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Leni Spooner

@lenispooner.bsky.social

79 followers 31 following 235 posts

Canadian from Southwestern Ontario by way of Edmonton. Writer at between-the-lines.ca — power, policy & kitchen-table politics with clarity + context. Helping you read the system behind the story. lenispooner.substack.com

Posts Replies Media

Leni Spooner @lenispooner.bsky.social · 18/08/2026

Everyone’s watching Wednesday’s tariff deadline like it’s a finish line. It isn’t. There is no finish line. That’s the entire strategy. New piece on Canada, Section 338, and the war of attrition nobody’s naming 👇 substack.com/@lenispooner...

The Recurrence Is the Story, Attrition is the Game: Why August 19 Won’t End Canada’s Trade War

We keep treating each tariff deadline as a finish line. It isn’t one. It’s a war of attrition, and Wednesday is just another day on the calendar.

Leni Spooner @lenispooner.bsky.social · 12/07/2026

Plot twist: Canada's sovereignty story began long before Donald Trump. Oddly enough...it starts with a satellite. 🇨🇦 open.substack.com/pub/lenispoo...

open.substack.com

Canada’s Sovereignty History: From Telesat to Trump’s Border Threat

Canada has solved this problem before. The harder part has always been staying solved.

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Leni Spooner @lenispooner.bsky.social · 09/07/2026

Ron Kubek won a wine award. Ontario orders flooded in. He shipped them. That made him an outlaw. Actual Ontario law. This is the story of a constitutional wall built in 1867 that Ottawa cannot tear down alone. Your provincial ballot is the only key that fits. open.substack.com/pub/lenispoo...

open.substack.com

The Border Nobody Voted For

How a 159-year-old constitutional design is still deciding what food you can buy, and what it will take to change that

Leni Spooner @lenispooner.bsky.social · 06/07/2026

It hit me today: I have now typed “pre-pandemic” and “post-pandemic” so many times that I’m proposing BP and PP as formal research shorthand. No pressure, Oxford. But the emotional and statistical labour deserves a tiny dictionary entry.

Editorial illustration of a vintage-style memorabilia display divided into two sections labelled “BP” for “Before Pandemic” and “PP” for “Post Pandemic.” The shelves include symbolic objects such as a calendar, bar chart, coffee mug, face mask, hand sanitizer, sourdough starter, webcam, and laptop screen, suggesting how the pandemic has become a dividing line in modern data, memory, and everyday life.

Leni Spooner @lenispooner.bsky.social · 27/06/2026

Manitoba sold its American booze stockpile and donated $6.9M to charity. Nova Scotia sent $4M to food banks before a single bottle moved. Ontario let $2M expire in a warehouse and classified the cost as cabinet confidence. Same boycott. Very different choices. 🇨🇦” open.substack.com/pub/lenispoo...

open.substack.com

The Shelf Left Empty

What Canada’s ban on American alcohol actually did for Canadian producers, and why Ontario is still holding the bill

Leni Spooner @lenispooner.bsky.social · 20/06/2026

Five weeks later, multiple platforms, still being shared. The quiet removal of Canadian origin labelling from grocery shelves is still making people angry. As it should. #cdnpoli #food open.substack.com/pub/lenispoo...

open.substack.com

The Flag Is Gone. That’s the Point

Empire, Sobeys, and Loblaws are pulling maple leaf identifiers from grocery shelves. Here’s the real reason why, what it costs Canadian food producers, and what you can actually do about it.

Reposted by Leni Spooner

Mark Carney @mark-carney.bsky.social · 17/06/2026

Canada’s partnership with Germany is thriving. With new German investments in our LNG, solar, and critical minerals, we’re unlocking huge opportunities together — and we’re just getting started. Today at the G7, Chancellor Merz and I focused on what’s next.

Photo of Prime Minister Carney shaking hands with Chancellor Friedrich Merz at the G7 Summit in Évian, France.

Leni Spooner @lenispooner.bsky.social · 15/06/2026

Canada grows food for the world. Yet Canadians still struggle with affordability, competition, and food security at home. The new National Food Security Strategy is bigger than the headlines—and smaller than the problem. ,what it means, and what comes next. 🇨🇦🥕 open.substack.com/pub/lenispoo...

open.substack.com

Canada’s National Food Security Strategy Is Bigger Than the Headlines, and Smaller Than the Problem

What $3.2 billion buys, what Britain, Australia, and France learned first, and why the next move belongs to the provinces.

Leni Spooner @lenispooner.bsky.social · 15/06/2026

A chef. A grocer. A wholesaler. A councillor. Five Canadians living at different distances from the same food system. If you’ve been wondering what food hubs actually do, I tried explaining them through the people who feel the gaps every day. 🚛🥕🇨🇦 #cdnpoli open.substack.com/pub/lenispoo...

open.substack.com

Canada’s Food Hub Gap: What the Truck Couldn’t Carry

Five Canadians. One food system. And the food hub gap that a $3.2 billion strategy is trying to close.

Leni Spooner @lenispooner.bsky.social · 04/06/2026

McMaster just discovered an antibiotic that kills drug-resistant superbugs. The lead researcher then explained why it might never reach patients. Antibiotics cure you. One time. That’s a terrible business model. www.ctvnews.ca/canada/artic...

Canadian-led researchers discover antibiotic that targets drug-resistant bacteria

Researchers at McMaster University have discovered a new antibiotic that can kill some of the world’s most dangerous drug-resistant bacteria, a breakthrough they say could pave the way for a new class...

Leni Spooner @lenispooner.bsky.social · 03/06/2026

Ottawa says Canadian culture matters. Now it’s asking the CRTC to revisit a decision that would require major streaming platforms to contribute more to Canadian content. If Canadian stories are worth supporting, who pays: taxpayers, consumers, or streaming giants? www.ctvnews.ca/entertainmen...

Canada orders CRTC review of Online Streaming Act decision as CUSMA review deadline approaches

Amid widespread backlash and the fast-approaching deadline to review the Canada-U.S.-Mexico Agreement, the federal government is directing the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commissi...

Leni Spooner @lenispooner.bsky.social · 03/06/2026

The Supreme Court struck down Trump’s tariffs in February. He named Section 301 as the replacement the same afternoon. Three months later, meet the forced labour probe. The justification rotates. The project doesn’t. #Cdnpoli #tariffs open.substack.com/pub/lenispoo...

open.substack.com

The Tariff Is the Point: Forced Labour Is the Cover

How a forced labour probe became the Trump administration's legal workaround after the Supreme Court dismantled its tariff architecture.

Leni Spooner @lenispooner.bsky.social · 31/05/2026

Canada lost 110,000 jobs this year. Mortgage delinquency is up. Food banks are strained. Someone is going to hand you a simple explanation for all of it. #cdnpoli #economy Before you accept it, here is what the data actually shows. open.substack.com/pub/lenispoo...

open.substack.com

The Storm That Came From Outside:Understanding Canada’s Economy in 2026

Canada’s economy is hurting. The job losses are real, the squeeze is real, and Canadians deserve an honest account of where it came from. The evidence points largely outside our borders. Here is what

Leni Spooner @lenispooner.bsky.social · 30/05/2026

Carney borrowed Trump's slogan, delivered it to Wall Street, and the U.S. ambassador reposted it within hours. Ottawa called it a contradiction. It wasn't. It was variable geometry, and it worked. The analysis, not the outrage: #cdnpoli open.substack.com/pub/lenispoo...

open.substack.com

Canada Strong Will Help Make America Great Again: The Speech That Divided Ottawa and Charmed Wall Street

Mark Carney's Economic Club of New York address wasn't a contradiction. It was variable geometry, and it worked.

Leni Spooner @lenispooner.bsky.social · 27/05/2026

Canada chose Swedish Saab over Boeing for early warning aircraft. Built on a Bombardier jet. 3,000+ Canadian jobs. Read summary free 👇 substack.com/@lenispooner... apple.news/AIjf7yor4RQe...

Ottawa picks Sweden’s Saab early-warning aircraft tech over U.S. contenders — The Globe and Mail

Prime Minister makes good on promise to reduce spending on American military gear

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Leni Spooner @lenispooner.bsky.social · 26/05/2026

What if the number we’ve been citing for decades is wrong? Canada holds 20% of the world’s fresh water. That’s the flex. What doesn’t get said: the accessible, renewable supply where Canadians actually live is closer to 2.6%. Same country. Not a single drop left. 💧 open.substack.com/pub/lenispoo...

open.substack.com

Canada’s Freshwater Advantage Is Real. So Is the Threat We’re Ignoring.

We keep telling ourselves we're sitting on 20 percent of the world's fresh water. The actual number, once you run the math, is closer to 2.6 percent. And we're making it easier to give that away too.

Leni Spooner @lenispooner.bsky.social · 26/05/2026

“Alberta and B.C. premiers actually sat down and worked the problem themselves this week. Quietly notable. My take:” #cdnpoli #abpoli #bcpoli substack.com/@lenispooner...

Leni Spooner (@lenispooner)

Two Premiers Walk Into Kananaskis. They Actually Talk. Danielle Smith and David Eby have spent the better part of a year disagreeing loudly about pipelines, ports, and who exactly owns the B.C. coast...

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Reposted by Leni Spooner

Hold the North @holdthenorth.news · 25/05/2026

holdthenorth.news/alberta-refe... Between the Lines-Leni Spooner #AlbertaReferendum #DanielleSmith #AlbertaSeparatism #CdnPoli #AbPoli #StandingGround @lenispooner.bsky.social

holdthenorth.news

Alberta Referendum: Unpacking 4 Traps in the Question

Premier Smith's Alberta referendum question features four subtle traps, analyzed here for their impact on democratic clarity and voter intent.

Leni Spooner @lenispooner.bsky.social · 24/05/2026

Two hours after this went out, a reader was already sending it to their MP. If someone you know is trying to make sense of what Albertans are actually being asked on October 19, this might help. #cdnpoli #abpoli open.substack.com/pub/lenispoo...

open.substack.com

Alberta’s Referendum Question Has Four Traps. Here’s How Each One Works.

On October 19, Albertans will vote yes or no on a question that cannot support a yes or no answer. A plain-language breakdown of what is actually on the ballot and why it matters.

Leni Spooner @lenispooner.bsky.social · 22/05/2026

China is investing billions to need less of what Canada sells. Ottawa’s answer is to sell them 50% more by 2030. Today’s Readout breaks down what that collision means for Canadian farmers, Canadian consumers, and our own food security gap. substack.com/@lenispooner...

Leni Spooner (@lenispooner)

China just released a plan to reduce its dependence on Canadian exports. Ottawa’s response? Sell them 50% more by 2030. That collision is the subject of today’s Readout. Canada grows enough food to ...

Leni Spooner @lenispooner.bsky.social · 21/05/2026

Why does your buy-Canadian app keep saying “not found”? It’s not the app. It’s the infrastructure underneath it, and it tilts exactly the way you’d expect by now. open.substack.com/pub/lenispoo...

open.substack.com

The App Can’t Find It. The Jam Is Still Canadian.

The buy-Canadian apps aren’t broken. The database feeding them was just never built for the producers you’re actually trying to find.

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Leni Spooner @lenispooner.bsky.social · 19/05/2026

The U.S. just hit Canadian mushrooms with duties over “unfair subsidies.” The subsidy? A provincial sales tax exemption every farmer gets. Meanwhile the Americans who filed the complaint can’t find enough workers because their government deported them. 🍄 open.substack.com/pub/lenispoo...

open.substack.com

The U.S. Just Taxed Canadian Mushrooms. Here’s the Trade Trap Canada Keeps Falling Into

Countervailing duties on Canadian mushrooms landed in Washington this week. Behind them is a $500 million export sector with nowhere else to go.

Reposted by Leni Spooner

Charlie Angus @charlieangus104.bsky.social · 18/05/2026

Trump has raised the threat level against Canada. The Pentagon scrapped the Canada-US defence board which has been in place for 86 years. They hate us because we are a democratic nation that refuses to kiss their gangster ring. We remain true, north, strong and free. www.youtube.com/shorts/qiLdo...

TRUMP TURNS THREAT TO CANADA

YouTube video by Charlie Angus

Reposted by Leni Spooner

Hold the North @holdthenorth.news · 18/05/2026

holdthenorth.news/canada-food-... @lenispooner.bsky.social

holdthenorth.news

Canada's Food Paradox: Raw Exports, Imported Groceries

Explore Canada's startling food paradox: exporting raw ingredients only to import processed groceries. Discover the economic impact and solutions.

Leni Spooner @lenispooner.bsky.social · 18/05/2026

The Pentagon just suspended the oldest Canada-U.S. defence institution in history. They did it on Victoria Day, while Ottawa was closed. The word they used was “pause.” That word is doing a lot of work. #cdnpoli #CanadaUSRelations open.substack.com/pub/lenispoo...

open.substack.com

The Board That Survived the Cold War Didn’t Survive a Davos Speech

The U.S. just suspended the oldest Canada-U.S. defence institution in history. On Victoria Day. While Ottawa was closed. Here’s what it means and why the timing matters.

Reposted by Leni Spooner

Chip Pitfield @chipduck.bsky.social · 17/05/2026

This is exactly why the Ontario Liberal Party should be rebuilt from scratch. It is shamefully inept (and apparently finds that acceptable). www.nationalobserver.com/2026/05/19/o...

nationalobserver.com

Ontario Liberals should ask hard questions about a riding nomination, not wave them away

The Ontario Liberal Party should be expressing concern at alleged irregularities from a nomination contest in Scarborough Southwest, and assuring people that the party will get to the bottom of it. In...

Leni Spooner @lenispooner.bsky.social · 17/05/2026

I remember — fondly— a time in Southwestern Ontario when we did not go from unseasonably cool weather to heat warnings in the blink of an eye! substack.com/@lenispooner...

Leni Spooner (@lenispooner)

It has been a cold and rainy…decidedly grey skies spring in Southwest Ontario. Now the universe has officially flipped the switch….and we go from unseasonably cool…to heat warning!

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Leni Spooner @lenispooner.bsky.social · 17/05/2026

Promised you the backstory on Thursday. It’s live. We grow the wheat. Someone else makes the pasta. We buy it back. Thirty years of NAFTA later, here’s what that cost us. 🍁 substack.com/@lenispooner...

Leni Spooner (@lenispooner)

On Thursday I wrote about why grocery chains are quietly removing Canadian product identifiers from their shelves, and promised the background story would follow. It’s live today. Canada is the worl...

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Leni Spooner @lenispooner.bsky.social · 14/05/2026

The maple leaf tags are disappearing from grocery shelves. It’s not apathy. It’s a business model. And the retailers are not losing sleep over your anger. 🍁 The Flag Is Gone. That’s the Point. open.substack.com/pub/lenispoo...

open.substack.com

The Flag Is Gone. That’s the Point

Empire, Sobeys, and Loblaws are pulling maple leaf identifiers from grocery shelves. Here’s the real reason why, what it costs Canadian food producers, and what you can actually do about it.

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Leni Spooner @lenispooner.bsky.social · 12/05/2026

Canada is pitching stability to the world while two provinces vote on leaving it. Alberta and Quebec separatists have already met. Foreign governments are involved. And October is just the flashpoint. #cdnpoli open.substack.com/pub/lenispoo...

open.substack.com

Two Provinces, One Fault Line: How Alberta’s Separation Push and Quebec’s Coming Election Are Already Destabilizing Canada

Canada is pitching stability to the world while two provinces vote on leaving it. The timing is not a coincidence. Neither is the outside help.

Leni Spooner @lenispooner.bsky.social · 08/05/2026

Everyone knows the trade war is hurting Canada's auto sector. But who's asking what it's costing the Americans? New piece on Readout: Canada — and why not every bad headline belongs in the CUSMA file. #cdnpoli open.substack.com/pub/lenispoo...

open.substack.com

Who’s Really Paying for the Auto Tariffs? (Hint: Not Just Canada)

The trade war is hurting Canada’s auto sector. It’s also hurting American automakers, steel manufacturers, and U.S. households. Not every piece of bad news belongs in the CUSMA file.Here’s how to tell

Leni Spooner @lenispooner.bsky.social · 06/05/2026

Loblaw has 17 million PC Optimum members. Canada has 15.7 million households. This week they partnered with an AI firm to build automated systems across grocery, pharmacy, health data. There is no binding AI law in 🇨🇦. No penalties. The infrastructure is already built. substack.com/@lenispooner...

Loblaw's AI Deal: What It Means for Your Data and Your Grocery Bill

Loblaw’s partnership with AI firm Shakudo is not a technology story. It is a power story. Canadian consumers and regulators are not keeping pace.

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Leni Spooner @lenispooner.bsky.social · 05/05/2026

If you think the Reagan ad killed the deal, you’re reading the wrong part of the story. It didn’t start the problem. It made the problem visible. open.substack.com/pub/lenispoo...

open.substack.com

The Reagan Ad That “Killed” the Deal

We were told a football-season ad derailed Canada–U.S. trade talks. It made for a good story. It just wasn’t the whole story.

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Reposted by Leni Spooner

CHEK News @cheknews.ca · 03/05/2026

An Edmonton city councillor says he and his team are helping a woman facing intimate partner violence relocate with her children after her address was leaked in an alleged privacy breach by a separatist group.

Mark Carney calls alleged privacy breach in Alberta deeply concerning

An Edmonton city councillor says he and his team are helping a woman facing intimate partner violence relocate with her children after her address was leaked in an alleged privacy breach by a separatist group.

Leni Spooner @lenispooner.bsky.social · 03/05/2026

We’ve been told Canadian voters break neatly by age. They don’t. What polling captures — and what it misses — is a much messier, more human story. open.substack.com/pub/lenispoo...

open.substack.com

Stop Blaming Boomers for the Ballot Box. The Real Story Is Messier.

Why demographic polling tells us less about Canadian voters than we think

Leni Spooner @lenispooner.bsky.social · 01/05/2026

Surveillance pricing is already in Canadian grocery stores. Parliament just voted down a motion to ban it. The price on the label matches your receipt. Nothing feels broken. That's the point. New piece, and the comment thread is worth your time too. open.substack.com/pub/lenispoo...

open.substack.com

Surveillance Pricing Is Already in Canadian Grocery Stores. Parliament Just Chose to Look Away.

The NDP’s motion to ban surveillance pricing failed in April 2026. Here’s what the practice does to your grocery bill, who blocked action, and what Canadians can do about it.

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Leni Spooner @lenispooner.bsky.social · 28/04/2026

This interview isn’t about a single announcement. It’s about how the government wants Canadians to see the moment we’re in. Affordability, trades, geopolitics, U.S. relations—all in one frame. Worth watching. youtu.be/jPmZgN_5keE?...

Carney refuses to chase ‘small deal’ with Trump | Exclusive

YouTube video by CBC News: The National

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Leni Spooner @lenispooner.bsky.social · 27/04/2026

Canada just announced a $25B “sovereign wealth fund.” But it’s not Norway-style. This is about investing inside Canada and potentially owning part of what gets built. Even talk of Canadians investing directly. Big idea. Lots of unanswered questions. open.substack.com/pub/lenispoo...

open.substack.com

Canada Strong Fund: A New Public Investment Model Takes Shape

Ottawa is calling it a sovereign wealth fund. In practice, it is a state-led ownership strategy for the next phase of Canada’s economy.

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Leni Spooner @lenispooner.bsky.social · 26/04/2026

She’s been gone for years. Every spring when I plan my kitchen garden, she comes vividly to mind. This spring more than any other. open.substack.com/pub/lenispoo...

open.substack.com

What Stephanie Knew: The Food Crisis Coming for All of Us — and the Generation That Already Survived One

Canada's grocery prices are at historic highs and the worst hasn't arrived yet. A war bride's lifetime of food knowledge points to what got a previous generation through and what we've forgotten since

Leni Spooner @lenispooner.bsky.social · 25/04/2026

I wrote about Alberta's separatist YouTube machine earlier this month. CBC just investigated and found the trail leads to passive income operators in the Netherlands. I breakdown what they found — and why it matters with the referendum deadline one week away. 🍁. open.substack.com/pub/lenispoo...

open.substack.com

Alberta’s Separation Videos Aren’t Being Made by Albertans. A CBC Investigation Just Proved It.

CBC traced Alberta's separatist YouTube channels. The trail leads to the Netherlands

Leni Spooner @lenispooner.bsky.social · 24/04/2026

“Doubling down on globalization” is Trump Administration speak for “Canada is diversifying.” How dare we.

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Leni Spooner @lenispooner.bsky.social · 22/04/2026

Washington won't start CUSMA talks until Canada pays an "entry fee." Ottawa says no. This looks familiar — the U.S. ran the same playbook in 2017. Here's what happened then, and what it tells us about now. #cdnpoli open.substack.com/pub/lenispoo...

open.substack.com

Canada Won't Pay the Entry Fee: Understanding the CUSMA Standoff, the 2017 Playbook, and What Comes Next

The U.S. wants an entry fee before trade talks begin. Canada has seen this move before.

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Leni Spooner @lenispooner.bsky.social · 21/04/2026

For 6 years every Canadian commitment came with an invisible asterisk: subject to the government surviving. That just changed. But a slim majority is not a blank cheque. What it actually buys — new on Between the Lines Canada. 🍁 open.substack.com/pub/lenispoo...

open.substack.com

What a Slim Majority Actually Buys Canada Right Now

For six years, every major Canadian commitment came with an invisible asterisk. The slim majority that just arrived may have finally removed it — but only if the government earns that room to govern,

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Leni Spooner @lenispooner.bsky.social · 19/04/2026

“Canadians voted for a minority government” is one of those phrases. It’s wrong—and it matters that it’s wrong. open.substack.com/pub/lenispoo...

open.substack.com

No, Canadians Did Not Vote for a Minority Parliament

It isn't a civics error. It's a disinformation strategy. And it will haunt Canadian governance all the way to 2029.

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Leni Spooner @lenispooner.bsky.social · 14/04/2026

Canada just crossed into majority territory. Within hours, the narrative wasn’t “what changes” — it was “does it even count.” That’s not random. 👇 open.substack.com/pub/lenispoo... #cdnpoli

open.substack.com

Canada Just Got a Majority Government. Watch How Fast They Try to Delegitimize It.

The by-elections are done. The floor crossings counted. Canada has its first majority since 2015. That requires cutting through the content-farm version of Mark Carney already getting louder.

Leni Spooner @lenispooner.bsky.social · 09/04/2026

Five floor crossings in five months. That’s not random. That’s political gravity shifting. Gladu’s move matters less for the seat—and more for what it reveals about how the governing centre is changing. #cdnpoli #Canada open.substack.com/pub/lenispoo...

open.substack.com

Marilyn Gladu Crosses the Floor — And Redraws the Boundaries of Power

A routine floor crossing on the surface—but a clearer signal of how Canada’s political centre is widening in real time.

Reposted by Leni Spooner

Josh Siteman @theneaptide.com · 29/03/2026

This piece by @lenispooner.bsky.social put words to something I've been feeling but couldn't quite name. The pressure! Not from bad decisions, from good decisions made in a world that quietly changed underneath them. That reframe matters. Worth a read if you're carrying more than usual right now.

open.substack.com

The War You Can Feel at Home

A war Canadians didn’t choose is quietly rewriting the cost of 2026—from gas and groceries to mortgages and the rituals that hold families together.

Leni Spooner @lenispooner.bsky.social · 05/04/2026

Lately I’ve been seeing a wave of YouTube videos about Canada in U.S. feeds—same tone, same urgency, same story. They don’t arrive as news. They arrive as: “Is this true?” I tried to map what’s going on: open.substack.com/pub/lenispoo...

open.substack.com

The Videos That Are Turning Canada Into America’s Villain

A friend in Idaho sent me a link. It looked like breaking news. Every word of it was fiction. And it already had half a million views.

Leni Spooner @lenispooner.bsky.social · 05/03/2026

Zero chance that foreign interference can be managed in the lead up to a referendum. Zero.

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Leni Spooner @lenispooner.bsky.social · 01/03/2026

AI reporting rules are being debated in Canada. But beneath that conversation lies a deeper question: our searches, prompts, and habits are already being interpreted by digital systems. What changes when governance becomes visible? #cdnpoli open.substack.com/pub/lenispoo...

open.substack.com

When Digital Life Becomes Infrastructure

Canada’s AI reporting debate is only the surface. Beneath it lies a deeper question: who governs the systems already recording, interpreting, and shaping our digital lives?