Carney Says Starlink’s Ukraine Slowdown Cost Lives, Warns Canada

Credit: Mark Carney/X

Prime Minister Mark Carney says the slowdown of SpaceX’s military satellite service in Ukraine had real human costs, and that Canada doesn’t want to be left depending on a single provider that could do the same to Canadians. Carney made the comments at a press conference in Istanbul on Friday, October 23, when a reporter asked whether he was concerned about Elon Musk’s apparent ability to limit Ukraine’s defenses.

“However the decision came about, it does seem clear that there was a slowdown of that system with real consequences, human consequences, direct casualties as a consequence of this reduced ability of Ukraine to defend itself,” Carney said. He pointed to a Russian strike on central Kyiv in the previous 36 hours as an example of attacks that are “becoming more and more indiscriminate.”

Carney stopped short of naming who was responsible. “I search for the right adjective to describe whoever took this decision,” he said, adding that it was made against a country “that is literally fighting for the lives of the citizens against naked aggression.” He followed that with, “So are we concerned? Yes, we are concerned.”

The prime minister then widened his answer to Canada’s own reliance on foreign technology. “We as Canadians do not want to be caught in a situation where we are relying on one provider that may change their view or may be forced to change their view by one nation state, that puts Canadians at risk or compromises our sovereignty,” he said. Canada is starting from a position where it’s “highly, highly reliant on certain systems in certain countries,” Carney added, and “we are in the process of diversifying those.”

Later in the press conference, Carney said he had spoken with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy at length a couple of times within the past week about Ukraine’s defense situation and the Starlink situation.

His remarks build on what he told The New York Times last month, when he said Canada would diversify away from Starlink “no question.” Since then, Starlink has been at the center of a fight over speed caps on Starshield, the government version of the service that Ukraine’s military uses, which Ukraine says began in mid-October and hit drones and frontline terminals.

Musk and SpaceX have a very different read on who is responsible. Musk has said Starshield is owned and controlled by the US government, and that any limits on speed or usage are set by the US military and ultimately the president, not SpaceX.

Starshield systems are owned and controlled by the US government. Any limits on speed or usage are decided by the US military and ultimately POTUS.

Starlink is a commercial service owned and controlled by SpaceX. Usage of Starlink is limited to civilian or defensive activities

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) October 14, 2026

Washington’s own account has shifted. President Donald Trump said on Thursday that Musk “put it back” after a call about the restrictions, while Ukrainian officials say the cap is still in place. The US ambassador to Canada has also pushed back on Ottawa’s approach, with Pete Hoekstra saying earlier this week that Canada made “a conscious decision” to move away from SpaceX and that Musk will probably find other people to do business with.

Carney’s comments came on the first bilateral visit to Türkiye by a Canadian prime minister, where he launched a new strategic partnership with President Recep Tayyip Erdogan covering defense, energy and security. Do you think Canada should keep moving away from Starlink, or is there no realistic alternative yet?