Why two Canadian provinces are in a spat over Crown Royal whisky

A British whiskey produced in Canada is at the center of a conflict between two provinces that are testing a unified “Team Canada” approach to US tariffs.

It started after whiskey maker Diageo announced it would close a bottling plant in Ontario to bring some of it closer to American consumers.

Shortly after, Ontario Premier Doug Ford angrily poured a bottle of Crown Royal in front of reporters and now declared the product would be removed from provincial liquor stores. That has alarmed neighboring Manitoba, where a Crown Royal distillery is a key employer in the small town of Gimli.

During a symbolic visit to the Gimli distillery on Tuesday, Manitoba Premier Wab Kinew urged Ford to “do a 180.”

“We understand, Doug, that you are excited and saying things in public,” Kinew said. “But we also understand that you do the right thing when you have the opportunity to reconsider.”

The row over Crown Royal – a Canadian whiskey brand introduced during King George VI’s royal tour of Canada in 1939 – dates back to August.

That’s when Diageo first announced it would close its Amherstburg, Ontario bottling facility after five decades of operation.

The U.K.-based company announced last summer that it planned to close the plant in February as part of a broader restructuring aimed at improving its North American supply chain and, much to Ford’s dismay, moving its bottling operations closer to the United States.

“Here’s what I think of the Crown Royal,” he said shortly after Diageo’s announcement, before pouring an entire bottle of whiskey on the floor at a press conference and calling Diageo’s owners “dumb as a sack of hammers”.

He then vowed to “harm” the company and urged Canadians to boycott the product.

The company announced that bottling operations for the Canadian and non-U.S. markets would be moved to a Quebec facility, southwest of Montreal.

Although it has not announced that it will move its operations to the United States, Ford has speculated that this will be the case.

“It’s all pointing to Alabama,” he said earlier this month. “Mark my words.”

Ford also pledged to remove whiskey from shelves in Ontario, where liquor stores are operated by the province. The Liquor Control Board of Ontario is the largest wholesale buyer of alcohol in North America. Crown Royal is its best-selling whiskey, according to Diageo.

Manitoba is now begging Ford to change course.

The Crown Royal Distillery is an important driver of business in the town of Gimli, home to about 2,300 residents, Premier Kinew said Tuesday.

He warned Ford that he might inadvertently harm Canadians by boycotting.

Diageo employs more than 500 people across Canada, the company told the BBC, including 100 in Ontario, in addition to those working at the Amherstburg site.

“When we talk about Team Canada, we have to stay united across the provinces,” Kinew said.

“Having a Team Canada approach cannot mean targeting jobs in another province.”

Nicknamed “Captain Canada” by some, Ford has built a reputation for fighting against American tariffs and the job losses they are linked to in Ontario.

Ford notably led a campaign to remove U.S. alcoholic beverages from Canadian stores in retaliation for the taxes — a move that has since become a trade irritant for the Trump administration.

He has often appeared on major US channels to advocate for free trade between the two countries.

More recently, an anti-tariff ad commissioned by the province and broadcast on American television prompted Trump to abruptly end trade negotiations with Canada.

Still, Ford’s response to Diageo was applauded by the local union, which says it represents more than 200 workers at the Amherstburg plant whose future is now uncertain.

“This is how you fight a trade war,” Unifor national president Lana Payne said in September, after Ford first called for a boycott.

But the United Food & Commercial Workers, the union that represents Diageo workers outside Ontario, criticized Ford for his “stunts” that it said “directly attack the livelihoods of hundreds of Canadian workers.”

Kinew, who enjoys the highest approval rating of any Canadian prime minister, said he recognized Ford was standing up for Ontarians, but stressed they “are Canadians, just like the people here in Gimli.”

He invited Ford to visit Manitoba to discuss the issue at a weekend ice hockey game between Toronto and Winnipeg.

“We can settle this matter and put this episode behind us,” Kinew said.

Ford confirmed receiving the invitation and called Kinew a “good gentleman.” But he did not say whether he would accept her offer.

As for changing his mind about Crown Royal, he told reporters: “No, I’m not reconsidering.”