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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 · 19h
Our Report Card on La Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec (CDPQ). CDPQ is distinctive among the Maple 8 pension funds, with a dual mandate to “generate optimal returns for depositors while contributing to Québec’s economic development.” Read here: canadianshieldinstitute.ca/reports/mapl...
canadianshieldinstitute.ca
CDPQ Report Card | Canadian Shield Institute
The Canadian Shield Institute is an independent policy institute advancing Canada's economic resilience, sovereignty, innovation, and global competitiveness....
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Michael Kovrig @kovrig.bsky.social · 19h
What makes a company genuinely Canadian? In Reclaiming Canadian Sovereignty in a Ruptured World, @vassb.bsky.social argues that a Canadian address, workforce, or maple leaf in the branding is not enough. 1/3
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The Canadian Shield Institute @canadianshieldinstitute.ca · 05/10/2026
Compared to Global Peers, Canadian Pensions Invest Way Less At Home New analysis from Michael Sarbanis. canadianshieldinstitute.ca/updates/comp...
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Ethan Lou @ethanlou.bsky.social · 05/10/2026
How to get Canada’s pension funds to invest more in startups The latest from the Globe's business commentary, by Brett House: www.theglobeandmail.com/business/com...
theglobeandmail.com
Opinion: How to get Canada’s pension funds to invest more in startups
The country’s most promising companies end up seeking U.S. investment, increasing the chances they’ll relocate there
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FT Edit @ftedit.ft.com · 05/10/2026
Young people are falling out of love with technology. They want it and need it, sure, but they also hate it, feel enslaved by it and, unlike any other generation, long for the past, writes Jemima Kelly. Read @jemima.bsky.social in today's FT Edit 👉 ft.trib.al/miFZSMp
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WIRED @wired.com · 05/10/2026
Consumer advocate Lindsay Owen’s new book, “Gouged,” traces how corporations use software—from ever-changing prices to opaque algorithms—to squeeze every penny from you.
buff.ly
How to Beat Surveillance Pricing Before It Bleeds You Dry
Consumer advocate Lindsay Owen’s new book, Gouged, traces how corporations use software—from ever-changing prices to opaque algorithms—to squeeze every penny from you.
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The New York Review of Books @nybooks.com · 04/10/2026
“The innovation of intellectual monopoly capitalism is that capitalists don’t always need to incur the costs of ownership in order to enjoy its benefits. They can boss people around without taking responsibility for them.” —Ben Tarnoff
nybooks.com
How Tech Rules | Ben Tarnoff
One of the hallmarks of the modern corporation is the separation of ownership from control. The firm is owned by shareholders but led by managers, who
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The Walrus @thewalrus.ca · 03/10/2026
Payment processors connect merchants, banks, and credit card companies, moving around information about who we are, what we buy, and where we go. “That’s deeply personal information that we wouldn’t want to see going into the wrong hands,” says Douglas Sarro. thewalrus.ca/selling-moneris
On the left: Photo of a person tapping a credit card on a card reader. On the right: text that reads “What does the sale of Moneris mean for data sovereignty? Moneris manages one in three Canadian payments. US private equity is buying it.”
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Matthew Mendelsohn @mendelmatt.bsky.social · 03/10/2026
Want to track what's going on with Canada's agreements with middle powers and democratic allies around the world? The Shield Institute, the Gloves Off podcast and @scpartners.bsky.social are updating our Variable Geometry map every day (almost every day?). Check it out. variablegeometry.ca
variablegeometry.ca
Tracking Canada's Agreements
An interactive global map of Canada's recent international agreements, updated live.
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Adam Radwanski @aradwanski.bsky.social · 02/10/2026
My column on this week’s unpleasantly familiar reminder that not all foreign investment is good foreign investment, and a fundamental tension with Carney’s current pitch. www.thestar.com/business/opi...
thestar.com
Why laying off 500 workers at Hamilton's Stelco is an unpleasantly familiar warning for Mark Carney
From Stelco to Stellantis to shuttered factories, a pattern keeps repeating — and Carney's summit buzz won't fix it.
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Adam Radwanski @aradwanski.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
Important reporting here that feeds into broader concerns about a lack of focus on growing Canadian companies, relative to investing in big energy and infrastructure projects. thelogic.co/news/maple-8...
thelogic.co
The Maple 8’s Canadian pledges may do little for startups and scaleups - The Logic
Canada’s major pension funds will invest billions of extra dollars in domestic assets. Some worry the country’s innovation economy could miss out.
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The Canadian Shield Institute @canadianshieldinstitute.ca · 02/10/2026
Canada’s pension funds are not normal. Often reporting less domestic investment compared to their global counterparts. Other pension funds have domestic mandates and post good returns, can Canadian pension funds do the same? Read more here: canadianshieldinstitute.ca/updates/cana...
canadianshieldinstitute.ca
Canada's Pension Funds Are Not Normal | Canadian Shield Institute
Last week, we published a policy report, suggesting that Canada’s biggest pension funds should be mandated to put 3 per cent of their assets into...
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Navneet Alang @navneetalang.com · 02/10/2026
Here is @vassb.bsky.social arguing something similar in the Star. www.thestar.com/opinion/cont...
thestar.com
If Canada wants to move away from Elon Musk, this is how it should do it
It's time for pension funds to step up, writes Vass Bednar.
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The Canadian Shield Institute @canadianshieldinstitute.ca · 01/10/2026
Our Report Card on the Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan. HOOPP has the largest share of its assets in Canada, relative to any of the Maple 8 pension funds. However, their investments are heavily skewed towards bonds and real estate. Read here: canadianshieldinstitute.ca/hoopp-report...
canadianshieldinstitute.ca
HOOPP Report Card | Canadian Shield Institute
The Canadian Shield Institute is an independent policy institute advancing Canada's economic resilience, sovereignty, innovation, and global competitiveness....
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The Canadian Shield Institute @canadianshieldinstitute.ca · 29/09/2026
We're publishing deep-dive analysis of each Maple 8 pension plan over the next few weeks — looking at how much they invest in Canada, and what kind of assets they're buying. First up: The biggest pension fund in Canada. Read our report card here: canadianshieldinstitute.ca/cppib-report...
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VassB @vassb.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
I had to go home! I missed the event, cut it too close.
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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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VassB @vassb.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
I’m reading the book now and I’ll be in Ottawa Tuesday. I’m going to try to pass by
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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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VassB @vassb.bsky.social · 23/09/2026
Thank you! I’ll have a look
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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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VassB @vassb.bsky.social · 23/09/2026
It was K-Ci & JoJo for us
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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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VassB @vassb.bsky.social · 19/09/2026
Exit Party
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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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VassB @vassb.bsky.social · 16/09/2026
😍
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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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