Doug Ford Already Banned Starlink Once — Now the US-Canada Trade War Is Back and Uglier

A clip of Ontario Premier Doug Ford ripping up a $100-million contract with Elon Musk's Starlink is spreading online again this week. It is real — but it is not new. What is new is the reason people are watching it again: the US-Canada trade war it came from has just roared back, louder than before.

THEN (March 4, 2025): Ford announced Ontario was "ripping up" its roughly $100-million internet contract with Starlink — "It's done. It's gone," he said at the time — and banned US-headquartered companies from most provincial government contracts, in response to tariffs then-President Trump had just imposed on Canadian goods. Ontario later paid Starlink an undisclosed break fee to formally end the deal. NOW (this week): US-Canada trade relations have collapsed again. Canada suspended trade negotiations on August 22, Trump announced 50% tariffs on Canadian cars, auto parts and steel effective January 1, 2027, and Prime Minister Mark Carney responded with dollar-for-dollar retaliatory tariffs taking effect September 8. It is this fresh blowup — not the old Starlink clip itself — that is driving the renewed attention.

Ontario's procurement ban on US businesses is still in force today, carried forward into a formal "Buy Ontario" procurement directive the province implemented in April 2026 — meaning the policy shown in the viral clip isn't just old news, it's still active government policy right now, with real financial consequences: Ontario and its agencies spend roughly $30 billion a year on procurement. Ford has said the Starlink cancellation specifically is permanent, regardless of what happens with tariffs.

Ford's rhetoric has escalated well past 2025's. Responding to Trump's latest tariff threat, Ford said Trump "can kiss my ass," called him "a loser," and said "I have more courage, more brains in my baby toe than he has in his whole body." He also told CBS News that Trump is "treating us like we're Communist China," while separately floating new retaliatory measures: tripling tariffs on US oil, potash, uranium and rare earth metals, and coordinating with other provinces to restrict electricity exports to the US.

Canada's retaliatory tariffs take effect September 8; Trump's 50% auto and steel tariffs are set for January 1, 2027, though both dates remain subject to further escalation or a last-minute deal. Whether Ford announces any new, additional measures against US companies specifically — beyond the existing procurement ban — has not been confirmed.

The Starlink cancellation clip going viral isn't breaking news — it's a preview. Doug Ford already showed, over a year ago, exactly how far he's willing to go in a trade fight with Washington. Now that the fight is back, that old clip is doing double duty as both history and warning.