Doug Ford says Ontario university should be 'embarrassed' of Elon Musk

In Doug Ford's address to Ontario regarding the Canada and U.S. trade war, the Ontario premier said Queen's University should be "embarrassed" that Elon Musk studied there.

Ford made the comment while answering a question about whether Ontario tax dollars would still going to Musk's Starlink because of a "break free" for cancelling the contract. Ford said the following on Tuesday:

"This is principle to cancel Starlink to President Trump's right-hand man, Elon Musk. Isn't it ironic that he got educated… part of his education was at Queen's, and he's attacking the country and the province that gave him the opportunity to go to Queen's University."

"They should be embarrassed that he went to Queen's. He should be embarrassed to attack the people that took care of him for a number of years with his family," he continued.

During the Ford conference, he confirmed his previous threat of ripping up the Starlink deal and said Ontario "won't award contracts to people who enable and encourage economic attacks on our country."

Ontario and Starlink signed a deal in late 2024 to connect 15,000 Ontario residents with the satellite internet service. Still, since Elon Musk has become so tightly tied to President Trump, it became obvious to cut the deal and move instead to a Canadian business.

In 1990, Musk attended Queen's University in Kingston, Ontario, for two years before transferring to the University of Pennsylvania. Born in South Africa, he has Canadian citizenship through his mother. Musk said that Canada "isn't a real country" after more than 250,000 signed a petition to revoke his citizenship.

Starlink isn’t Ford's only target in the trade war. The premier also threatened to withhold nickel shipments to the U.S., which could impact stainless steel and battery manufacturing, potentially dealing a blow to electric vehicle (EV) makers like Musk's Tesla.