Ontario Officially Cancels $100M Starlink Deal

Ontario has pulled the plug on a $100 million contract with Elon Musk's Starlink, dropping plans to bring high-speed satellite internet to 15,000 homes in remote parts of the province. The move, confirmed Wednesday by Ontario Energy and Mines Minister Stephen Lecce, comes as the province makes good on Premier Doug Ford's pledge to retaliate against new US tariffs on Canadian goods. "We are standing up for Canada," Lecce said. The deal, originally inked last November, was set to deliver broadband to underserved communities but became a bargaining chip in a widening trade spat, reports Reuters.

Ford first threatened to cancel the Starlink agreement after President Trump slapped tariffs on Canadian imports earlier this year, though he briefly postponed the move when a 30-day tariff pause was announced. After the split between Musk and Trump last month, Ford said he was still planning to scrap the deal. "I don't want to deal with someone that's attacking our country—and he was one of the number one culprits, Elon Musk, and that's unacceptable," Ford said. "Starlink is done." Musk, who obtained Canadian citizenship through his Canadian-born mother, studied at an Ontario university for two years before he moved to the US.

Lecce declined to say how much the province paid as a "kill fee," the Toronto Star reports. Bonnie Crombie, leader of the opposition Ontario Liberal Party, said taxpayers deserve to know how much it cost to get out of the "bad deal." "If Doug Ford is going to pay Elon Musk to get out of this mess, then we deserve to know how much," Crombie said, adding that a Canadian supplier should have been found in the first place.

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Ontario is taking other steps in the trade standoff as well, including barring US firms from bidding on provincial contracts, yanking American-made booze from shelves, and exploring ways to separate its energy sector from US ties. Meanwhile, talks between Ottawa and Washington continue, but hopes for a deal that lifts all tariffs are looking slim, according to Canadian officials.