Starlink installer in northern Ontario says business has been down since January
Nick Lavoie says he’s been called a Nazi online for installing the Elon Musk-owned internet service
The owner of a company that installs Starlink satellite dishes for residential customers in northeastern Ontario says that part of his business has fallen dramatically in the last few months.
"We've gone from, you know, doing five to 10 installs a week to one a month," said Nick Lavoie, the owner of Northern Internet Solutions.
"Since January we've lost a lot of doors. And Starlink has been a door opener for us in terms of getting our other services out there for the community."
While his company is not officially affiliated with SpaceX, the Elon Musk-owned company that runs the Starlink satellite internet service, Lavoie said installing the systems for rural customers has been a significant part of his business since 2020.
He said Starlink then opens the door to other services he offers for rural customers, such as internet-connected security systems.
But since U.S. President Donald Trump started his second term in January, Lavoie said a lot of Canadians are having second thoughts about supporting any companies owned by Musk, who is a senior advisor to the American president.
"Reaction wise, we're getting a lot of online hate," Lavoie said.
"I've been called a Nazi about 100 times this past week. Just people that are commenting on our ads or on our Facebook group, which is disrespectful."
Lavoie said he's heard that some Starlink installers in other parts of Ontario, who have Starlink branding on their vehicles, have faced vandalism.
Musk's car company Tesla has faced a similar backlash where dealerships across Canada have been vandalized.
WATCH| Doug Ford rips up Ontario's Starlink contract
But unlike the electric car-maker, Lavoie said there are often few alternatives for rural internet access that can compete with Starlink.
"The infrastructure needs to be really majorly upgraded if Canada is going to start providing Canadians with Canadian internet," he said.
"But that's never going to happen, not in a long time."
Lavoie added Ontario Premier Doug Ford's decision to cancel a $100-million contract with Starlink, as a response to U.S. tariffs on Canadian goods, will hurt his business.
While the cancelled deal won't prevent people from signing up for Starlink themselves, it would have set aside capacity on the network to supply 15,000 northern Ontario homes with broadband internet access.
Buying Canadian
Joanne Godin said she recently cancelled her Starlink subscription for her family's cottage in the French River area, south of Sudbury.
As with Ford's decision, Godin said she cancelled the service as a response to American tariffs and Trump's rhetoric on Canadian sovereignty.
"By taking Starlink off of our expenses, well, it shows them that, you know, this is elbows up for us," Godin said.
Godin said she's been looking at her expenses and cancelling subscriptions for other American-based services, such as Amazon Prime.
She said there are other alternatives for internet access at her cottage, and that she will probably switch to Rogers.
But Godin admitted the service would probably be slower than the speeds she got with Starlink.
"We probably will make some sacrifice, but it won't be that bad," she said.
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