Elon Musk has been accused by Premier Doug Ford of wanting to "take food off the table" of the people in his country.
Update, February 3, 5:30 PM ET: After Prime Minister Trudeau and President Trump declared that they will put their tariff stalemate on hold for thirty days, Ontario Premier Ford made a similar announcement on X. Ford stated that the government would also be halting the cancellation of its Starlink contract."Ontario will also suspend our retaliatory measures now that the United States has paused tariffs." If President Trump goes forward with the tariffs, we will not hesitate to take American items off the shelves of the LCBO or to prevent American companies from being able to sell their products to the province.
Ford also stated that the together States and Canada "need to remain united and focused on the real trade war we’re fighting, with China."
The unedited version of the original story, which was titled "Ontario cancels $100 million Starlink contract as a response to those tariffs," is as follows:
Doug Ford, the premier of Ontario and a former strong admirer of President Trump, has declared that the Canadian province will be "ripping up" a $100 million deal with Elon Musk's Starlink. Starlink was given the responsibility of providing internet access to distant areas of the province when the contract was inked in November of the previous year.
This follows Trump's announcement of a 25 percent tax on almost all items imported from Canada. As a result, Canada declared that it will impose a 25 percent tariff on goods imported from the United States. It seems like we are about to enter a trade war for, um, reasons? Trump claims that fentanyl is the issue, even though fewer than one percent of the narcotic comes into the United States through Canada. This information has been verified by both the United States Drug Enforcement Administration and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.
So how do Musk and Starlink fit into this? The wealthiest billionaire in the world is a close friend of Trump and is now in charge of the so-called Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), which is a division inside the government that is responsible for reducing costs and deregulating. Musk, who is not an elected official and is essentially just a regular person, has access to the federal payment system and some of the levers of the US Treasury.
Ford believes that this is sufficient evidence to connect Musk to Trump's tariffs. He stated that Ontario "won't do business with people hellbent on destroying our economy" and that Musk wants to "take food off the table" of hardworking Canadians. The premier stated that the contract will not be valid until "US tariffs are removed." Furthermore, Ontario is prohibiting all American corporations from obtaining provincial contracts. This will result in domestic businesses missing out on tens of billions of dollars in new revenue.
Ford also ordered the Liquor Control Board of Ontario (LCBO) to take American-made alcohol off the shelves of its stores. He is working on this with a number of other premiers from throughout the country.
The LCBO sells around $1 billion worth of American wine, beer, spirits, and seltzers every year. He said in a statement, "Not anymore." Ontario is home to more than 16 million people and includes cities such as Toronto and Niagara Falls. Musk posted "oh well" on X in response to Ford's decision.
