* The US and Canadian flags fly on the US side of the St. Clair River near the Bluewater Bridge border crossing between Ontario and Michigan on January 29, 2025. © Geoff Robins, AFP
By Yinka Olopade
Monday February 3, 2025
Please, share this story:
Ontario, Canada’s most populous province and its economic engine, announced Monday a ban on US companies bidding on tens of billions of dollars worth of government contracts and dumped a deal with Elon Musk’s Starlink in a pushback to US tariffs.
“Ontario won’t do business with people hellbent on destroying our economy,” Ontario Premier Doug Ford said on X.
“US-based businesses will now lose out on tens of billions of dollars in new revenues. They only have President Trump to blame.”
Ford said he was “ripping up” a Can$100 million (US$68 million) contract with Starlink, signed in November, to provide internet services to 15,000 homes and businesses in remote northern parts of Ontario.
Starlink satellites were to start beaming internet services to northern Ontario starting in June.
The company’s owner, Musk, is the world’s richest man and a close adviser to US President Donald Trump, who vowed to slap 25 percent tariffs on Canadian imports starting on Tuesday.
Ontario’s liquor stores also started on Monday, pulling US beer, wine, and spirits off shelves.
Several other Canadian provinces, including Quebec, Nova Scotia, and British Columbia, were doing the same.
The government-run Liquor Control Board of Ontario is one of the world’s largest single buyers of alcohol, supplying its stores as well as local restaurants, bars, and other retailers in the province.
It sells almost Can$1 billion worth of US alcohol, or about 3,600 products, each year.
Trump spoke earlier Monday with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau about the tariffs and said in a post on his Truth Social platform they would speak again later in the day.
We are here to serve you news and information.
Your donations, reactions, and advert placement are welcome.
Contact us on 08033783144 (WhatsApp)
08023469999(WhatsApp)
idowuadelusi@yahoo.com,adelusiidowu@yahoo.com, idowuadelusi@gmail.com,
thepathfindernews0@gmail.com
Follow our reports also on X @id40653 and Facebook (Idowu Oluwole Adelusi)