Doug Ford slams Diageo over Crown Royal closure
Ontario premier Doug Ford has threatened to “hurt” Diageo after the drinks firm announced plans to close a Crown Royal bottling site, putting nearly 200 jobs at risk.
Last week, Diageo announced its plan to shut a Crown Royal bottling facility in Amherstburg, Ontario, by February 2026. Diageo intends to shift some of its bottling capabilities to the US to improve its North American supply chain and support long-term growth, the firm said.
However, Ontario’s leader Doug Ford hit back at the decision in a press conference yesterday (2 September), where he dumped liquid from a Crown Royal bottle on the floor and described Diageo as “dumb as a bag of hammers”.
Addressing reporters, he called out the “geniuses at Diageo” for closing the site, stating: “These people are devastated. In a small town, you get rid of 180 people. And these are the rocket scientists over at Diageo.”
He continued: “I spoke to the gentleman that runs the North American operations, and I said: ‘How can you do this to your largest customer in Ontario?’ I said: ‘Is there any incentive I can give you to stay here, to save these jobs?’ ‘No, it’s not happening’. I said: ‘So, it is what it is’. And he went on to say: ‘Well, you aren’t the largest in Ontario or in the country.’”
Ford noted that the Liquor Control Board of Ontario (LCBO), the government-run agency that controls the sale of alcohol in the province, is “the largest customer in North America”, bigger than California or Texas.
“LCBO, the people of Ontario, has made Crown Royal, Diageo – that has Smirnoff and a whole bunch of other stuff – the largest,” Ford added.
Ford criticised the company for “targeting its largest customer” and “hurting a community”.
“Who targets their largest customer?” Ford said. “The people of Ontario support this company, and their payroll is CA$16 million, maybe CA$17m – so you’re jeopardising CA$740m [US$536.3m] worth of business.
“You’re going to hurt a community, you’re going to make these people struggle, [so] that they can’t pay rent or a mortgage. They can barely put food on the table. There are not too many companies in that small town. Have you lost your mind? I think they’re a few fries short of a happy meal.”
He went on to threaten Diageo and voiced his support for Ontarians, stating: “You hurt my people, I’m going to hurt you. You’re going to feel the pain in February when these people don’t have a paycheck.”
Ford proceeded to open a bottle of Crown Royal and tip out its contents, adding: “This is what I think of Crown Royal and I think everyone else should do the same thing.”
He called on the public to support companies that make whisky in the province.
Ford concluded: “Thank you to my brothers and sisters at Unifor over at Crown Royal, I got your backs. We’re gonna be there to help you. I’ll send the cleaning bill to Crown Royal, too.”
Closure ‘makes no sense’
A statement from Unifor, Canada’s largest union in the private sector, said it would fight to save 170 union jobs after Diageo’s “shock” announcement.
“Diageo did not have the decency or dignity to talk to the union or its members prior to announcing this closure publicly, knowing how unpopular this decision will be in the region, in a province that continues to boycott American liquor, and in a country determined to protect jobs here at home,” said Unifor national president Lana Payne.
“This company will be talking to Unifor and to these workers – the easy way, or the hard way.”
Unifor Local 200 president John D’Agnolo added that the Crown Royal site is the largest employer in Amhertsburg. He said the plan to close the facility “makes no sense and shows no loyalty to Canadian workers”.
Diageo response
In response, Diageo said it remained committed to Canada, and reiterated that Crown Royal will “continue to be mashed, distilled, blended and aged in Canada, just as it has been since 1939”.
The London-headquartered drinks company also highlighted several facts. It added that the group employs 500-plus people across Canada, including more than 100 in Ontario (beyond those currently working at the Amherstburg site).
It also pointed out that Crown Royal’s bottling production for Canada will remain in the market, while luxury Crown Royal variants for all markets (including the US) will also be bottled in the Valleyfield plant in Canada.
Diageo stated that it plans to maintain its “significant footprint” across Canada, including the group’s Canadian headquarters and warehouse operations in the Greater Toronto Area, and other bottling and distillation facilities in Gimli, Manitoba and Valleyfield.
Furthermore, Diageo said it continues to invest in Canada’s economy, proven by an investment of approximately CA$150m (US$109m) in production facilities since 2021.
The company claimed that more than CA$300m (US$217.4m) in annual revenue for Canadian restaurants and bars comes from the sale of Diageo products (CA$125m of which comes from Ontario).
In February, American-made spirits were pulled from stores in Ontario, British Columbia and Nova Scotia following US president Donald Trump’s decision to apply tariffs on Canadian products. Some provinces have since reinstated the sale of American products after the tariff was dropped.
The move caused US spirits sales in Canada to plunge by 66.3% from 5 March to the end of April.
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