Ford doubles down on plan to pull Crown Royal off LCBO shelves in response to Ontario bottling plant closure

Ontario Premier Doug Ford is calling on the CEO of Stellantis to open the Brampton assembly plant after work was paused in February.

Premier Doug Ford doubled down on his threat to remove Crown Royal from LCBO shelves if the plan to shut down its bottling facility in Southwestern Ontario moves ahead next year.

“A message to all the bigwigs at Diageo: I swear to God, those bottles of Crown Royal are coming off the LCBO shelves. When the last person walks out through that door, we’re going to make sure LCBO takes off their brands because we need to stick together,” Ford said during a union rally in Brampton on Saturday.

This is the first time the premier has publicly declared how his government will respond to the impending closure of the Amherstburg bottling plant in February. Ford previously said Diageo would face “consequences,” but never elaborated further.

CTV News Toronto has reached out to Diageo for comment on Ford’s remarks. We have also reached out to the premier’s office and the LCBO for more information.

Diageo, which also owns dozens of other well-known brands, including Johnnie Walker, Guinness, Baileys, Smirnoff and Captain Morgan, announced in August that it was closing the bottling plant, saying it was part of a plan to “streamline its North American supply chain.”

Nearly 200 people work at the facility, which has been operating for nearly a century.

The company added that it was a difficult decision and maintained that Crown Royal would still be mashed, distilled and aged in Canada. Diageo also noted that the company will continue to have a presence in Canada, including their Canadian headquarters and warehouse operations in the Greater Toronto Area.

Following the announcement of the closure, Ford, during an unrelated news conference on Sept. 2, dumped a bottle of Crown Royal whisky in front of reporters.

“This is what I think about Crown Royal. That’s what they could do. And I think everyone else should do the same thing,” Ford said as the amber liquid slowly emptied out of the bottle.

He called the makers of Crown Royal “dumb as a bag of hammers” for shutting down the plant.

“Who targets their largest customer?” Ford said, appearing incensed, before he dumped the whisky.

“The people of Ontario support this company, and their payroll is 16, maybe $17 million. So, you’re jeopardizing $740 million worth of business for what, $17 million? And you’re going to hurt a community; you’re going to make these people struggle?”

Saturday’s “Protect Canadian Jobs” rally was organized by Unifor and held in front of the Stellantis Assembly Plant in Brampton.

“My number one job is to protect the workers, to protect their jobs, to protect their communities, and as I said, I will not spare a penny to make sure that we have your backs. We will not waver,” Ford told those who were at the rally.

With files from Joshua Freeman and Siobhan Morris