By Richard Thomas
(Credit: Crown Royal)
Changing corporate priorities and perhaps fallout from Trump’s trade war for the most part has set two Canadian provinces against each other in a battle over one of the country’s top whisky brands, Crown Royal.
In August 2025, British drinks goliath Diageo announced the would close their Crown Royal bottling plant in Amherstburg, Ontario. In December, they listed the plant for sale. The plant has been the center of Crown Royal bottling since 1971. Diageo says the move is part of a plan to improve their North American supply chain and move some bottling closer to US consumers, with the work done in Amherstburg transferring to a bottling plant in Quebec for the time being.
The town of Amherstburg has indicated they are already looking past the closure and it appears an amicable closure agreement was reached with the plant’s union, but that did not stop Ontario Premier Doug Ford from making a divisive issue of the closure. Ford called a press conference, labeled Diageo’s leadership as “dumb as a bag of hammers” as he contemptuously poured a bottle out on the ground, and accused Diageo of plotting to relocate bottling to Alabama. He vowed to injure Crown Royal in response, calling for Crown Royal to be removed from provincial store shelves.
(Credit: Public Domain)
That alarmed Manitoba Premier Wab Kinew, who governs the province where Crown Royal is actually made. The distillery producing Crown Royal is a major employer in the small town of Gimli.
In a response, Kinew is reported as having said, “We understand, Doug, that you get fired up and say things in public, but we also understand that you do the right thing when you have a chance to reconsider”.
Ford’s threat is nothing to be taken lightly, as the Province of Ontario’s liquor board is the single largest wholesale buyer of alcohol in North America.
