Pulling Crown Royal from Ontario shelves ‘jeopardizing livelihoods’ in Manitoba: MLA

Manitoba officials say Ontario Premier Doug Ford’s decision to remove Crown Royal for sale in Ontario will have a negative impact here. Jeff Keele reports.

There are concerns about how Ontario’s decision to pull a popular whisky from liquor store shelves could impact Gimli, Manitoba.

On Monday, Premier Doug Ford said he will be removing Crown Royal from the LCBO’s listings. It comes after Diageo, the company that makes the whisky, announced last year they were shutting down an Ontario bottling plant and moving it to the U.S.

“If you have your number one customer, spending hundreds of millions of dollars, why would you try to hurt that customer?” said Ford on Monday.

Now there are questions as to what this means for here in Manitoba.

Ontario is one of the largest buyers of alcohol on the planet. The Diageo plant in Gimli, which produces Crown Royal, employs dozens of people.

Interlake-Gimli Progressive Conservative MLA Derek Johnson said the community has been built around the whisky plant.

“Decisions like this by Premier Ford I would say is jeopardizing livelihoods in the Interlake,” said Johnson.

Johnson said he and party leader Obby Khan have written a letter to Doug Ford asking him to reverse course. He said the Gimli plant spurs a lot of spinoff jobs too, including rye producers.

“They all hire people to help them for harvest and it’s important that we all ensure that those jobs remain here in Interlake-Gimli,” said Johnson.

Jeff Traeger, president of UFCW 832, the union representing workers at the Gimli plant, said they want to remind Ford if you buy Crown Royal, you’re supporting Manitoba jobs.

“Diageo hasn’t informed us about any job losses at the Manitoba plant, but if cutbacks were proposed, the union would fight back,” said Traeger.

The Manitoba Chambers of Commerce believes this will have a negative impact and is encouraging Premier Wab Kinew to speak with Ford.

Ford was asked about Manitoba.

“My good friend Wab Kinew, I love the guy by the way. You know, they’re doing a little production there, in Quebec too, but it’s all a bunch of BS. It’s all going to Alabama, mark my words,” said Ford.

Manitoba Minister of Business, Mining, Trade and Job Creation Jamie Moses responded to a request for comment from CTV News about Ontario’s plan.

“Manitobans and Ontarians are standing up to Trump and looking to support Canadian—that’s why both provinces took American booze off our shelves,” the written statement reads.

“Buying Crown Royal supports Manitoba jobs. Now’s the time to support Canadian workers and products, and that’s our plan.”

CTV News reached out to Diageo for comment and did not hear back.