Ontario Premier Doug Ford has said the province will rip up its C$100m Starlink contract and bar American companies from provincial government contracts until the United States lifts the tariffs imposed on Canada. The BBC reported that Ford tied the move directly to Donald Trump’s 25% import tax on Canadian goods, describing the decision as part of a broader Canadian retaliation.
The Starlink contract mattered because it was a visible and politically charged target. Starlink, owned by Elon Musk’s SpaceX, had been set to provide high-speed satellite internet access to 15,000 eligible homes and businesses in underserved parts of Ontario. By ending that arrangement, Ford put a major commercial relationship in the middle of a trade dispute that began in Washington but was now being felt at the provincial level.
Ford’s language was deliberately blunt. He said Ontario would not do business with people “hell-bent on destroying our economy,” and he framed the tariff fight as a test of Canadian resolve. The BBC also reported that he believed the province had a strong legal case if Starlink challenged the decision, though he said Ontario would be willing to pay a penalty if necessary. That detail suggested the move was meant to be read as both symbolic and practical.
The wider Canadian response gave the Ontario decision more context. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau had already announced counter-tariff plans, and other provinces were moving in a similar direction by targeting American booze and reviewing contracts with U.S. firms. The BBC said that Quebec, British Columbia and New Brunswick were among the provinces making parallel moves, reflecting a coordinated political mood rather than a single regional gesture.
Ford’s action also highlighted the way tariff disputes can spill beyond trade statistics into public procurement, politics and personal alliances. Musk is one of Trump’s closest allies, so the Starlink decision carried an extra layer of signalling. Ontario was not just answering a tariff; it was using one of the president’s high-profile business connections to show that Canadian governments were prepared to retaliate in kind.
Ontario’s Starlink decision is especially notable because it shifts the conflict from import taxes to procurement power. A provincial government contract is not the same as a tariff, but it can still create real commercial pain and send a political message that retaliation is spreading. The move also targets a company run by a close Trump ally, making the dispute more personal and more visible.
Ford’s willingness to accept a possible penalty underlines that this was not just about money. It was about showing that Canada’s response could hit firms tied to the U.S. political and business ecosystem. The broader pattern described by the BBC, with other provinces also targeting American alcohol and contracts, suggests the tariff conflict had already become a wider campaign of economic signalling across Canada.
Because the province had already partnered with Starlink, the decision also shows how quickly commercial ties can be reversed when politics changes. That makes the case a useful indicator of the broader Canadian mood: the response to Trump’s tariffs was not limited to matching taxes on goods, but included pressure on contracts and procurement choices that had once looked routine.
