Overview
- Ontario Premier Doug Ford says he will remove Crown Royal from LCBO shelves starting next month in response to Diageo closing its Amherstburg, Ont., bottling plant.
- Speaking outside the Gimli, Man., facility where Crown Royal is mashed, distilled and aged, Premier Wab Kinew called on Ford to reconsider and emphasized provincial unity.
- Kinew announced a clean-energy project with Diageo that includes a new Manitoba Hydro transmission line to the Gimli plant and the company replacing natural-gas boilers with electric systems.
- Ford said he spoke with Kinew by phone but will not reverse course, framing the move as protecting Ontario jobs after the Amherstburg closure affecting about 200 workers.
- Diageo says Canadian production will continue at facilities including Valleyfield, Que., while the Gimli plant employs about 76 people and buys from local farmers; Manitoba will not pull Ontario liquor in retaliation.