Ontario un-cancels its Starlink contract after trade war ceasefire

Update, February 3, 5:30PM ET: Following the news that Prime Minister Trudeau and President Trump have agreed to pause their tariff standoff for thirty days, Ontario premier Ford has announced on X that he is similarly pausing the province’s cancelation of its Starlink contract:

Ford added that the US and Canada “need to remain united and focused on the real trade war we’re fighting, with China.”

The original story, which was headlined “Ontario cancels $100 million Starlink contract as a response to those tariffs,” follows unedited.

Doug Ford, the premier of Ontario and a former staunch supporter of President Trump, has announced that the Canadian territory will be “ripping up” a $100 million contract with Elon Musk’s Starlink. The contract was signed in November of last year and tasked Starlink with providing internet service to remote parts of the province.

This comes after Trump announced a 25 percent tariff on nearly all Canadian imported goods. This spurred Canada to announce its own 25 percent tariff on American imported goods. It looks like we are heading into a trade war for, uh, reasons? Trump says it’s about fentanyl, even though less than one percent of the drug arrives in this country via Canadian routes. This is data that has been confirmed by both Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and the US Drug Enforcement Administration.

So where do Musk and Starlink come in? The richest man in the world is a close confidant of Trump and now has control over the so-called Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE, a group within the administration tasked with cost-cutting and deregulation. Musk, who was not elected and is essentially just some guy, has access to the federal payment system and some of the levers of the US Treasury.

In the eyes of Ford, this is enough to link Musk to Trump’s tariffs. He said that Ontario “won’t do business with people hellbent on destroying our economy” and that Musk wants to “take food off the table” of hard-working Canadians. The premier indicated that the contract will remain null and void until “US tariffs are removed.” Additionally, Ontario is banning all American companies from provincial contracts, which will cause domestic businesses to “lose out on tens of billions of dollars in new revenues.”

Ford also commanded the Liquor Control Board of Ontario (LCBO) to remove American-made spirits from store shelves. He joins several other premiers across the country in this effort.

“Every year, LCBO sells nearly $1 billion worth of American wine, beer, spirits and seltzers. Not anymore,” he said in a statement. Ontario has a population of over 16 million people and includes cities like Toronto and Niagara Falls. Musk responded to Ford’s decision by posting “oh well” on X.