Days after Manitoba expressed its concerns, Quebec is now taking a shot at Ontario Premier Doug Ford’s upcoming ban on Crown Royal whisky made in Amherstburg.
Quebec’s finance minister is raising concerns over the Ontario government’s plans to pull the liquor off the shelves of government-run liquor stores next month.
Doug Ford pours Crown Royal on ground, vows to ‘hurt’ Diageo for plant closure
The decision by Premier Doug Ford comes in response to U-K whisky giant Diageo deciding to close its bottling plant near Windsor, effectively cutting about 200 union jobs and closing for good next month.
Quebec Finance Minister Eric Girard says he has shared his concerns with his Ontario counterpart and says given trade tensions with the U-S, now is not the time for measures that weaken Canadian supply chains.
Manitoba Premier Wab Kinew made a similar overture to Ford, asking the premier not to follow through on his threat so as to preserve the company’s bottling plant in Gimlee.
The Diageo-owned property in Amherstburg was listed for sale in late 2025.
Workers at the plant ratified a closure agreement in December, that provides for increases in entitlements that will help employees through this transition.Â
Diageo has maintained that Crown Royal whisky will continue to be mashed, distilled and aged in Canada, but the move was an effort to shift “some bottling volume to be closer to its many U.S. Crown Royal consumers.”
“Diageo will maintain its significant footprint across Canada, including at our Canadian headquarters and warehouse operations in the Greater Toronto Area and other bottling and distillation facilities in Gimli, Manitoba and Valleyfield, Quebec,” the company said in an earlier statement.
The Amherstburg facility has bottled Crown Royal since 1971.
