A Canadian Premier has just cancelled an eye-watering $100 million contract with Elon Musk in retaliation for the US President’s tariffs.
Doug Ford, the Premier of Ontario, Canada, has announced the province has shredded its contract with Musk’s satellite internet company Starlink in retaliation amid the North American trade battle, reports CBC.
Ford also stated he would ban all US-based companies from taking part in any further provincial procurement after slamming Trump for having ‘chosen chaos’ over shared prosperity.
The Premier said Ontario is hitting the US back (GEOFF ROBINS/AFP via Getty Images)
The move comes as the 60-year-old MPP threatened to shut off power to 1.5 million US customers when American President Donald Trump announced new ‘catastrophic’ tariffs on the country.
There was a 30-day pause on the plans, but Trump signed off on the plan to roll out 25 percent tariffs on Canadian exports and 10 percent tariffs on Canadian energy this week.
The 47th POTUS said not long after returning to the White House in January that China, Mexico and Canada ought to be held ‘accountable for their promises to halt the flood of poisonous drugs into the US.’
Aggravating tensions, Trump said the only ‘solution’ for Canada to dodge the tariff would be to become a ‘cherished’ 51st state.
Canada has threatened further measures against the US if the trade war ‘persists’ (NBC)
Starlink is a subsidiary of SpaceX, founded by tech billionaire mogul Musk, who also heads the US president’s cost-cutting Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) task force.
The company only signed a contract with the province in November last year to provide high-speed internet to 15,000 homes and businesses in rural and remote areas by summer this year.
But when asked about the contract at a press conference on Tuesday (March 4), Ford said: “It’s done, it’s gone.”
“We won’t award contracts to people who enable and encourage economic attacks on our province and our country,” he added.
The decision comes after Ontario’s primary liquor wholesaler and retailer confirmed it would also no longer buy or sell US alcohol.
Donald Trump and Canada Prime Minister Justin Trudeau are now in a trade war over tariffs (NICHOLAS KAMM/AFP via Getty Images)
The Premier also reiterated his threat to switch off power in the US by warning lawmakers in New York, Michigan and Minnesota that if the trade war ‘persists’, Ontario will hike up a 25 percent surcharge on electricity flowing through the border state, and could pull the plug on the flow entirely.
In the same spirit, he also said the province could surcharge or cut off mineral exports to the US.
Ford said: “This is not the outcome anyone wanted.
“We could have poured our efforts into making Canada and the US the two richest, most successful, safest, most secure two countries on the planet. Unfortunately, one man — President Trump — has chosen chaos instead.”
The province fears the import levies could prompt a disaster in many vital Ontario industries, like auto manufacturing and steel production, while hiking retail prices and fanning the flames of inflation.
Ford added: “We also need to be ready to dig in for a long fight.
“We need to be ready to escalate using every tool in our tool kit.”
As per the Toronto Sun, Ford, who won a third majority last week, also previously said: “If they want to try to annihilate Ontario, I will do anything, including cutting off their energy — with a smile on my face.
“They need to feel the pain. They want to come at us hard? We’ve got to go back twice as hard.”
American investor and philanthropist Warren Buffett has spoken out ahead of Donald Trump’s tarriffs coming into effect.
At midnight tonight (March 4), Donald Trump‘s 25 percent tariffs on goods imported from Canada and Mexico and 20 percent on China are set to be imposed.
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has hit out at the order, imploring the US to reconsider alongside the country issuing its own counter-tariffs too.
And Chairman and CEO of multi-industry holding company Berkshire Hathaway, Warren Buffett, has since weighed in on how the tariffs could impact the economy.
Despite pausing the introduction of the tariffs for 30 days, the US is set to move forward with ‘imposing 25 percent tariffs on Canadian exports and 10 percent tariffs on Canadian energy’ as part of its ‘bold action to hold Mexico, Canada, and China accountable to their promises of halting illegal immigration and stopping poisonous fentanyl and other drugs from flowing into [the] country’.
During an appearance on CBS Sunday Morning with Senior Correspondent Norah O’Donnell, Buffett reflected on the ‘state of the economy’, noting he believes it’s ‘the most interesting subject in the world’.
Despite Buffett saying he ‘won’t talk’ or ‘can’t talk about it now’, when questioned how he thinks ‘tariffs will affect the economy’ Buffett reflected the US has ‘actually’ ‘had a lot of experience with them’ and he considers them ‘an act of war to some degree’.
And how could the tariffs impact inflation?
Donald Trump is set to go ahead with imposing tariffs on Canada (ROBERTO SCHMIDT/AFP via Getty Images)
Well, Canadian President Trudeau released a statement earlier today (March 4) vowing Canada will ‘not let this unjustified decision go unanswered’ and should the tariffs ‘come into effect tonight’, the country will be responding with its own ’25 percent tariffs against $155 billion of American goods’ ‘effective 11.01am EST tomorrow’.
The tariffs being imposed by Canada on the US will begin with ‘tariffs on $30 billion worth of goods immediately, and tariffs on the remaining $125 billion on American products in 21 days’ time,’ Trudeau warned.
And the tariffs will ‘remain in place’ until ‘the US trade action is withdrawn’.
Buffett continued: “Over time they’re a tax on goods. […] The Tooth Fairy doesn’t pay them. And see you always have to just… And then what?
“You always have to ask that question in economics – ‘And then what?'”
Warren Buffett has weighed in on the tariffs (CBS Sunday Morning)
He added: “Technology changes, all kinds of things, but Washington is Washington and the problem with politics is that you tend to have to make tiny compromises as you go along.”
O’Donnell then questioned Buffett’s thoughts on Elon Musk cutting costs as part of him working with Trump’s Department of Government Efficiency.
Buffett noted he ‘better not get into all that’.
Well, enough said I guess.
A tech expert with supposed ties to the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) has revealed the staggering amount of cash she thinks is being wasted each year.
DOGE is headed by Elon Musk and was founded by the Trump administration when Donald Trump returned to office last month.
As the head of the newly-created department, Musk has been tasked with drastically slashing federal spending.
In the few weeks it has been up and running, DOGE claims to have saved $65 billion (as of February 24).
It’s believed that the agency wants to make a whopping $1 trillion in savings.
The sum comes from ‘a combination of fraud detection/deletion, contract/lease cancellations, contract/lease renegotiations, asset sales, grant cancellations, workforce reductions, programmatic changes, and regulatory savings’, its website states.
While this figure suggests that $65 billion worth of taxpayer money was being wasted, a tech expert has claimed the real number could be as much as $100 billion.
The woman, whose identity has not been revealed, goes by ‘DataRepublican’ on social media and has continuous interactions with Musk on Twitter.
It’s been suggested that as much as $100 billion is wasted each year (NewsNation)
She recently sat down with NewsNation to speak about the money supposedly being wasted.
When asked about the alleged amount of ‘wasted’ or potentially ‘stolen’ federal money and an estimated figure, she told journalist Brian Entin: “If I had to guess, I would say it is over $100 billion. But what is more important is what they are doing with that money.”
The data scientist went on: “The numbers don’t lie. And look, they don’t always say what I want to hear. But they do tell me the truth.”
Going on to discuss her alleged ties to DOGE and Musk, ‘DataRepublican’ explained that she does not ‘communicate directly with Elon’, but the Tesla CEO ‘supports [her] work’.
“I have communicated with some people who are involved with DOGE,” she continued to share. “And I don’t want to say much more than that, but I have a working relationship.”
Musk is said to have encouraged people to follow ‘DataRepublican’ on Twitter, where she currently boasts over 400,000 followers.
As to how Musk found her online, the woman remains unsure.
“Honestly, I don’t know, you’d have to ask him,” she said when asked.
While she doesn’t know how he came to find out about her work, she’s ‘grateful’ that he did.
As Elon Musk and President Donald Trump attempt to streamline the US Government, all federal employees should expect an email in their inbox which could result in resignation if not responded to.
Musk and Trump have wasted no time in implementing swift changes to the federal government.
The Tesla CEO has been officially granted the title of ‘special government employee’, as well as leading a task force of people at the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), alongside Vivek Ramaswamy.
According to Trump, DOGE’s primary objective is ‘dismantle Government Bureaucracy, slash excess regulations, cut wasteful expenditures, and restructure Federal Agencies’.
And on Saturday (February 22), Musk revealed an ultimatum for federal employees in the form of an email.
Elon Musk has issued a blanket email to all federal employees ordering them to tell him what they have been up to in the last working week (Andrew Harnik/Getty Images)
The instruction in the email is clear, officials must explain what they have done in the last week – and if they don’t manage to respond by 11.59pm ET on Monday, they’ll be essentially be handing in their resignation.
Taking to Twitter yesterday, Musk tweeted: “Consistent with President @realDonaldTrump’s instructions, all federal employees will shortly receive an email requesting to understand what they got done last week.
“Failure to respond will be taken as a resignation.”
So, how did the email read then? Well, one person who received the notification posted a picture of it online.
“Please reply to this email with approx. 5 bullets of what you accomplished last week and cc your
manager,” it read. “Please do not send any classified information, links, or attachments.
“Deadline is this Monday at 11:59pmEST.”
According to the BBC, the email landed in people’s inboxes following Trump’s appearance at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC), with the email’s subject reading: “What did you do last week?”
Responding to this email would take less than 2 minutes for any truly productive person. Why is this in any way controversial?
Meanwhile, emails obtained by CNN also showed they were marked as highly important, with Musk’s mention of resignation as a result of a non response similarly not included.
Given the other drastic changes Trump has enforced on the workplace, this decision hasn’t been received well.
FBI director Kash Patel has advised employees not to immediately respond, saying (via Sky News): “The FBI, through the Office of the Director, is in charge of all of our review processes, and will conduct reviews in accordance with FBI procedures. When and if further information is required, we will coordinate the responses.
“For now, please pause any responses.”
Federal court officials has also urged for non response, adding: “Please be advised that this email did not originate from the judiciary or the administrative office and we suggest that no action be taken.”
Meanwhile, President of the American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE), Everett Kelley, called the action ‘cruel and disrespectful’ towards federal employees, adding that the AFGE would ‘challenge any unlawful terminations of our members and federal employees across the country’.
Donald Trump has instructed Elon Musk to ‘get more aggressive’ after all federal workers received the same email earlier this week.
In a post on X, Trump wrote: “Elon is doing a great job, but I would like to see him get more aggressive.
“Remember, we have a country to save but ultimately, to make greater than ever before. MAGA!”
In response, Musk said: “Will do, Mr. President!”
People were confused over the tweet, with one person commenting: “Why’d he have to put that out on social media instead of just talking to you, Elon?”
While another said: “MORE AGGRESSIVE!?”
And a third added: “Take it easy. Give people time to process!!!”
On Saturday (February 22), Musk – who is head of the new Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) – announced that federal workers had received an email asking them to account for what they had done in the last week – or resign.
Writing on X, he said that workers would ‘shortly receive an email requesting to understand what they got done last week’.
“Failure to respond will be taken as a resignation,” he added.
Trump told Musk to be ‘more aggressive’ (Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)
The government‘s HR agency, the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) confirmed the email was legitimate in a statement to CBS.
“As part of the Trump administration’s commitment to an efficient and accountable federal workforce, OPM is asking employees to provide a brief summary of what they did last week by the end of Monday, CC’ing their manager,” it said.
“Agencies will determine any next steps.”
According to the BBC, employees were asked to list their accomplishments in five bullet points.
In response, Everett Kelley, president of the American Federation of Government Employees said: “Once again, Elon Musk and the Trump Administration have shown their utter disdain for federal employees and the critical services they provide to the American people.”
A large number of good responses have been received already. These are the people who should be considered for promotion.
Consistent with President @realDonaldTrump’s instructions, all federal employees will shortly receive an email requesting to understand what they got done last week. Failure to respond will be taken as a resignation.
On Sunday (February 23), Musk said that ‘a large number of responses have been received already’ explaining that ‘these are the people who should be considered for promotion’.
“The reason this matters is that a significant number of people who are supposed to be working for the government are doing so little work that they are not checking their email at all!” He added.
“In some cases, we believe non-existent people or the identities of dead people are being used to collect paychecks. In other words, there is outright fraud.”
Speaking of cuts, Trump told crowds at the Conservative Political Action Conference: “We’re removing all of the unnecessary, incompetent and corrupt bureaucrats from the federal workforce.
“We want to make government smaller, more efficient,” he added. “We want to keep the best people, and we’re not going to keep the worst people.”
