Manitoba’s premier called on Doug Ford to “do a 180” and not follow through with plans to take Crown Royal off Ontario liquor shelves.
Targeting jobs in other provinces is at odds with a “Team Canada approach” to the trade war against the U.S., Wab Kinew said during a Tuesday visit to the Gimli, Man., plant where the whisky is distilled.
“We understand, Doug, that you get fired up and you say things in public. But we also understand you do the right thing when you have a chance to reconsider,” Kinew said.
“And I’m asking you to reconsider, because this is about sticking together as Team Canada. We know that we’re standing together against the U.S., but a house divided against itself cannot stand.”
Ford said last week he plans to follow through with threats to remove Crown Royal from Liquor Control Board of Ontario listings as soon as the brand’s U.K.-based owner, Diageo, shuts down a bottling plant in Amherstburg, Ont., in February.
Ford said the company will eventually move jobs that are currently elsewhere in Canada south of the border.
Diageo said it still plans to maintain a significant presence in Canada, shifting Amherstburg bottling volumes to a plant in Valleyfield, Que.
Kinew said the province has gotten assurances from Diageo that the company will remain in Gimli.
“It can’t be called Canadian whisky, it can’t be Crown Royal unless it’s made in Canada,” he said.
Kevin Chudd, mayor of the Rural Municipality of Gimli, raised a glass of Crown Royal at a local pub on Tuesday, hailing it as “a taste of Gimli, for all to enjoy.”
Chudd said the Diageo plant “is very important to us, our province and our country,” as it “brings a lot of business for all of us.”
Earlier Tuesday, the Ontario premier said he and Kinew have a “phenomenal relationship” and that they talked ahead of the Gimli visit. But Ford still told a reporter the whisky will disappear from LCBOs “as sure as I’m talking to you.”
“God bless him [Kinew]. He’s doing his job,” Ford said. “He’s trying to protect jobs in Manitoba. I’m protecting jobs here in Ontario.”
Kinew said he’s invited Ford to meet so they can “settle this thing” and put the issue behind them.
Barry Sawyer, the Toronto-based national president of United Food and Commercial Workers — the union that represents workers at the Gimli plant — also called on Ford to reconsider, saying interprovincial trade barriers will hurt workers.
“If Premier Ford follows through with his current stance of taking Crown Royal off the shelves in Ontario, he’s really punishing Canadian workers, not punishing … the company and/or people in the U.S.,” he said.
The Gimli and Valleyfield plants employ about 400 workers combined, Sawyer said.
“All industries are nervous about the Trump tariffs, either the ones that have come into place or are threatened to come in place,” he said. “What I would say is let’s not fight amongst Canadians during that time.”
Kinew did not give specifics about how pulling Crown Royal in Ontario would impact the Manitoba economy. He did say the American reaction to provinces pulling U.S. products from liquor stores shows moves like that have an impact.
Federal Conservative MP James Bezan, who represents the riding where the whisky is distilled, said last week that Ford “shouldn’t be surprised” if Manitoba retaliates by targeting Ontario wine.
Kinew said Tuesday the province won’t go “tit for tat” and remove Ontario products from its Liquor Mart stores.
“We’d be doing the thing that we don’t think it’s right for Doug Ford to do,” he said.
“We don’t think it’s right to take an action that’s going to impact Canadian jobs in another province.”
Kinew urges Ford not to pour Crown Royal down the drain
