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
Could a national, public ‘CanGPT’ be Canada’s answer to ChatGPT?
Could a national, public ‘CanGPT’ be Canada’s answer to ChatGPT?
Canada’s long history with public service media offers a useful model for thinking about how AI could serve the public.
theconversation.com
November 27, 2025 at 6:04 PM
Could a national, public ‘CanGPT’ be Canada’s answer to ChatGPT?
Reposted by VassB
“Amazon is a technofeudal rentier owning the digital infrastructure on which privateers, states and societies depend.”
How Amazon turned our capitalist era of free markets into the age of technofeudalism | Yanis Varoufakis
Amazon Web Services owns the basic infrastructure for other businesses to operate online, turning even governments into its serfs, says the leader of MeRA25, Yanis Varoufakis
www.theguardian.com
November 27, 2025 at 5:38 PM
“Amazon is a technofeudal rentier owning the digital infrastructure on which privateers, states and societies depend.”
Reposted by VassB
“We’re living in the age of what I call reverse philanthropy: instead of giving, you get,” writes Molly Jong-Fast. “And in setting this example, Mr. Trump is making our country’s rich people worse, by emboldening them to embrace his transactional style of governing.”
Opinion | This Year, the Billionaires Give Thanks for Trump
This year, it’s not about giving back; it’s about getting yours.
nyti.ms
November 27, 2025 at 8:14 PM
“We’re living in the age of what I call reverse philanthropy: instead of giving, you get,” writes Molly Jong-Fast. “And in setting this example, Mr. Trump is making our country’s rich people worse, by emboldening them to embrace his transactional style of governing.”
Reposted by VassB
Cynics like to say Canada lacks a distinct national identity, but then how would they explain this?
defector.com/how-a-campy-...
defector.com/how-a-campy-...
How A Campy 1970s Game Show Became Part Of Canada's National Lexicon | Defector
On tiny Hornby Island northwest of Vancouver, after the Women’s World Cup in the summer of 2015, our bed-and-breakfast host was telling us about the town. The pizza place in the park is terrific, he s...
defector.com
November 27, 2025 at 2:37 AM
Cynics like to say Canada lacks a distinct national identity, but then how would they explain this?
defector.com/how-a-campy-...
defector.com/how-a-campy-...
Reposted by VassB
AI and the Growing Economy of Fraud is a free event presented by @mediatechdemocracy.bsky.social, @canadianshieldinstitute.ca and MASS LBP, funded by the Ronald S. Roadburg Foundation.
Space is limited so we encourage you to reserve as soon as possible. Click here to register: tinyurl.com/fyaakr3n
Space is limited so we encourage you to reserve as soon as possible. Click here to register: tinyurl.com/fyaakr3n
AI and the Growing Economy of Fraud
AI is reshaping fraud. Join experts in Ottawa to chart Canada’s path against deepfakes and digital deception.
tinyurl.com
November 26, 2025 at 4:51 PM
AI and the Growing Economy of Fraud is a free event presented by @mediatechdemocracy.bsky.social, @canadianshieldinstitute.ca and MASS LBP, funded by the Ronald S. Roadburg Foundation.
Space is limited so we encourage you to reserve as soon as possible. Click here to register: tinyurl.com/fyaakr3n
Space is limited so we encourage you to reserve as soon as possible. Click here to register: tinyurl.com/fyaakr3n
This is an important book that perfectly meets the moment. And there is so much Canada can learn from it. I also LOVE a double entendre title. Add this to your reading list. Congratulations @vincebeiser.bsky.social!
Congratulations to @vincebeiser.bsky.social, winner of the 2025 #BalsilliePrize for Public Policy for his book Power Metal: The Race for the Resources That Will Shape the Future. Beiser was selected by a jury composed of Samantha Nutt, Taki Sarantakis & Scott Young.
November 26, 2025 at 1:20 PM
This is an important book that perfectly meets the moment. And there is so much Canada can learn from it. I also LOVE a double entendre title. Add this to your reading list. Congratulations @vincebeiser.bsky.social!
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.