Validation.
It’s what Niagara-on-the-Lake-born-and-raised singer-songwriter Catherine Leniarsky says she needed most while living through an abusive relationship — and what she hopes someone else finds when they hear her new song, “House of Cards.”
Leniarsky, 37, waited more than two years to release the song she says she has never felt more compelled to share, holding it back until the trial involving her accused abuser was over.
Now, with the trial behind her, she’s releasing it on July 16, the third anniversary of the day she fled the relationship.
The track, produced by a team that included two producers from NOTL, will be released at midnight as July 16 turns to July 17 and will be available on all streaming platforms.
“Being in an abusive relationship is very confusing,” Leniarsky says, and finding the courage to report it was “nearly impossible.”
“It took a lot of coaxing from mental health professionals and people that cared.”
The case eventually went worked its way through the court system, with a three-day trial beginning Oct. 31, 2025.
“That’s how slow our justice system is,” she says.
“It took me two-and-a-half years to get to court.”
The man was found not guilty on four charges, leaving Leniarsky with a peace bond that bars him from having contact with her.
She says the experience exposed what she sees as a serious gap in the justice system: a lack of understanding among some court professionals — mostly judges — about the specific dynamics of abusive relationships.
Still, Leniarsky feels reporting it mattered.
“I’m very thankful that I did.”
“I know that if I hadn’t reported, the girl that my abuser eventually went on to date after me wouldn’t have reported him,” she says.
“And she got it a lot worse than I did.”
Leniarsky says therapy, friendship and community helped her heal enough to share her experience.
“It probably took me at least a year to feel comfortable talking about it.”
“That’s around the time when I started to write this song,” she says.
Leniarsky worked with NOTL producers Adrian and Lucas Rezza, a Toronto videographer and his assistant, and her guitar player and partner.
All are men.
That mattered to her because it challenged the way she had come to see men in the music industry.
The person she had been in a relationship with was a Toronto musician and the experience had left her with a terrible view of men in that world.
This time, she says, she had kind, compassionate, encouraging and safe men behind her.
Working with them helped change her view of men in the music industry and became an important part of her healing.
The song’s title, “House of Cards,” reflects how she now understands abusive relationships: built on lies and far more fragile than they may seem.
“The idea that abusive relationships are typically built on lies and are about as strong as a house of cards,” she says.
One line in the song captures the point where fear begins to turn into defiance: “Go ahead and collect all the ammo you can, it won’t scare me this time.”
Leniarsky says the “ammo” in the lyric refers to everything an abuser can weaponize to keep someone small, quiet and afraid to tell others what is happening.
“Do your worst. It’s not going to scare me. I know it’s all based on lies.”
She hopes the song gives other survivors the validation to remember their worth and know they are not alone.
“Validation when you’re in an abusive relationship is huge.”
“You get to a point where you think everything is your fault,” she says.
Though she has written music her whole life, Leniarsky says she has “never felt so compelled” to release a song before.
“It is incredibly important to me to be loud about this topic,” she says.
“This song, to me, is remembering what I’m worth, remembering what I deserve — and it’s when I started to feel empowered again and remember who I was.”
