Exclusive | Fed-up Canadians ditch Big Tech giants for obscure alternatives in latest trade war boycott

The next battleground in Canada’s boycott of the US is Big Tech.Fed-up Canucks are now ditching tech giants like Apple, Google and Meta to make way for obscure alternatives, like an email server called “NorthMail” or a search engine named “Switch.”Like the travel, booze and grocey boycotts, the tech offensive is being launched by Canadians steamed over tariffs and President Trump’s suggestion to make the Great White North the 51st state in the union.Another breaking point appears to be the renaming of the Gulf of Mexico – which now shows up as “Gulf of Mexico (Gulf of America)” on Google Maps in Canada.“Americans can call it the Gulf of Red, White and Blue for all I care, just don’t change my map,” fumed one Canadian.Montreal software engineer Patrick Lambert says his site – which lists Canadian alternatives to US tech – is blowing up.“If people were to boycott big tech, it would impact the US much more than boycotting goods,” Lambert told The Post.Boycotts on American goods could have an estimated impact of $83 billion on the economy this year, according to analysts at Goldman Sachs.Lambert said it’s not just about economic impact though – it’s also about security and privacy, at a time when the relationship between the two countries has become fraught with US threats of annexing Canada.“It’s not good that all the Canadian government data is held by Amazon, Google and Microsoft,” he said.Some are even using the initiative trying to resurrect a blast from Canada’s past – urging BlackBerry to make a comeback.

The Canadian-made device – the first widely used smartphone – was on everyone’s palm in the late 1990s and early 2000s before its catastrophic downfall when Steve Job’s iPhone hit the market in 2007.“Blackberry, please come back!” begged one Canadian.“Their security was top notch, something that would benefit us during an invasion,” noted another....