WATCH: Doug Ford WON'T SCRAP Starlink deal over tariff spat
Ford defends his decision, arguing that "no other companies could handle the infrastructure," given that Starlink is the largest satellite provider globally.
Ontario Premier Doug Ford rejected calls Thursday to axe his internet deal with Starlink, an American company, citing it was struck fair and square.
“No other companies could handle the infrastructure,” he told reporters. “They're the largest in the entire world, as everyone knows.”
Ontario Liberal Leader Bonnie Crombie proposed scrapping the deal as a retaliatory measure to America’s tariff war with Canada, slated to begin on February 1st.
“Are you planning to keep this deal if Trump does impose tariffs on Canada?” a reporter asked Ford. “I find it ironic coming from Bonnie Crombie, who’s using Elon Musk’s social media [platform] every single day,” he replied.
Premier Ford is asked about ending Ontario's agreement with Elon Musk-owned Starlink, given a potential trade war with the US.
— Rebel News (@RebelNewsOnline) January 24, 2025
"Other companies couldn't even handle the infrastructure ... but we need to deliver internet as we promised," Ford says. pic.twitter.com/ii4uz4UdOd
Premier Ford chose Starlink over a taxpayer-funded alternative last November in a $100 million deal to connect 15,000 “unserved and underserved” homes and businesses to the grid this year.
According to a prior government news release, Ford and the company have connected more than 100,000 homes and businesses to date, with plans to hook up 450,000 more in 2025.
Ontario’s agreement with Starlink follows the federal and Québec governments announcing a joint $2.54 billion loan to build and operate a Canadian-owned, low-Earth orbit satellite network called Lightspeed.
Elon Musk previously said his company could provide similar service at “less than half that amount.”
Liberals feed money to insiders for rural high-speed internet plan, balk at Musk Starlink suggestion
— Rebel News (@RebelNewsOnline) September 17, 2024
'There's just no way a late to the game Canadian competitor is going to beat Starlink for quality, cheapness...and it's ready to go right now,' said Ezra Levant.
On last night's… pic.twitter.com/lkTzdG9btF
Crombie said earlier this week that Ford should “cancel this deal” with Musk, a Trump ally, if he is serious about standing up to Trump in the upcoming tariff war.
“Under the Liberals, they did absolutely nothing,” Ford pointed out. “We’re making sure that every single person in Ontario is connected to the internet.”
Ford said his government cannot walk back a promise to deliver high-speed internet to tens of thousands of rural households and businesses. “We’ll make sure they’re connected to the rest of the world.”
The Ontario government has already invested more than $2.5 billion to fulfill that promise.
Innovation Minister François-Philippe Champagne claims Conservatives are risking "national security" by wanting Elon Musk's Starlink tech for rural internet, which Musk says would cost half as much as the Liberals' $2.14 billion deal with Telesat.https://t.co/vD78U502Po pic.twitter.com/r806mxa5PA
— Rebel News (@RebelNewsOnline) September 17, 2024
The Premier also assured taxpayers that the Starlink bid was transparent. “They came out on top,” he said.
Telsat, meanwhile, will not directly supply internet services directly to households. “Instead Telesat will sell wholesale capacity to local internet service providers,” reads a cabinet response to a parliamentary inquiry.
It remains unclear what sureties Telesat will provide taxpayers, as its loan agreement is confidential.

Alex Dhaliwal
Calgary Based Journalist
Alex Dhaliwal is a Political Science graduate from the University of Calgary. He has actively written on relevant Canadian issues with several prominent interviews under his belt.

COMMENTS
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Bruce Atchison commented 2025-01-24 21:37:43 -0500Ford is right on this one. Trudeau’s system costs more and duplicates the same service. And I’m tired of all this America bashing. Fixing the border would benefit us and America.