Ontario ‘Ripping Up’ Starlink Contract

The leader of Ontario, Canada’s most populous province, said he would be “ripping up” a contract with SpaceX’s satellite broadband firm Starlink in response to sweeping tariffs on Canada announced by US president Donald Trump over the weekend.

The move is part of a broader range of measures to bar US firms from provincial contracts, Ontario premier Doug Ford said.

SpaceX chief executive Elon Musk is also a close ally of Trump.

“We’ll be ripping up the province’s contract with Starlink. Ontario won’t do business with people hellbent on destroying our economy,” Ford said.

‘Ramifications’

“President Trump is the only person to be blamed. Maybe Elon Musk can call his buddy? This is one of the ramifications.”

Ford signed a 100 million Canadian dollar (£55m) contract with Starlink in November to delivery high-speed internet access to 15,000 eligible unserved and underserved homes and businesses in remote areas.

Starlink delivers services to more than 100 countries via an array of more than 7,000 mass-produced small satellites in low-Earth orbit.

Trump, who met with Canadian prime minister Justin Trudeau twice on Monday over the tariffs, said Canada was “very, very tough to do business with”.

He said on Saturday that a 25 percent import duty on goods from Canada and Mexico would apply on Tuesday, along with a 10 percent tariff on goods from China, with a lower 10 percent duty on Canadian energy.

Canada and Mexico have both announced counter-tariffs on the US, but both countries are also in continuing negotiations.  The US delayed its tariffs on Mexico and Canada by 30 days on Monday to allow negotiations to continue.

Canada has “no choice but to hit back, and hit back hard”, Ford said in a news conference.

“Canada didn’t start this fight with the US, but you better believe we’re ready to win it,” he added.

Trade face-off

“No matter if we are building a hospital, if we’re building anything, if we’re building a doghouse I want to make sure we are using Ontario steel, Canadian products, Canadian wood, Ontario wood, anything,” he said of plans to end US contracts.

“I don’t care if it’s a toothpick. We need to purchase from Canada and Ontario.”

He said if Starlink challenged the move the province could make “a very good case” but that it was willing to pay a penalty for “the principle”.

Provinces including Quebec, British Columbia and New Brunswick said they would remove US liquor from government stores and would revisit provincial contracts for US firms.

In January Bloomberg reported that Italy was in advanced negotiations with Starlink to provide secure telecommunications for the government in what would be the largest such project in Europe.