A $2.14-billion federal loan for an Ottawa-based satellite operator has Canadian politicians arguing about whether American billionaire Elon Musk poses a national security risk.
The fight involves internet connectivity in remote regions as Canada tries to live up to its promise to connect every Canadian household to high-speed internet by 2030.
A week ago, the Liberal government announced the loan to Telesat, which is launching a constellation of low Earth orbit satellites that will be able to connect the most remote areas of the country to broadband internet.
Conservative MP Michael Barrett objected to the price tag, asking Musk in a social media post how much it would cost to provide his Starlink to every Canadian household that does not have high-speed access.
Yeah, I see no problem putting #SpaceKaren in charge of our telecommunications.
Oh. Wait. He turns off Starlink to entire countries when he feels like it, and tells entire countries to fuck off when they ask for reasonable limits on accounts of bad actors. There’s also a very odd connection to Russia… a lot of this exceedingly bizarre behaviour started after having met with Putin a couple years back.
Relying on this increasinly unreliable idiot for anything is a bad idea.