Crown Royal ban could cost jobs across Canada
The finance minister of Québec, Eric Girard, has raised concerns over the plan to boycott Crown Royal whisky across Ontario, warning it could “further weaken Canadian production chains”.
Ontario premier Doug Ford recently vowed to remove Crown Royal from Liquor Control Board of Ontario (LCBO) stores in protest against parent company Diageo’s closure of a local bottling plant for the Canadian whisky brand next month. The shutdown of the plant in Amherstburg, Ontario, is expected to affect 200 jobs.
UK-based spirits giant Diageo continues to operate production sites in Gimli, Manitoba, and Valleyfield, Québec, as well as corporate headquarters and warehouses in Ontario.
Ford’s boycott has attracted criticism from other Canadian provinces and one of the country’s biggest unions.
In a statement on 19 January, Girard said: “I understand the concerns of the Ontario workers affected by the situation at Diageo. No one wishes to see jobs lost.
“Québec and Ontario share a long history of economic partnerships built on collaboration. In the uncertain economic context we are currently facing, particularly in light of trade tensions with our southern neighbours, this is not the time to multiply measures that risk further weakening Canadian production chains.”
Most Canadian provinces removed American spirits from shelves last year due to trade tensions between the two countries.
Girard added: “My priority, as minister, is the protection of Canadian workers, including those in Québec who work in Valleyfield and who would be affected by such a decision. I have raised these concerns with my Ontario counterpart.”
The comment comes just a week after the premier of Canadian province Manitoba, Wab Kinew, publicly called on Ford to backtrack on his plans to boycott Crown Royal from stores.
Kinew said Diageo “employs tons of Canadians – we’re talking about good paying Canadian jobs supporting our Canadian community here by producing Crown Royal.”
The Manitoba premier stressed that Canada must “stay united across the provinces”, adding that local jobs should not be put at risk.
The United Food and Commercial Workers International Union (UFCW) has also slammed Ford’s plan, warning the move would threaten hundreds of jobs in Manitoba and Quebec.
Ford believes that Diageo will shift Crown Royal’s entire production from Canada to its new plant in Alabama, US, despite the fact that the brand could not be legally labelled as ‘Canadian whisky’ if such a move happened.
Diageo has not issued a comment since Ford reiterated his Crown Royal ban this month, but the group has managed to avoid a boycott across its entire spirits portfolio in LCBO stores.
Diageo’s Smirnoff vodka brand has consistently been the top-selling spirit in LCBO’s stores over the past year, followed by Crown Royal.
The company’s Captain Morgan rum and Johnnie Walker whisky brands also shift huge volumes and regularly rank within LCBO’s top 10 biggest-selling spirits brands.
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