The Ontario government says it hasn’t made any decisions about removing Crown Royal from the shelves of the province’s liquor stores, despite a dramatic display of dissatisfaction from Premier Doug Ford.
On Tuesday, Ford ended a news conference by pouring out a bottle of the Canadian whisky, after its parent company, Diageo, announced it would shutter a plant in Amherstburg, Ont.
“They’re hurting the people that work at Crown Royal,” Ford said.
“So, you know something? A message to the CEO in France: You hurt my people. I’m going to hurt you. You’re going to feel the pain in February when these people don’t have a paycheque.”
As calls mounted for the premier to back his actions with concrete policy proposals, the Ford government said it wouldn’t be removing Crown Royal from the shelves of the LCBO for at least five months.
A spokesperson for the Ministry of Finance told Global News, “all options are on the table,” but that no final decision would be made until after the plant actually closes in February.
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Ontario Liberal MPP John Fraser accused the premier of a publicity stunt instead of making policy.
“By pouring out that bottle, it’s suggesting a boycott — maybe that’s what the premier was saying,” he said.
“It is very much a performance. We should be more thoughtful and disciplined. This isn’t just about relationships; we want companies to stay here. We can’t run around calling them names, even when they do something we don’t like.”
The decision to close the Ontario plant, Diageo said, was not related to tariffs and followed similar consolidations in the United States, Italy and Scotland.
Ontario NDP MPP Lisa Gretzky urged the government to work to convince Diageo to stay.
“He needs to use every tool that he has to try and persuade that company to stay, including pulling Crown Royal off the shelves here in Ontario at the LCBO,” NDP MPP Lisa Gretzky said.
On Tuesday, Ford said he had tried to offer incentives, without success.
“I said, ‘Is there any incentives I can give you to stay here, to save these jobs?’ No? Not happening. I said, ‘So, it is what it is,’” he recounted before emptying the whisky bottle in front of a Protect Ontario sign.
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