International drinks maker Diageo says it is “in ongoing discussions” with the Ontario government to avert Premier Doug Ford’s plan to ban Crown Royal whisky from the shelves of the LCBO.
Ford threatened to remove the Canadian whisky from provincial liquor stores last summer after Diageo announced it would close a bottling plant in southwestern Ontario as part of global restructuring.
The premier’s threat crescendoed through the fall to include removing other Diageo products, like Smirnoff vodka, from circulation unless the company agreed to keep bottling Crown Royal in the province.
Ford said he would remove the products from the LCBO once the plant closes in February.
In recent weeks, however, his plan has fallen foul of senior politicians in both Quebec and Manitoba, where Diageo maintains a strong presence. The company’s Canadian headquarters is also located in Toronto.
Ford has increasingly indicated he may be looking to back away from the threat of banning Crown Royal, saying he’s offering Diageo an “olive branch.” He’s asked the company to find other ways to replace the jobs at its bottling plant.
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“If Diageo comes and says, I’m going to replace these 200 workers by manufacturing bottles, doing their cartons, doing other things, more advertising, so on, so forth, and they can show me on paper,” Ford said at a recent news conference. “Then, we’ll sit down, and I’ll be open.”
Now, Diageo appears to be meeting with the premier’s team to try and find a way to close its facility without triggering a prohibition.
“We can confirm that Diageo is in ongoing discussions with Premier Ford’s team around strategies where Ontarians can continue to benefit from Diageo’s significant investment in the province,” a spokesperson for the company told Global News.
The company said it employs another 100 people in Ontario outside the bottling plant, with its headquarters and a warehousing operation both in the Greater Toronto Area.
The future of the bottling plant itself — which was Ford’s initial frustration — appears to be sealed.
In early December 2025, Diageo struck a closure agreement with the local union, giving workers enhanced benefits when they left their jobs at the end of February.
The company then promptly put the entire property, 110 St. Arnaud St., up for sale.
Diageo confirmed Friday that roughly half the workers at the facility had either found alternative employment or retired.
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