theijf.org/brief/spacex-former…

Following a year of public controversy and cancelled contracts, Elon Musk’s SpaceX has hired a former Liberal staffer to handle the company’s communications with the Government of Canada.

Sharan Kaur, principal at public relations firm Navigator Ltd., is now a consultant for SpaceX, according to a lobbyist registration filed on Jan. 26. Kaur was previously the deputy chief of staff to former finance minister Bill Morneau.

Though she hasn’t held a public office since September 2020, Kaur has continued to work on the campaigns of several federal Liberal election candidates. In the 2025 federal election, Kaur provided “counsel to several high-profile candidates,” and was the campaign manager for Evan Solomon, MP for Toronto Centre and minister of artificial intelligence and digital innovation.

Kaur joined Navigator in June 2025.

SpaceX’s renewed lobbying efforts target 14 government institutions, including the Prime Minister’s Office, the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission, and Public Safety. Lobbying records show the company intends to meet with officials to discuss “Satellite and ground station policies and regulations in relation to an application for a Foreign Satellite Authorization and broadband service.”

Several provinces have contracts with SpaceX’s satellite network subsidiary Starlink to provide internet access in rural and remote areas. But after U.S. President Donald Trump’s unpredictable tariff threats, and billionaire Musk’s influence within the Trump administration, governments have been increasingly looking to limit their reliance on Starlink.

In March 2025, Ontario announced it was cancelling a $100-million contract with Starlink, with Premier Doug Ford saying at the time, “We won't award contracts to people who enable and encourage economic attacks on our province ... and our country.”

After a report disclosed that SaskPower had paid more than $100,000 to Starlink for internet services, Saskatchewan NDP MLA Erika Ritchie also questioned why the Crown corporation was contracting “allies and supporters of the Trump administration.”

The Quebec government opted not to renew its $130-million contract with Starlink when it expired in June 2025. The government’s initiative gave customers in remote areas a $40-a-month subsidy as well as free Starlink receivers. Though the Quebec government has said it is pursuing a strategy to build “connectivity sovereignty” in the province, it also awarded a new $826,007 contract to Starlink last year for high-speed satellite internet in courthouses in remote regions, citing a lack of alternative providers.

In addition to Kaur and Navigator, lobbying records show SpaceX is also employing consultant Sean Webster, managing director of Chelsea Strategy Group and former deputy chief of staff to Premier Ford.

Communication reports show Webster met with policy advisors from Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada on behalf of SpaceX in November, as well as the director of policy to Minister of Industry and Economic Development for Quebec Mélanie Joly.

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The Kyiv Independent [unofficial]

Russia’s war against Ukraine

A fire-stricken book lies on the ruins at the Holy Dormition Monastery after s Russian drone attack in Odesa, Ukraine, on Jan. 28, 2026. (Nina Liashonok/Ukrinform/NurPhoto via Getty Images)

Russia says it’s ready for Zelensky-Putin meeting — but only if Ukraine’s president travels to Moscow. Kremlin aide Yuri Ushakov said Moscow is prepared to ensure President Volodymyr Zelensky’s security.

SBU releases greatest hits video of 2025 drone strikes on Russian aircraft. The accompanying video features first-person-view (FPV) drone footage showing $1 billion worth of Russian aircraft being targeted.

Casualties, damage to infrastructure reported as Russia launches missiles, drones at various regions of Ukraine. Russian forces launched missile and drone attacks on several Ukrainian regions, including Kyiv and surrounding areas, overnight on Jan. 28, local authorities reported.

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Russian losses in Ukraine ‘more than any major power’ in any war since World War II, report says. The CSIS report, published Jan. 27, estimates that Russian forces have sustained nearly 1.2 million casualties — including troops killed, wounded or missing — since Moscow launched its full-scale invasion in Feb. 2022. As many as 325,000 Russian soldiers have been killed, the report found.

Ukraine targets oil depot in Russia’s Voronezh Oblast, strikes several military facilities in occupied territories, General Staff says. Ukrainian forces struck the Khokholskaya oil depot, causing a fire at the facility that ignited stored petroleum products.

Pro-Ukrainian partisans sabotage substation in Russia’s Udmurt Republic, group claims. The Atesh partisan group sabotaged an electrical substation in Russia’s Udmurt Republic, disrupting power supply to the nearby “BUMMASH” military‑industrial plant, the group claimed in a Telegram post on Jan. 28.

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International response

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