NDP critic calls for concrete plan to help Amherstburg workers facing layoffs
KITCHENER -- Pour one out for Crown Royal and Ontario Premier Doug Ford's relationship.
Ford lashed out at Crown Royal's parent company, Diageo, Tuesday over plans to shutter its bottling plant in Amherstburg, Ont., emptying a bottle of the whisky on the ground at an unrelated announcement in Kitchener.
The premier accused the company's leadership of hurting the small Ontario community and their families to save money while also jeopardizing their relationship with their biggest customer, the LCBO.
Ford then had pointed words for Diageo leadership, saying, "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."
"I always say smart people aren't too smart, and you guys are about as dumb as a bag of hammers for doing this," the premier said, before starting to pour out the Crown Royal bottle.
"And I think everyone else should do the same thing. Start supporting companies that make whisky here. Buy Ontario, people. That's what we need to do is support each other."
Diageo owns the Crown Royal, Johnnie Walker and Guinness alcohol brands, among others, and is headquartered in London, England. The company has facilities in countries across the world, including in Gimli, Man. and Valleyfield, Que.
A media spokesperson for Diageo did not immediately respond to a request for comment for this story.
In an Aug. 28 press release, Diageo said closing the Amherstburg facility would help the company's long-term sustainability and shift "some bottling volume to be closer to its many U.S. Crown Royal consumers."
A company official also promised that Crown Royal would still be "mashed, distilled, and aged at our Canadian facilities."
"We appreciate our dedicated Amherstburg employees for their contributions to Diageo and the Crown Royal brand. This was a difficult decision, but one that is crucial to improving the efficiency and resiliency of our supply chain network," said Marsha McIntosh, Diageo's president of North America supply in the media release.
Amid the trade dispute with the United States, the province decided to pull alcohol from American producers off LCBO shelves.
The Trillium asked a spokesperson for the premier if the LCBO would continue to sell Crown Royal.
"Our preference is obviously that they reverse the decision," said Hannah Jensen. "If they don't, all options are on the table right now."
News of the planned Crown Royal facility closure comes after the Financial Accountability Office of Ontario counted 38,000 job losses in the province between April and the end of June, with around 29,000 coming from the manufacturing sector.
NDP labour critic Jamie West told The Trillium he agrees with the premier's sentiments around supporting local companies but says the Ford government has so far failed to produce a concrete plan to help Ontario workers impacted by layoffs, including at Crown Royal's Amherstburg plant.
"Where's the money to backstop those people?" he said. "I wish the government was saying, 'Here's the plan for the people' and not putting the finger in the dike every time an announcement comes out.'"
There are around 160 employees at the Amherstburg Crown Royal plant represented by Unifor Local 200. The union has vowed to fight to save the jobs.
Unifor national president Lana Payne thanked Ford for supporting workers at the facility after he poured the bottle out.
"It's time all politicians in Canada use domestic leverage to stand up for jobs," Payne said on social media. "The message here is quite simple: You want to sell here? Then you better manufacture here."