“Ontario won’t do business with people hellbent on destroying our economy,” says Premier Doug Ford
Feb 3, 202510:29 AM EST
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Update: 03/02/2025 at 5:54pm ET — Ontario Premier Doug Ford says his government will “pause” all retaliatory measures against the U.S., including its cancellation of the $100 million Starlink deal, amid the Canadian and U.S. government’s agreement to pause tariffs against one another for 30 days.
However, Ford warned that Ontario “won’t hesitate to remove American products off LCBO shelves or ban American companies from provincial procurement” should the U.S. proceed with tariffs. “Make no mistake, Canada and Ontario continue to stare down the threat of tariffs,” he warned.
Original story below:
Ontario will cancel its $100 million Starlink deal with American aerospace company SpaceX in response to the U.S. government’s recently imposed tariffs on Canada.
Premier Doug Ford made the announcement on Monday, noting that his provincial government is also ending contracts with other American companies over the tariffs. “Ontario won’t do business with people hellbent on destroying our economy,” said Ford in a statement on X (Twitter). On Saturday, U.S. President Donald Trump imposed 25 percent tariffs on all goods imported from Canada and Mexico, a move that is expected to raise costs for everyone, including Americans.
Starting today and until U.S. tariffs are removed, Ontario is banning American companies from provincial contracts.
Every year, the Ontario government and its agencies spend $30 billion on procurement, alongside our $200 billion plan to build Ontario. U.S.-based businesses will…
— Doug Ford (@fordnation) February 3, 2025
Ontario’s Starlink deal, meanwhile, was signed in November and intended to connect up to 15,000 homes in rural and remote communities with SpaceX’s high-speed satellite-powered internet. Elon Musk, the CEO and owner of SpaceX, is also a key figure in the Trump administration, leading the government’s newly-minted Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE). On X, Musk simply said “oh well” in response to a post sharing the news about Ontario axing the Starlink deal.
Oh well https://t.co/1jpMu55T6s
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) February 3, 2025
In his own post on X, Ford warned that U.S.-based businesses “will now lose out on tens of billions of dollars in new revenues” from deals with Ontario due to Trump’s tariffs. “Canada didn’t start this fight with the U.S., but you better believe we’re ready to win it,” he concluded. Ford is also set to remove U.S. alcohol from LCBO shelves starting February 4th.
The federal government, for its part, has responded to the U.S. tariffs by imposing its own tariffs on $30 billion in goods imported from the U.S., with an intention to target an additional $125 billion worth of U.S. goods. “Prime Minister Justin Trudeau also warned that this decision will hurt the U.S. economy and criticized Trump for upending “the most successful economic, military and security partnership the world has ever seen” between the two nations. Trudeau also encouraged Canadians to buy products from Canadian businesses.
Trudeau and Trump are expected to speak later today about the trade war.
Image credit: Shutterstock
Update: 03/02/2025 at 2:03pm ET — Added comment from Musk.
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