The Daily Populous Thursday March 6th, 2025 morning edition
Authored by globalnews.ca and submitted by Old_General_6741

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Ontario Premier Doug Ford says his decision to rip up a contract with Elon Musk‘s internet service is permanent and won’t be reversed, even if Canada’s tariff war with the United States is resolved.

On Tuesday, U.S. President Donald Trump slapped 25 per cent tariffs on the vast majority of Canadian imports, sparking a growing trade war between the two neighbouring countries.

As part of its response, Ontario removed U.S. alcohol from the shelves of the LCBO, banned American companies from bidding on provincial contracts and cancelled a deal between Musk’s SpaceX and the provincial government.

The cancelled contract is worth $100 million and was first signed in November 2024 to deliver Starlink satellite internet to rural and northern communities in Ontario.

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Starlink is run by SpaceX and owned by Musk, who has emerged as a key advisor to Trump. Ford suggested that cancelling the contract was about Musk and his role in the Trump administration, blasting him and saying the Ontario university he attended should be “embarrassed” to have him as a former student.

Ford’s decision to cancel the Starlink contract on Tuesday is the second time he has done so in a matter of a few weeks.

During the election, with tariffs set to hit, Ford said he was cancelling the Starlink agreement as a retaliatory measure. When tariffs did not materialize, however, Ford’s team said the contract with Musk would go ahead.

This time, Ford said the cancellation is permanent — even if tariffs are removed.

“It’s done,” he told Global News as he walked to a caucus meeting on Wednesday. “We’re not going back there, it’s done.”

It is not yet clear how much cancelling the deal could end up costing Ontario. The Ford government hasn’t revealed the potential break fee but the premier said it was a “point of principle” and suggested it could be fought out in court.

“If they come out and sue us, so be it,” Ford said on Tuesday. “I want to inflict as much pain as we possibly can until we get to a deal.”

Both the Ontario Liberals and NDP have called on Ford to scrap the contract and questioned why it was signed in the first place.

Musk responded the first time Ontario threatened to cancel the Starlink deal. In a social media post at the time, he simply wrote, “Oh well.”

coalitionofilling on March 6th, 2025 at 00:52 UTC »

Letting the US have kill switches on satellites and weapons is stupid. All it takes is a president like Trump to get in once in awhile and the entire world is playing roulette.

Cczaphod on March 5th, 2025 at 23:59 UTC »

Trust is really hard to regain once it's been broken.

Previous_Soil_5144 on March 5th, 2025 at 23:56 UTC »

It isn't retaliatory or out of spite against Musk; this is just common sense.

We can't be spending that much on something that might get cut off at any time. The US and Musk cannot be trusted to honour any deals, so no deals can be made with them anymore.