HARD NUMBERS: Biden and Trump eat chips, Provinces challenge equalization program, BC caps foreign student numbers, US exonerates court-martialed Black sailors
500 billion: Well there’s one thing Donald Trump and Joe Biden managed to do together this week: crush the value of stocks in companies that make semiconductors. Leading chip-makers lost more than $500 billion in value on Wednesday. This followed a report about the Biden administration considering tighter restrictions on exports of chip technology to China and Trump suggesting that Taiwan, a major semiconductor manufacturer, should pay for its own defense.
25 billion: The province of Newfoundland and Labrador has gained powerful allies in its bid to force the federal government to rework how it calculates fund transfers from wealthier to poorer provinces. NL, a recipient of funds from the $25 billion Federal Equalization Program, says it’s being shortchanged by the transfer formula. The premiers of British Columbia and Saskatchewan, which receive nothing under the program, have now backed NL’s suit.
30: British Columbia has capped the number of foreign students at 30% of total enrollment in colleges and universities. The move comes after the federal government lowered the quota for total foreign students by 35% to 360,000 this year. Ottawa has been trying to temper immigration amid concerns that an influx of foreigners has put pressure on housing and education resources while tightening competition for jobs.
258: The US Navy this week officially exonerated 258 Black sailors who were unjustly court-martialed 80 years ago for refusing to continue loading weapons onto ships at a California naval base following a massive explosion at an arms depot there. After the 1944 blast, which killed hundreds of sailors, commanders gave white sailors time off while forcing their Black counterparts to keep working.