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VassB

@vassb.bsky.social
3.4K followers 1.5K following 415 posts

policy designer + writer I run the Canadian Shield Institute (@canadianshieldinstitute.ca), where we make sovereignty make sense. Subscribe to our newsletter, The National Interest.

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The Canadian Shield Institute @canadianshieldinstitute.ca · 28/09/2026
Overall, Canadian pension funds don't invest much in Canada. But when you dig into the numbers around equity investing — and particularly private equity, which would capture high-growth companies — the numbers are dire. Read the full analysis here: canadianshieldinstitute.ca/updates/cana...
canadianshieldinstitute.ca
Canadian pensions investing in Canadian companies: It's even worse than you think | Canadian Shield Institute
Canada’s eight largest pensions, known as the Maple 8, are world renowned and envied for the Canadian Model. When other countries have looked to...
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The Logic @thelogic.co · 29/09/2026
Canada’s major pension funds will invest billions of extra dollars in domestic assets. Some worry the country’s innovation economy could miss out. thelogic.co/news/maple-8...
Two individuals stand facing each other inside a lit-up installation inside a bust room. Both people are holding smartphones.
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VassB @vassb.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
Have you ever really looked at your hand? And by that, I mean: thought about Docusign? I have. New essay for The Peak www.readthepeak.com/p/how-docusi...
readthepeak.com
How Docusign Killed the Signature
When your company name has become a verb, you know you’re onto something.
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Kate Klonick @klonick.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
Incredible how, like vaccines and reading with phonics, we need to keep learning these lessons over and over again.
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The Upshot @upshot.nytimes.com · 28/09/2026
www.nytimes.com/2026/09/22/s...
nytimes.com
Mathematics Isn’t Just a Game to Let A.I. Solve. History Shows Why. (Gift Article)
In our field of applied mathematics, the long, human process of trial and error — not just the solutions themselves — is often what has led to progress.
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The Walrus @thewalrus.ca · 21/09/2026
Canada thought it had solved the problem of foreign-controlled enterprises. It hadn’t. Writer Vass Bednar reports on the pitfalls of measuring ownership while overlooking the infrastructure that determines who holds power in the digital economy: ow.ly/ItkQ50ZPv8K
On the left: an image of rolled Canadian $100 bills on a yellow background. The centre bill roll has a green American bill sticking out. Most of the books are spilling down around her. On the right: text that “Canada is losing the fight against foreign ownership. We worried about Americans controlling our mines and factories. Now they dominate our digital economy”
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VassB @vassb.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
I had fun writing for the @pencanada.bsky.social Substack, "A Good Think," about technology and writing today. Do YOU have a routine when you write, or programs that you find to be helpful? I'm a sucker for a new notebook, that's for sure. substack.com/home/post/p-...
substack.com
A future for writing
“Writing is thinking, and thinking is the ultimate solitary act. No matter the tech, at some point, you’re still just solo with a page trying to fill it.”
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The Canadian Shield Institute @canadianshieldinstitute.ca · 24/09/2026
Is it too much to ask for Canada's biggest pension funds to invest 3 per cent of assets in real Canadian growth? We don't think so. Today we're publishing a policy paper delving into how our biggest pension funds are actually investing our money. canadianshieldinstitute.ca/reports/wort...
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Ethan Lou @ethanlou.bsky.social · 23/09/2026
The dangers of letting AI agents do your shopping The latest from the Globe's business commentary, by Vass Bednar: www.theglobeandmail.com/business/com...
theglobeandmail.com
Opinion: The dangers of letting AI agents do your shopping
As AI agents become more prevelant in our everyday lives, some retailers are rewriting their terms of service so customers carry the cost of the agent’s mistakes
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Matthew Mendelsohn @mendelmatt.bsky.social · 23/09/2026
Monday nights are usually slow, but not on October 5th! This will be the hottest show at El Mocambo since Gil Scott-Herron played there in 1976. www.canadianclub.org/events/glove...
canadianclub.org
Gloves Off Live: Selling Canada
Gloves Off Live: Selling Canada
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Tara Deschamps @taradeschamps.bsky.social · 23/09/2026
“Bask in the glory of being the sexy underdogs of the world right now and push harder.” - @vassb.bsky.social Members of Canada’s business community at tech conference Nrth urged investors to punch up the patriotism in their portfolios. www.thecanadianpressnews.ca/science/cana...
thecanadianpressnews.ca
Canada needs more patriotic investing, Nrth tech conference speakers argue
TORONTO - Members of Canada’s business community at a technology conference Wednesday called on institutional investors to punch up the patriotism in their portfolios.
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Stephen Marche @stephenmarche.bsky.social · 23/09/2026
Bonus Episode of Gloves Off: The extended interview with Julie Smith, former US Permanent Representative to NATO, on how America abandoning its allies is working out. Pretty damn frank assessment. www.youtube.com/watch?v=D9zK...
youtube.com
BONUS: Is the U.S. Abandoning Its Allies? Julianne Smith on NATO, Canada and the New World Order
YouTube video by Gloves Off with Stephen Marche
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The Canadian Shield Institute @canadianshieldinstitute.ca · 23/09/2026
CPPIB made big announcements for the Canada Investment Summit. A new fund targeting Canada. But the big picture here is that CPP’s investments in Canada have been falling for decades.
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The Canadian Shield Institute @canadianshieldinstitute.ca · 22/09/2026
“The EU has done so much over the past few years on digital sovereignty, on reducing their dependency on Big Tech,” Canadian Shield Institute Managing Director @vassb.bsky.social says. “I hope we can borrow from them.” www.bloomberg.com/news/newslet...
bloomberg.com
What EU Membership Would Mean for Canada
It’s not clear what an “associate” might be, but closer ties are attractive amid Trump’s threats.
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The Canadian Shield Institute @canadianshieldinstitute.ca · 21/09/2026
Foreign direct investment is transitioning, away from greenfield and towards mergers and acquisitions (M&A). M&A isn’t always bad, but can be an extractive tool of foreign investors to buy up Canadian companies to capture valuable IP or eliminate an up-and-coming competitor.
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The Guardian @theguardian.com · 21/09/2026
Google is fined more than €400m by Irish regulator over its use of location data
theguardian.com
Google is fined more than €400m by Irish regulator over its use of location data
Watchdog says users may have been unaware their information was used to target adverts or infer their interests Google has been fined more than €400m (£345m) over the way it processed users’ location data. The fine, by Ireland’s Data Protection Commission (DPC), comes after complaints from multiple European consumer organisations that Google was following every step users took. Continue reading...
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Stephanie Carvin @stephaniecarvin.bsky.social · 18/09/2026
Canada needs its own sovereign and functional national security agencies, part 831 in an ongoing series. www.nytimes.com/2026/09/18/u...
nytimes.com
F.B.I. Temporarily Halted Cooperation With Canada Over References to 9/11
The abrupt move by Kash Patel, the bureau’s director, came as President Trump was ramping up his attacks on the country.
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Tyler King @tyleraking.com · 17/09/2026
“A senior executive at Microsoft said A.I. systems built on the work of others will be seen as ‘an astonishing theft of unprecedented proportions’ and possibly the greatest robbery of labor in human history, according to court documents unredacted Thursday in an ongoing Manhattan lawsuit.”
orlandosentinel.com
Docs in A.I. copyright suit reveal startling admission by Microsoft exec over ‘astonishing theft’
The admission appeared in a newly unredacted filing in the landmark copyright infringement legal battle playing out between newspapers like the Orlando Sentinel and tech companies Microsoft and OpenAI...
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James McLeod @jamespmcleod.ca · 17/09/2026
Phrases from Carney's speech at the European Parliament that really caught my ear, as a digital policy nerd. The notion that Big Tech companies are seeking to act as sovereign actors in their own right is an astute observation. (A bit contradicted by the idea that they are "national" actors.)
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Karl Bode @karlbode.com · 16/09/2026
The Trump administration is telling California it has to effectively abandon broadband consumer protection (including enforcing its net neutrality law) if it wants the $1.42 billion in infrastructure money congress earmarked for broadband deployment
cyberlaw.stanford.edu
California Is Being Asked to Give Up 14 Years of Broadband Protections. It Doesn't Have To.
Accepting $1.42 billion in federal broadband funding would require California to give up enforcing its net neutrality, affordability, and public-safety laws against its biggest providers. The state ca...
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The Canadian Shield Institute @canadianshieldinstitute.ca · 16/09/2026
If Canada is seriously looking about how we can deepen ties with the European Union, maybe we should think about copying their homework on digital sovereignty. canadianshieldinstitute.ca/updates/euro...
canadianshieldinstitute.ca
Europe can teach Canada a thing or two about digital sovereignty | Canadian Shield Institute
Prime Minister Mark Carney is in Strasbourg, getting feted by the European Parliament. The news is that Canada wants to get closer to the EU, and the...
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The Walrus @thewalrus.ca · 16/09/2026
In the 1970s, Canada took measures to regain control of an economy increasingly dominated by foreign companies. Today, Vass Bednar argues, that struggle has moved to “the cloud—infrastructure that manages to somehow be everywhere and nowhere at the same time.” ow.ly/iN8k50ZO6Xm
On the left: an image of rolled Canadian $100 bills on a yellow background. The centre bill roll has a green American bill sticking out. Most of the books are spilling down around her. On the right: text that “Canada is losing the fight against foreign ownership. We worried about Americans controlling our mines and factories. Now they dominate our digital economy”
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Aaron Wherry @aaronwherry.bsky.social · 15/09/2026
Good to see Herb Gray finally getting credit for being the sex symbol he was.
thewalrus.ca
Canada Is Losing the Fight Against Foreign Ownership | The Walrus
We worried about Americans controlling our mines and factories. Now they dominate our digital economy
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CPAC TV @cpac.ca · 15/09/2026
“It is clear that the current U.S. administration views our level of economic integration as incompatible with our separate sovereignty,” says former PM Stephen Harper in investment summit speech, calling for Canada to pursue “diminished reliance on the United States.” #cdnpoli
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The Canadian Shield Institute @canadianshieldinstitute.ca · 15/09/2026
Canada elected a famous superstar economist as prime minister and... surprise... he's taking a big swing on economic policy, in a room with asset managers who control US$70 trillion. It's a big deal. Read our analysis of the Productivity Mega Deduction: canadianshieldinstitute.ca/updates/the-...
canadianshieldinstitute.ca
The ‘Productivity Mega Deduction’ Really is Huge | Canadian Shield Institute
The name is cheesy, but the “Productivity Mega Deduction” announced today by Prime Minister Mark Carney is, in fact, a very big deal. Carney made the...
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Armine Yalnizyan @armineyalnizyan.bsky.social · 14/09/2026
Stay focused: Nothing about the Investment Summit prohibits investors from "Buying Canadian" - Canadian long term care, childcare, doctors' offices, day surgeries, apartment buildings, as a tsunami of private equity forms. How about some rules to prevent that? www.thestar.com/opinion/cont...
thestar.com
To save Canada, Mark Carney is courting foreign money. He’s risking an ‘investment invasion’
The care economy is looking tempting to foreign investors but that mustn’t be used as a reason to privatize sectors like health.
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The Canadian Shield Institute @canadianshieldinstitute.ca · 14/09/2026
We're going to hear a lot of talk this week about investment. But not all investment is created equal, as @vassb.bsky.social writes in the Toronto Star. The thing to watch is going to be whether Prime Minister Carney is drawing investment that leads to real growth. www.thestar.com/opinion/cont...
thestar.com
Mark Carney wants to attract $1 trillion to Canada. It’ll only make sense if we fix this glaring problem
Investment within Canada should focus on building out the economy or funding infrastructure rather than mergers or bonds.
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The Walrus @thewalrus.ca · 12/09/2026
Canada’s global rankings have fallen across democracy, transparency, press freedom, and living standards. Writer and lawyer Matt Malone argues that reversing the decline requires rebuilding the institutions meant to hold government accountable. ow.ly/bAlL50ZMOIr
On the left: an image of the Canadian flag torn at the top in a jagged, declining pattern that mimics a downward-trending graph. On the right: text that reads “Canada was the ‘best country in the world to live.’ What happened? I went looking for answers in the nations that surpassed us.”
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Financial Times @financialtimes.com · 12/09/2026
Canada seeks $1tn from investors looking for a haven from Trump ft.trib.al/BCdUXKk
ft.trib.al
Canada seeks $1tn from investors looking for a haven from Trump
Prime Minister Mark Carney hosts a summit to put money behind his plan to decouple from an increasingly hostile US
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Cynthia Khoo @cyn-k.bsky.social · 11/09/2026
One of the last things I did at @georgetownprivacy.bsky.social before returning to Canada was designing & securing research ethics approval for a new project: investigating worker surveillance & freedom of assembly/assocn issues at Whole Foods post-Amazonificatn. The team took it from there, & how!!
law.georgetown.edu
Whole Worker Surveillance
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Toronto Star @thestar.com · 11/09/2026
Adam Radwanski: What this event is really about, though, is trying to introduce visiting executives to domestic proponents of energy, mining, infrastructure and manufacturing opportunities — not to strike immediate deals, but to begin what Ottawa hopes will be fruitful long-term relationships.
thestar.com
Adam Radwanski: Mark Carney’s foreign investment summit is like speed dating. The risks are real, but the opportunities could change Canada
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The Big Story @thebigstory.bsky.social · 10/09/2026
Who controls the digital maps we use every day? @vassb.bsky.social joins us to unpack "Lake America", digital imperialism, Trump's ties to Big Tech, and why Canadians should care. Listen now: lnk.to/bigstory
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The Canadian Shield Institute @canadianshieldinstitute.ca · 10/09/2026
Canada doesn't need more foreign direct investment. We need a better strategy for investment that drives real growth in the 21st century economy. Today we're publishing a new report looking at how investment has changed, and how Canada should adapt: canadianshieldinstitute.ca/reports/the-...
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Aaron Wherry @aaronwherry.bsky.social · 09/09/2026
How To Completely Reverse A Century of Economic Integration And Win A Trade War With The Massive Country Beside You Who Is Also Your Most Important Military Ally, Using This One Simple Trick
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Daniel Munro @dkmunro.bsky.social · 10/09/2026
University Health Network is calling on governments, pension funds and pharmaceutical companies to boost investment in life sciences to help shore up the Canadian economy during the trade war with the United States. www.theglobeandmail.com/business/eco...
theglobeandmail.com
UHN calls on governments, private sector to boost investment in life science
The blueprint for action is part of a larger effort to help shore up the Canadian economy during the trade war with the United States
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Adam Radwanski @aradwanski.bsky.social · 09/09/2026
Initial story, off a look at the pitchbook for Carney’s summit. www.thestar.com/business/car...
thestar.com
Carney's $1-trillion investment summit to feature pipelines, nuclear build-outs and data centres — but no airports
Government document obtained by the Star lists 167 projects the Carney government will pitch at next week's elite investor summit in Toronto
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The Canadian Shield Institute @canadianshieldinstitute.ca · 09/09/2026
Ottawa wants $1 trillion in new investment for Canadian major projects – but investors want a say in governance. Shield’s Matt da Mota said that "Governance is really the key,” and that Ottawa should set rules on investment that preserve sovereignty and autonomy.
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The Logic @thelogic.co · 09/09/2026
The federal Liberals are courting investors from the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, China—and of course, the U.S.—at the Canada Investment Summit. thelogic.co/news/canada-...
An image of Mark Carney against a light and dark background.
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The Hill Times @hilltimes.com · 08/09/2026
David Crane: We need a strong determination to build and support Canadian entrepreneurs and projects in pursuit of digital sovereignty, including support for quantum computing and application projects for AI. www.hilltimes.com/2026/09/07/b...
hilltimes.com
https://www.hilltimes.com/2026/09/07/build-canada-build-and-do-it-now/516815/
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Alex Hern @hern.bsky.social · 08/09/2026
It's finally happened: the improved quality of machine transcription and the greater ability to extract value from unlabelled data means "your tech is eavesdropping on you for marketing purposes" has crossed from "false conspiracy theory" to "true and concerning" www.theverge.com/tech/991190/...
theverge.com
LG TVs caught spying even when offline or on standby
Gamers Nexus comes for LG again.
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VassB @vassb.bsky.social · 08/09/2026
This trade war is missing merch and good art. www.etsy.com/ca/listing/4...
etsy.com
No, Eh. Canadian Political Button – Reissue of 1988 Free Trade Design - Etsy Canada
This Pins & Pinback Buttons item by CavanaughArtStudios has 2 favourites from Etsy shoppers. Dispatched from Canada. Listed on 30 Aug, 2026
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VassB @vassb.bsky.social · 08/09/2026
*I am wearing a re-issued pin from the 1988 trade war and taking notes in a Moleskin from Canada’s Ambassador of Canada to the United States. It’s red. Trade war accessories.
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VassB @vassb.bsky.social · 08/09/2026
I’ll be chasing Bob and Lisa on the show, and will be listening eagerly to them as well! What a time.
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Purchase with Purpose @purchase-w-purpose.bsky.social · 07/09/2026
🚨 Switzerland's federal government is replacing Microsoft on 3,000 computers - start of a larger pilot for the federal administration. One of many European governments reevaluating the risk of depending on US tech.
itsfoss.com
Switzerland's Federal Government is Replacing Microsoft on 3,000 Computers
This is the pilot phase, with 3,000 workstations moving away from Microsoft 365. The federal administration has over 54,000 computers.
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Adrian Weckler @adrianweckler.bsky.social · 05/09/2026
If you're shopping on Google, its AI Mode (which it now boosts when you use Google) is showing you more expensive (by 21%) options for the exact same listing, a new survey claims. i.e. you're seeing more expensive vendors in the AI Mode. www.independent.ie/business/tec...
independent.ie
Adrian Weckler: Analysis of Google listings shows AI is making shopping 22pc dearer
Plus, will you be running out to get the new €500 Dyson toothbrush?
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Karl Bode @karlbode.com · 03/09/2026
I wrote about Google and Apple's enthusiastic support of Trump's pointless and wildly-unpopular attempt to rename Lake Ontario.
karlbode.com
Never Forget How Eagerly Apple And Google Coddled Fascism
The US slide into autocracy has been enabled at every step by pathetic tech executives that enthusiastically embraced a complete lack of ethics.
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The Walrus @thewalrus.ca · 17/08/2026
Book banning is harmful, but it’s still visible. Digital erasure is quieter and more insidious. “A banned book can still be found,” writes Vass Bednar. “A scrubbed webpage can disappear so completely few people would ever realize it was there.” thewalrus.ca/google-search-is-dying
On the left: a photo of a man in a grey suit standing on a stage in front of a very large screen displaying a phone on a white background alongside the words Circle to Search. On the right: text that reads “Google Search is dying. What comes next is worse. As AI eats the web, the internet’s collective memory is disappearing.”
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The New York Times @nytimes.com · 02/09/2026
In @nytopinion.nytimes.com “The Canadian aluminum industry hasn’t bilked the United States,” Bill Saporito writes. “America needs aluminum to keep its auto plants running and to keep food and drink prices down, and Canada is just better at making it.”
nyti.ms
Opinion | Wondering How Nuts Trump’s Tariffs Are? Consider Aluminum.
Canada is better at making aluminum than we are. Let’s just import it and make something else.
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Stephen Marche @stephenmarche.bsky.social · 01/09/2026
Want to understand just how dangerous Google Maps renaming Lake Ontario is? What it means? Here's the full length interview with Gil Duran, author of The Nerd Reich, for Gloves Off. He knows. www.youtube.com/watch?v=Eq4y...
youtube.com
BONUS: What's Behind Google Maps renaming Lake Ontario: The Politicization of the Tech Oligarchs
YouTube video by Gloves Off with Stephen Marche
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James McLeod @jamespmcleod.ca · 01/09/2026
For the Toronto Star, I wrote about the trade war, digital sovereignty, and Lake Ontario. We are already dominated by American tech giants. If Canada fights this trade war and we don't renegotiate the terms of digital trade, we will lose. www.thestar.com/opinion/cont...
thestar.com
Google changing Lake Ontario to Lake America isn’t just frustrating. It points to a deeper problem for Mark Carney
Canada’s digital infrastructure is too tied to companies like Google, Microsoft and Amazon.
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