👇👇👇
#CanadaSky #CdnPoli #OwnershipMatters
There's a danger the Canada Strong growth plan will enable a sell-off of Canadian companies to foreign investors - and that this would be considered a *win* for the strategy.
This would be a mistake.
Here's why 👇👇👇
#CanadaSky #CdnPoli #OwnershipMatters
You can’t be sovereign if you don’t own anything
Gas station giant Parkland is already shedding Canadian employees in the wake of TX-based Sunoco’s recent takeover of the Canadian fuel chain, which owns 15% of our gas stations and a key refinery in ...
socialcapitalpartners.ca
November 17, 2025 at 8:22 PM
🚨New article!🚨
There's a danger the Canada Strong growth plan will enable a sell-off of Canadian companies to foreign investors - and that this would be considered a *win* for the strategy.
This would be a mistake.
Here's why 👇👇👇
#CanadaSky #CdnPoli #OwnershipMatters
There's a danger the Canada Strong growth plan will enable a sell-off of Canadian companies to foreign investors - and that this would be considered a *win* for the strategy.
This would be a mistake.
Here's why 👇👇👇
#CanadaSky #CdnPoli #OwnershipMatters
Reposted by VassB
As Canada drives ahead with its infrastructure-, defense- and AI-heavy “elbows up” economic strategy, let’s not lose sight of a key foundation: People and skills.
We developed a PIAAC Research Agenda to use recent data to develop better skills strategies.
fsc-ccf.ca/research/a-c...
We developed a PIAAC Research Agenda to use recent data to develop better skills strategies.
fsc-ccf.ca/research/a-c...
November 20, 2025 at 2:59 PM
As Canada drives ahead with its infrastructure-, defense- and AI-heavy “elbows up” economic strategy, let’s not lose sight of a key foundation: People and skills.
We developed a PIAAC Research Agenda to use recent data to develop better skills strategies.
fsc-ccf.ca/research/a-c...
We developed a PIAAC Research Agenda to use recent data to develop better skills strategies.
fsc-ccf.ca/research/a-c...
Spoiler alert: my answer is NO.
In the Globe and Mail, @vassb.bsky.social asks the basic question: Should we just let big tech companies insist that consent to use data for AI training is part and parcel of using their service?
www.theglobeandmail.com/business/com...
www.theglobeandmail.com/business/com...
Opinion: With AI, you are now the product: The hidden costs of staying online
More platforms are tying data surveillance for AI training as a condition to use services. Canada needs to reject this
www.theglobeandmail.com
November 20, 2025 at 2:49 PM
Spoiler alert: my answer is NO.
Reposted by VassB
As AI-generated music starts to top the charts, Spotify should let users tune it out
Spotify Needs to Stop AI Music From Reaching My Ears
I don’t mean to be overly rude about country music — I’ve acquired a strong taste for it since living in the US — but it probably surprises few that the genre often derided for its formulaic nature was the first to have an AI “artist” top a Billboard chart.
bloom.bg
November 17, 2025 at 12:15 PM
As AI-generated music starts to top the charts, Spotify should let users tune it out
“That’s why there is a case for temporary, targeted price controls that hold down costs, paired with supply-side reforms that encourage new production.” 🌶️🌶️🌶️
In a cost-of-living crisis, the question for policymakers “isn’t whether to intervene, but how to do so in a way that delivers relief today without creating new problems tomorrow,” Neale Mahoney and Bharat Ramamurti write.
Opinion | Economists Hate This Idea. It Could Be a Way Out of the Affordability Crisis.
Voters are demanding short-term price relief, and temporary price controls may be the only viable way to provide it
nyti.ms
November 16, 2025 at 8:42 PM
“That’s why there is a case for temporary, targeted price controls that hold down costs, paired with supply-side reforms that encourage new production.” 🌶️🌶️🌶️
Happy to be hosting this today, and on a panel about digital sovereignty. 🤓💃
#CIGF is tomorrow! While in-person participation is full, there’s still time to register virtually ⬇️
Canadian Leadership Through Change | Le leadership canadien dans un mond
CIGF: Canadian Leadership Through Change |FCGI: Le leadership canadien dans un monde en mutation
www.eventbrite.com
November 13, 2025 at 1:01 PM
Happy to be hosting this today, and on a panel about digital sovereignty. 🤓💃
Reposted by VassB
NEW: Google is taking legal action against Chinese cybercriminals responsible for sending out millions of scam text messages—including those parcel delivery scams.
Google hopes the lawsuit will help to disrupt the scammers' sprawling infrastructure
Google hopes the lawsuit will help to disrupt the scammers' sprawling infrastructure
This Is the Platform Google Claims Is Behind a 'Staggering’ Scam Text Operation
Google is suing 25 people it alleges are behind a “relentless” scam text operation that uses a phishing-as-a-service platform called Lighthouse.
www.wired.com
November 12, 2025 at 10:36 AM
NEW: Google is taking legal action against Chinese cybercriminals responsible for sending out millions of scam text messages—including those parcel delivery scams.
Google hopes the lawsuit will help to disrupt the scammers' sprawling infrastructure
Google hopes the lawsuit will help to disrupt the scammers' sprawling infrastructure
Reposted by VassB
What a thrill to be part of @talkingpointsmemo.com's series about the past 25 years of digital media! I wrote about why private equity goons destroyed Deadspin and why it matters.
There Are No Weird Blogs Anymore Cause It’s More Fruitful to Drive Them Out of Business
I learned many surprising lessons from my 20 months as editor-in-chief of...
talkingpointsmemo.com
November 11, 2025 at 3:24 PM
What a thrill to be part of @talkingpointsmemo.com's series about the past 25 years of digital media! I wrote about why private equity goons destroyed Deadspin and why it matters.
Reposted by VassB
“The problem is that when it is installed in a health sector that prizes efficiency, surveillance and profit extraction, AI becomes not a tool for care and community but simply another instrument for commodifying human life.”
What we lose when we surrender care to algorithms | Eric Reinhart
A dangerous faith in AI is sweeping American healthcare – with consequences for the basis of society itself
www.theguardian.com
November 9, 2025 at 3:09 PM
“The problem is that when it is installed in a health sector that prizes efficiency, surveillance and profit extraction, AI becomes not a tool for care and community but simply another instrument for commodifying human life.”
Reposted by VassB
Who wants to use a credit card / go to a store when you can't tell if the form of payment you brought is accepted until you try it?
The best explanation here is: they know much of the American economy is more collusive than competitive, so consumers generally won't have a choice anyway.
The best explanation here is: they know much of the American economy is more collusive than competitive, so consumers generally won't have a choice anyway.
November 9, 2025 at 2:08 AM
Who wants to use a credit card / go to a store when you can't tell if the form of payment you brought is accepted until you try it?
The best explanation here is: they know much of the American economy is more collusive than competitive, so consumers generally won't have a choice anyway.
The best explanation here is: they know much of the American economy is more collusive than competitive, so consumers generally won't have a choice anyway.
“Legislation should prevent discrimination and self-preferencing, and put a price on data extraction-and in some cases cap excessive fees.” The legendary thinker + doer Tim Wu www.theglobeandmail.com/opinion/arti...
Opinion: Can we go back to the optimism of the 1990s, before the extraction economy took over?
Our economic system benefits only those at the very top – but it’s not too late for change
www.theglobeandmail.com
November 8, 2025 at 12:59 PM
“Legislation should prevent discrimination and self-preferencing, and put a price on data extraction-and in some cases cap excessive fees.” The legendary thinker + doer Tim Wu www.theglobeandmail.com/opinion/arti...
Reposted by VassB
this is the craziest thing I've read in a long time???? Meta projected that 10% of its revenue last year, $16 billion, came from scams. Meta intentionally charges the scammers MORE and knows that people who click on scams are more likely to see more of them www.reuters.com/investigatio...
November 7, 2025 at 5:13 AM
this is the craziest thing I've read in a long time???? Meta projected that 10% of its revenue last year, $16 billion, came from scams. Meta intentionally charges the scammers MORE and knows that people who click on scams are more likely to see more of them www.reuters.com/investigatio...
Reposted by VassB
#CIGF2025 kicks off on November 13 with a panel discussion into Canada’s digital sovereignty. Don’t miss voices from policy, tech and academia on shaping our digital future. 🇨🇦 @vassb.bsky.social, @mgeist.bsky.social, @mariejulie.bsky.social.
Register: www.eventbrite.com/e/canadian-l...
Register: www.eventbrite.com/e/canadian-l...
November 4, 2025 at 3:31 PM
#CIGF2025 kicks off on November 13 with a panel discussion into Canada’s digital sovereignty. Don’t miss voices from policy, tech and academia on shaping our digital future. 🇨🇦 @vassb.bsky.social, @mgeist.bsky.social, @mariejulie.bsky.social.
Register: www.eventbrite.com/e/canadian-l...
Register: www.eventbrite.com/e/canadian-l...
This is a great opportunity for provinces! Ontario has some updates to the Consumer Protection Act that gesture on this, but we could be more explicit, intentional.
No one likes surprise post free-trial charges or hard-to-cancel subscriptions — except the corporate giants profiting off of it.
That's why, w/ @consumerfed.bsky.social & @ucbconsumerlaw.bsky.social, we're launching endsubscriptiontraps.com, a digital campaign focused on ending subscription traps.
That's why, w/ @consumerfed.bsky.social & @ucbconsumerlaw.bsky.social, we're launching endsubscriptiontraps.com, a digital campaign focused on ending subscription traps.
Home
Companies lure consumers with
EndSubscriptionTraps.com
November 3, 2025 at 9:13 PM
This is a great opportunity for provinces! Ontario has some updates to the Consumer Protection Act that gesture on this, but we could be more explicit, intentional.
Reposted by VassB
"Eight of the 10 biggest stocks in the S&P 500 are tech stocks. Those eight companies account for 36 per cent of the entire US market’s value, 60 per cent of the gains in the index since the market bottomed in April and almost 80 per cent of the S&P 500’s net income growth in the last year."
Big Tech’s market dominance is becoming ever more extreme
In a week when Nvidia’s value reached $5tn, investors in even the broadest index of global companies are now heavily exposed to the AI boom
on.ft.com
November 2, 2025 at 4:18 PM
"Eight of the 10 biggest stocks in the S&P 500 are tech stocks. Those eight companies account for 36 per cent of the entire US market’s value, 60 per cent of the gains in the index since the market bottomed in April and almost 80 per cent of the S&P 500’s net income growth in the last year."
Reposted by VassB
Happy Amazon Prime Day! Amazon collects mountains of data about how you use the service, but there is a setting you can change to make it harder for the company to use that data to sell you more things. #OptOutOctober www.eff.org/deeplinks/2...
October 7, 2025 at 4:39 PM
Happy Amazon Prime Day! Amazon collects mountains of data about how you use the service, but there is a setting you can change to make it harder for the company to use that data to sell you more things. #OptOutOctober www.eff.org/deeplinks/2...
"Unless Canada acts, we risk outsourcing not only our data but also our ability to govern wellness itself." policyoptions.irpp.org/2025/10/heal...
Canada risks losing health data sovereignty without AI legislation
Canada’s stalled AI laws leave health and Indigenous data vulnerable to foreign control.
policyoptions.irpp.org
October 29, 2025 at 7:02 PM
"Unless Canada acts, we risk outsourcing not only our data but also our ability to govern wellness itself." policyoptions.irpp.org/2025/10/heal...
"The growing use of AI in digital espionage, cybercrimes and influence operations requires stronger guardrails and policymakers who do more than cheerlead the tech."
Everyone is talking about AI. It's obviously having a transformative impact across all sectors of society.
So how should the Canadian government approach it?
My interview with Yvonne Lau for the @financialpost.com
financialpost.com/technology/c...
So how should the Canadian government approach it?
My interview with Yvonne Lau for the @financialpost.com
financialpost.com/technology/c...
Canada isn't doing its part to stop AI government surveillance, UofT director says
Ronald Deibert says the ability of governments and criminal actors to surveil and target people is growing in scope thanks to AI. Read more.
financialpost.com
October 29, 2025 at 6:50 PM
"The growing use of AI in digital espionage, cybercrimes and influence operations requires stronger guardrails and policymakers who do more than cheerlead the tech."
Reposted by VassB
The “rip-off economy”, in which firms profit from opacity, confusion or inertia, is meeting its match. But the extent to which AI can eliminate this market depends on two things
The end of the rip-off economy
From finance and medicine to used cars, artificial intelligence is radically improving market efficiency
econ.st
October 29, 2025 at 12:00 PM
The “rip-off economy”, in which firms profit from opacity, confusion or inertia, is meeting its match. But the extent to which AI can eliminate this market depends on two things
Reposted by VassB
does anyone want to be our friend 🥺👉👈
Trump’s aggression against Canada is encouraging the country to distance itself from American power, David Frum argues—but unlike other U.S. allies, “Canada cannot so easily pivot away.”
Canada Needs a New Bestie
Trump’s attacks on long-standing allies are changing the balance of global power.
bit.ly
October 28, 2025 at 10:46 PM
does anyone want to be our friend 🥺👉👈