Ontario to rip up $100M Starlink contract ahead of U.S. tariffs, Musk says ‘Oh well’

Premier Doug Ford announced new retaliatory measures against the U.S. including the end of a $100M contract with Elon Musk’s Starlink.

Ontario Premier Doug Ford has announced that the province will dissolve its $100-million deal with Elon Musk’s Starlink ahead of U.S. President Donald Trump’s incoming 25 per cent tariffs.

Ford made the announcement Monday and said the government is also banning other American companies from provincial contracts until the tariffs are reversed.

“That’s just one step, and there’s many more coming,” Ford said in his capacity as premier during a campaign stop in Etobicoke. “You know, that’s a small, small drop in the bucket, the $100 million. It sends a message to President Trump, but there’s many more.”

Ford, who called a snap election last week, said Ontario will not do business with “people hellbent on destroying” the provincial economy and added that the decision to scrap the Starlink deal was a direct result of Trump’s tax.

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

The Starlink agreement was inked back in November and would have brought internet access to 15,000 people in rural communities across the province.

Musk, who owns Starlink through his tech company, SpaceX, and heads Trump’s newly-minted Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), responded to Ford’s announcement.

“Oh well,” wrote the world’s richest man in a post to X, which he also owns.

Ford said Ontario hasn’t “paid a penny” to Starlink and stated that if Musk takes the province to court over the cancellation of the deal, his government is prepared.

“We didn’t break the rules of our agreement, the USMCA (United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement) deal, they did. I never believe in starting a fight, but I believe in winning the fight,” he said. It’s unclear what financial consequences the province would face for breaking the contract.

The move to axe the contract comes after Trump signed an executive order Saturday to impose a 25 per cent tariff on all Canadian goods and a 10 per cent tariff on Canadian oil, natural gas and electricity starting Tuesday. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has said Canada will impose its own tariffs in retaliation, including a 25 per cent levy on $155 billion worth of American-made goods, like alcohol and fruit.

Trump and Trudeau spoke earlier this morning and are expected to discuss the tariffs again later today.

According to the province, Ontario and its agencies spend $30 billion every year on government procurement, which is money Ford said U.S.-based businesses will lose out on amid the trade war.

“I don’t care if it’s a cracker or a toothpick; we’re going to do everything we can, within that realm, to manufacture it, if we don’t have it, or to purchase it from an Ontario-made company,” Ford said.

Ford added that he anticipates inflation and interest rates will rise on both sides of the border until an agreement is reached to reverse the tariffs. He’s previously said Trump’s move could cost 500,000 Ontario jobs.

Last week, Ontario Liberal Leader Bonnie Crombie called on Ford to cancel the contract with Starlink, calling it a “sweetheart deal.”

“We’re happy Doug has finally listened to Bonnie and ripped up the bad Starlink deal and is finally putting Ontario first,” a spokesperson said in a statement issued after Ford’s announcement. “But we can’t help but wonder: What other shady deals has he signed with the super-rich?”

Amid the trade war, Ontarians will head to the polls for an early election on Feb. 27. Crombie, along with NDP Leader Marit Stiles and Green Party Leader Mike Schreiner, have decried the snap election as unnecessary, but Ford has argued he needs a new mandate to navigate Trump’s second term.

As PC Leader, Ford said that his government will continue to pursue domestic options to bring high-speed internet to rural communities following the collapse of the Starlink deal, though he believes that could take up to two years, citing a lack of Canadian infrastructure.

Ford calls Trump administration ‘a disaster’

After saying he was optimistic about Trump returning to the White House following his landslide victory in the U.S. election, Ford struck a very different tone on Monday.

“It’s been a disaster. I’d never support that guy in my entire life. He goes up and just stabs you right in the heart. Forget that,” Ford said.

Trump issued the tariffs through the International Economic Emergency Powers Act (IEEPA), which has never been done before by a sitting president. It’s unclear if the move will survive any legal challenges.

Trump has said the tariffs on Canada will remain in place until the country stems the flow of what he has described as illegal migrants and drugs. Ottawa recently unveiled its $1.3 billion plan to bolster the border, but that did little to assuage Trump, who said Saturday there was “nothing” the federal government could do to prevent the sanctions.

The tariffs were also imposed on Mexico, but President Claudia Sheinbaum said Monday they have since been paused for one month.