Indigenous legal advocates in northwestern Ontario are sounding the alarm over the Ontario government’s cancellation of its contract with Starlink, citing concerns with people’s access to legal services in remote First Nations.
Last month, Premier Doug Ford announced he’d be ripping up the $100-million deal with Elon Musk’s internet provider, as a retaliatory measure in the ongoing Canada-U.S. trade war.
Starlink, developed by Musk’s company SpaceX, is a low-orbit satellite constellation system known for improving broadband internet access in rural and remote communities.
Musk — called a “special government employee” by U.S. president Donald Trump — has received heavy criticism for his role in the Trump administration’s government cutbacks, resulting in a growing trend of people ‘cancelling’ products and services associated with him.
But in northwestern Ontario, this means the end of the Starlink-Navigator Program delivered by Nishnawbe-Aski Legal Services Corporation (NALSC), which “permitted community members, who often do not have access to internet, or reliable internet, an opportunity to participate in virtual courts.”
NALSC serves people across Nishnawbe Aski Nation (NAN) territory, which covers 49 First Nations across Treaties 9 and 5. The Starlink-Navigator Program allowed the organization to assist between five and 80 people in attending virtual court per session across 29 court locations.
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“Going forward, NAN community members will need to independently find the means and technology to attend court via Zoom,” NALSC said in a statement last Tuesday.
The organization, which declined to do an interview, issued a follow-up statement on Thursday, providing more details about the Ministry of the Attorney General’s refusal to renew funding for the program.
“Without funding to this critical program, it is anticipated that, alongside ancillary effects, many individuals will be unable to participate in the court process when their respective court is proceeding virtually,” NALSC said in Thursday’s release.
“A lack of funding for the Starlink-Navigator Program will further strain an already overburdened legal system. Communities should expect to see an increased cost to complete matters, as the inability to facilitate virtual court appearances will delay legal proceedings.”
CBC News has reached out to the Ministry of the Attorney General for comment on NALSC’s concerns and is awaiting a response.
Daniel Cox is a member of Fort William First Nation and a lecturer at the Bora Laskin Faculty of Law in Thunder Bay. He described the suspension of the Starlink-Navigator Program as a “step backwards.”
“This is obviously going to hamper access to justice,” said Cox.
Among his concerns are people’s constitutional rights to trials within a reasonable timeframe, as well as the limited ability of lawyers to travel to remote communities to provide in-person services.
“We’ve got an aging bar. There are fewer and fewer lawyers that have the capacity to continue to take on clients from these northern communities,” he said.
There’s also the issue of people failing to attend their court dates due to lack of remote access, which can lead to further incarceration, Cox added.
While Indigenous people make up about five per cent of Canada’s population, they account for 32 per cent of all individuals in federal custody, according to Public Safety Canada. Meanwhile, about half of federally-incarcerated women are Indigenous.
“If our goal is to try to reduce this overrepresentation, surely cutting down the access to the court system virtually can only hamper any efforts that we’ve had in place,” said Cox.
Francine McKenzie, who is completing her final year at the Bora Laskin Faculty of Law, grew up in Red Lake and is a member of Muskrat Dam First Nation. She’s previously worked for communities at the tribal council level.
A big part of what drew her to law school was her desire to improve First Nations’ access to justice.
“I thought it’s amazing to see technology like this being accessed and used in our communities because it’s desperately needed,” McKenzie said of the Starlink-Navigator Program.
“Court is a very, very hard process for people, so having that connection to someone in their community, having that consistency, I think that’s really important.”
Beyond the criminal justice system, she wants to see technology used to bridge the gap in other areas, such as family law and wills and estates planning.
“We look at Telehealth in the north and what it’s done for our communities in that aspect, so I think this is definitely something that could be developed and really needs the commitment of long-term, reliable funding from all the partners,” McKenzie said.
In Cox’s view, the downstream solution is finding a way to substitute the service if it is no longer provided through Starlink.
Quoting Kiiwetinoong MPP Sol Mamakwa, he said, “we’ve got to invest in a homegrown infrastructure, whether it’s hardwired infrastructure or perhaps incentivizing or encouraging Canadian telecom providers to come up with some type of similar service provision.”
As for an upstream solution, Cox said First Nations may consider parting ways with Canada’s justice system if it’s not meeting their people’s needs, “and moving towards more traditional and Indigenous justice in their communities.”
McKenzie added that it’s important for people to recognize the work NALSC does in NAN territory.
“I think it’s something that is really unappreciated sometimes,” she said. “As long as that continues to be maintained, I hope that other partners will come and support them and be able to provide more access.”
