Ontario cancels and un-cancels Starlink contract after tariffs concession – News

Ontario’s Premier Doug Ford today announced he was pausing retaliatory measures in response to U.S. tariffs after President Donald Trump agreed to delay the tariffs.

Ford (pictured) had earlier said he would cancel a C$100m (US$68.5m) contract with Elon Musk’s Starlink, stating that he was “ripping up” the contract the province had with Trump’s “first buddy” and head of the Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE. Ford said Musk was “part of the Trump team that wants to destroy families, incomes, destroy businesses” in Canada.

The Starlink contract, signed in November and to be finished in June, was supposed to provide high-speed internet access through the company’s satellite service to 15,000 homes and businesses in some of Canada’s most northern communities.

“Ontario won’t do business with people hellbent on destroying our economy,” Ford wrote on X. “Canada didn’t start this fight with the U.S., but you better believe we’re ready to win it.” Earlier, he’d ordered the Liquor Control Board of Ontario, LCBO, “to remove American products off LCBO shelves” or ban U.S. companies from provincial procurement.

Ford added, “They only have President Trump to blame,” warning that “tens of billions of dollars” in new revenues would be lost as a result of the retaliatory response. As Ford wasn’t mincing his words, Musk was unusually taciturn, only writing on X, “Oh well.”

It seems as the flames of Ford’s rage were tickling the other side of the border, outgoing Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau was on the phone with Trump trying to broker a deal. Trudeau later took to X, saying he’d just had a “good call” with Trump and had agreed to implement a “$1.3 billion border plan.” He said his country would bolster the border with 10,000 frontline personnel and launch Canada- U.S. Joint Strike Force to “combat organized crime, fentanyl and money laundering.” In response, Trump had agreed to pause the tariffs for 30 days.

Ford called the deal “good news” but warned that retaliation was still possible depending on future scenarios. “So long as our trading relationship with our largest trading partner is up in the air, we will continue to see many potential projects frozen and projects that were already underway put at risk,” he explained. He added that the “real” trade war was with China, not between the U.S. and Canada, saying, “If we want to win, we need to fight together — not each other.”

Meanwhile, tariffs on Mexico have also been paused after Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum also agreed to deploy thousands of troops to her country’s northern border in an effort to lessen illegal immigration and deal with the drugs, mainly illicit fentanyl, flowing into the U.S.

Photo: Bruce Reeve/Flickr