Why the Crown Royal boycott at LCBO may be more complicated than Doug Ford is saying
Doug Ford said Monday that Ontarians should “stock up” on Crown Royal, as it will be pulled from the shelves of LCBO stores next month. The decision was made in response to British liquor company Diageo announcing that it would be shuttering one of its factories in Ontario and moving it to the United States.
But Canadian researcher and professor Sylvain Charlebois told National Post that Ford’s move could adversely impact jobs in the rest of the country.
Here’s why the repercussions of the Crown Royal boycott may be more complicated than what Ford is saying.
Who will the Crown Royal boycott affect?
There are many Canadians who will continue to work on manufacturing Crown Royal whisky outside of Ontario. There are 1.5 million barrels in the company’s distillery in Gimli, Manitoba, at the edge of Lake Winnipeg. Meanwhile, in Quebec, the Valleyfield Distillery produces 28 million litres of alcohol, which includes Crown Royal, according to whiskey.com.
“Canadian farmers out of Manitoba support the production at the Gimli plant. And the Crown Royal that is being consumed in Canada is bottled out of Valleyfield, Quebec,” Charlebois said. He is currently a visiting scholar in food policy and distribution at McGill University.
“When you lose a customer like the LCBO, it will likely impact jobs in both Manitoba and Quebec. The LCBO is probably the largest client for the Valleyfield plant in Quebec,” he said.
“I suspect the Gimli plant is already talking to farmers, encouraging them not to change their minds, for example. Because right now, we’re in January, the ban could happen in February, and the last thing Gimli wants is to see a growing number of farmers giving up on the Gimli plant and planting something else.”
He added that it was likely that Gimli is “already working at supply chain, encouraging them, encouraging farmers to grow the supply they need to manufacture Crown Royal.”
It takes hundreds of Canadians to produce the Crown Royal whisky that appears on LCBO shelves, said United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW) Canada’s national president Barry Sawyer in an emailed statement to National Post. The UFCW represents the workers in Manitoba and Ontario.
“The plan to pull Crown Royal from the largest liquor market in Canada threatens these livelihoods, and attacks Canadian workers in a time when we need to stand together as a country,” said Sawyer.
The union told National Post that Diageo has not informed it of any “potential job losses at the Manitoba or Quebec distilleries, adding that “if cutbacks are proposed, our union will fight back.”
How are other provinces reacting?
Manitoba MP James Bezan urged Ford to “tear down interprovincial trade barriers and put Canada First.”
“Every drop of Crown Royal is made in Gimli, Manitoba using Manitoba grains and pure Interlake water. Our farmers and Crown Royal employees in Gimli are proud of their award winning whisky, Canada’s number one spirits export,” he wrote.
“If you go ahead with your threats, don’t be surprised if Manitoba pulls Ontario wine from our liquor markets.”
Ontario MP Roman Baber agreed with Bezan on X and pointed out “the harm” of Ford’s messaging.
In response to Baber, Bezan posted on X again , in agreement on Thursday morning: “This is a terrible decision by Doug Ford and will only hurt Canada. Does Ford want to start a trade war with other provinces or will he finally put Canada first? I’m sure he doesn’t want to see Ontario wine taken off the shelves in Manitoba.”
Not only could pulling Crown Royal from LCBO stores cause a battle between provinces, Charlebois said, it could also dissuade major companies from wanting to do business with Canada.
“Diageo is such a huge player. If a premier in Canada, if a country, allows to this to happen, and considers that political retaliation is fair game when a company makes a decision that actually irks a politician, it won’t be a good signal to send to the rest of the world when it comes to growing our economy, especially the agri-food economy,” he said.
Why did Ford decide to pull Crown Royal from LCBO stores?
Ford made headlines in September when he poured out a bottle of Crown Royal at a news conference in reaction to Diageo’s announcement that they would be closing its Ontario plant. This week, he told reporters that as soon as the plant closes, which is expected to be in February, he would pull the Canadian-made liquor from LCBO shelves.
“They’re doing a little production there in Quebec, too,” he said, “but it’s all a bunch of BS.”
He said that the entire production was likely to end up moving to Alabama, and that Diageo did not follow through on its plans for a distillery in St. Clair Township, in southwestern Ontario. The township’s mayor said the plans were still on hold as of August 2025, the Windsor Star reported .
“We’re going to bring new products, new opportunities to that jurisdiction and we’re going to move forward. As simple as that,” said Ford this week. “The message to everyone else: Don’t try to hurt Ontario, especially if we’re your number one customer. You’ll be held accountable.”
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