Ontario ministers defend secret payout to Elon Musk’s SpaceX over nixed Starlink deal

TORONTO — Ontario ministers defended keeping secret the province’s payout to Elon Musk’s SpaceX over a cancelled Starlink contract, as critics accused the government of obfuscation during the recent release of its latest financial statements.

Several of Premier Doug Ford’s cabinet members said the government had the public’s backing to kill the $100-million satellite broadband internet deal last year, and revealing the kill fee would give away the province’s competitive advantage.

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In late 2024, then-infrastructure minister Kinga Surma announced the deal with SpaceX to deliver Starlink internet to 15,000 customers, largely in remote First Nations and rural Ontario.

The deal, hailed by Ford and Musk himself, was set to go live in June 2025. But not long after the announcement, Donald Trump won the U.S. presidency and soon started musing about making Canada the 51st state through economic force.

Musk, who was then part of Trump’s inner circle, joined the commentary on Canada’s sovereignty and in February 2025 said, “Canada is not a real country.”

Around the same time, Ford called a snap election that gave him a convincing win and a third term in office. During the election campaign, he said he would kill the Starlink deal should Trump follow through on his tariff threats.

Ford made good on that promise when Trump launched the first volley of tariffs against Canada, in addition to taking U.S. booze off Ontario store shelves and banning U.S. firms from bidding on provincial government contracts.

Several months later, Energy and Mines Minister Stephen Lecce, who took over the broadband responsibility from Surma, announced the deal was dead, but refused to reveal the contract’s kill fee.

The Canadian Press revealed in March that the kill fee would remain a secret after the province and SpaceX negotiated a confidential settlement.

The province has said the kill fee is “significantly less than the contract value.” SpaceX did not respond to a request for comment.

When the province released last week its public accounts, an accounting of everything spent between April 1, 2025 and March 31, 2026, there was no mention of SpaceX or Starlink in the audited statements.

Surma, who is now president of the Treasury Board, was asked about the SpaceX payout at a news conference about the province’s financial statements.

“Look, the taxpayers were clear in the election that they didn’t want us to pursue that option,” Surma said of the Starlink deal.

“We respected the taxpayer, the deal was cancelled and we continued to connect people to broadband across the province.”

When asked if taxpayers also told Ford’s Progressive Conservatives whether they wanted to know the cost of killing the deal, Surma said the question would be better suited for the new infrastructure minister.

Shortly after, the premier’s office corrected Surma and redirected questions to Lecce’s office.

The next day, six ministers took reporters’ questions in an effort to update the public on their activities since Queen’s Park rose in early June for a five-month break.

The Queen’s Park Press Gallery again asked Surma about the Starlink deal. She took a different tack.

“When we deal with large procurements, there are many clauses included in a procurement in a contract,” Surma said.

“There are many values assigned to different parts of the contract. Government does not disclose those parts. We don’t disclose them because if we were to advertise to the world and to the market how much we’re willing to pay, we would lose our competitive advantage, and we would not be able to negotiate in the best interest of the taxpayer and get the best price, the best product, and the best service. Those financials that are included in SpaceX are confidential and will remain so.”

Surma said public accounts are a “true reflection” that “clearly identifies everything we’ve spent our dollars on” but that the SpaceX payout is “led by a different ministry.”

When Lecce faced reporters a few hours later, he also refused to reveal the payout to SpaceX.

“There was a commercially sensitive nature of that negotiation with the company and I have to respect that,” he said. “Now we’re looking for a domestic, sovereign, low-orbiting satellite technology that ideally is Canadian, certainly not owned by Mr. Musk.”

Many First Nations have not waited around for Queen’s Park to act.

Starlink is already common in northern Ontario, especially in remote, fly-in First Nations. Community members have bought the devices and plans themselves, often picking up the hardware in Thunder Bay or Sioux Lookout and bringing it home.

High-speed internet is available in many band offices and community centres and the devices are often taken on the road in trucks and off-road vehicles.

Lecce said about 96 per cent of Ontarians now have access to high-speed internet as part of the government’s plan to lay broadband in the nooks and crannies of the province.

“I just think the people of Ontario care that we actually get on with building a modern economy, which means you have access to high-speed internet, access to roads, access to ports to move infrastructure, ideas, and commodities, and I think that’s what we’re focused on.”

But opposition parties say the secret payout is a problem.

New Democrat Jessica Bell raised the issue on Tuesday at an estimates committee hearing about spending in the premier’s office and cabinet office. She asked if either of those offices had given Ford information about the cost of the kill fee.

Red Tape Reduction Minister Andrea Khanjin, who represented the premier’s office and cabinet office at the committee, refused to answer the question.

“I think what we need to look at, which is within the estimates here today, is how those three offices co-ordinate to fight this global tariff war that we’re in,” Khanjin said.

Bell told the committee that the premier made a decision, “possibly without considering the consequences and the costs of that decision, and now here we are a year later and we’re wondering how much was the kill fee.”

“It’s a valid question,” she said.

Progressive Conservative backbencher Dave Smith cut Bell off with a point of order, saying it was not in the purview of the committee and the line of questioning was shut down.

Outside committee, Liberal finance critic Stephanie Bowman said she found it odd that the payout to SpaceX is nowhere in public accounts.

She said the Liberals will keep pressing the government on the issue when the legislature returns. “Where is that money? How much was it? And why is the government hiding it in the public accounts?”

Noah Jarvis, the Ontario director of the Canadian Taxpayers Federation, questioned the rationale that the kill fee must stay confidential for business reasons.

“They cancelled the contract for non-business reasons,” Jarvis said in an interview.

“Taxpayers deserve to know how their money is being spent, if they’re getting value for money for this and just how much the government is paying SpaceX to not do work.”

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 30, 2026.

Liam Casey, The Canadian Press