Ontario Progressive Conservative Party Leader Doug Ford has put his short-lived promise to cancel a $100 million contract with Elon Musk’s Starlink on ice after U.S. President Donald Trump suspended his tariff threat.
In a Monday morning statement, Ford had said the Ontario government would be “ripping up” a contract signed to provide high-speed internet to northern and rural communities.
The move was part of the PC leader’s pitch for immediate measures against U.S. tariffs, which were due to land on Tuesday. He also outlined how he would handle the threat of Trump and tariffs if he is re-elected.
Late on Monday, however, cancelling the Starlink deal was paused.
During the afternoon, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced tariffs had been halted for 30 days, a pause designed to allow his government and Trump’s to come to an agreement on issues like the border.
In the face of the pause, Ford’s team said Ontario’s retaliatory measures would also be rolled back.
Asked if that meant the Starlink contract would proceed by Media, a Progressive Conservative spokesperson replied, “Yes.”
American alcohol will also no longer be removed from the shelves of Ontario’s liquor stores. The Starlink contract would still be cancelled, and booze removed, if tariffs do come into effect, according to the PCs.
Brief cancellation
Ford initially said the contract would be cancelled in a social media post on Monday morning listing the ways in which Ontario would respond to U.S. tariffs.
He referenced plans the federal government had for retaliatory tariffs and his own decision to remove U.S. booze from the shelves of the LCBO. Starlink was also set to be cancelled.
“We’ll be ripping up the province’s contract with Starlink,” he wrote. “Ontario won’t do business with people hellbent on destroying our economy.”
In November 2024, Ford’s government signed the deal with Starlink so it could run a satellite-based internet program for roughly 15,000 households and businesses starting in June.
Explaining the planned cancellation on Monday, Ford said, “We haven’t paid a penny” to Starlink, adding “we have a great deal” should the contract pullout be challenged because “he broke a trade deal.”
“I’m not going to support someone that is hellbent on destroying our province, destroying people’s families, taking jobs away from them,” he said.
“We’re done with that. We never started this fight whatsoever, but we’re going to win this fight.”
When the cancellation was announced, Musk, the world’s richest man, claimed not to be bothered.
“Oh well,” he said in a post on his social media platform, X.
Then, before 5 p.m., the tariff threat was paused and Ford’s team said they would not be putting in place retaliatory measures.
Calls remain to cancel project
The Ontario Liberals, however, are both still demanding the contract be cancelled and could tear it up themselves if they form government after Ontario’s snap election.
Ontario Liberal Leader Bonnie Crombie has been referring to the Starlink contract as a “sweetheart” deal and has been calling for the contract to be scrapped because of Musk himself and the U.S. president.
Musk took centre stage during the U.S. election campaign, advising Trump, promoting his content on his social media platform X and appearing with him. He raised some US$200 million for Trump’s campaign and attended the president’s swearing-in ceremony.
Musk also has tweeted occasionally about Canadian politics. He praised Trudeau’s Jan. 6 resignation announcement and dismissed him online by echoing Trump’s talk of Canada becoming a U.S. state.
When the contract was briefly cancelled, Crombie welcomed the move in a post on X.
“Glad it’s finally happening,” she wrote.
In the face of Ford’s decision not to tear up the contract — as long as tariffs are not levelled — the Liberals said they still believed it should be scrapped. Crombie also said the Ford government shouldn’t have signed the deal in the first place.
Ford had defended the contract, and said on Jan. 24 – days before the Ontario election call – that it was part of his government’s promise to deliver high-speed internet to rural Ontarians.