By Ryan Patrick Jones
TORONTO (Reuters) -The Canadian province of Ontario has canceled a C$100 million ($68.12 million) satellite high-speed internet contract with Elon Musk’s company Starlink, following through with a vow by the province’s premier to cut ties in retaliation for U.S. tariffs imposed on Canada.
Stephen Lecce, Ontario’s minister of energy and mines, confirmed the cancellation of the contract for internet services at an unrelated news conference in Toronto on Wednesday. Lecce, who oversees broadband connectivity in Canada’s most populous province, didn’t say how much the termination would cost.
“I can confirm that the premier has fulfilled his word, which is to cancel that contract because of the very reasons he cited in the past,” Lecce said. “We are standing up for Canada.”
Under the terms of the deal, which Ontario signed last November, Starlink was to provide high-speed internet access to 15,000 eligible homes and businesses in more remote communities.
In February, Ontario Premier Doug Ford threatened to end the agreement with Starlink in response to U.S. President Donald Trump imposing tariffs on Canadian goods. He later postponed the cancellation after Trump agreed to a 30-day pause on tariffs.
SpaceX, Starlink’s parent, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Musk headed Trump’s drive to shrink the federal government and was a close ally before falling out with the president.
Canada and the U.S. are working on negotiating a trade deal by August 1, the date Trump is threatening to impose a 35% tariff on all Canadian goods not covered by the U.S.-Mexico-Canada trade agreement.
Earlier this week, Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney said talks were at an intense phase, while reiterating that a deal that would remove all U.S. tariffs was unlikely.
Lecce said Ontario has taken other measures against the U.S., including restricting the ability of U.S. companies to bid on provincial government contracts, removing U.S.-made alcoholic beverages from store shelves and working to decouple the province’s energy sector from the U.S.
(Reporting by Ryan Patrick Jones in Toronto; Editing by Frank McGurty and David Gregorio)
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