Ontario Premier Dumps Diageo Whiskey on Ground to Protest Plant Closure

(Bloomberg) – Ontario Premier Doug Ford hit the beverage company Diageo PLC’s decision to end the bottling operations in the state for a Canadian whiskey created in the country.

Ford poured a bottle of Crown Royal on Tuesday and encouraged Ontarian to buy bottled alcohol made in the state.

Ontario, “A message to the CEO in France: you hurt my people, I will harm you. In February, you will feel the pain when these people suffer,” he said.

He continued to empty the bottle by saying that Crown Royal would send the cleaning bill to the owner.

Diageo did not respond immediately to the request for comments. In a statement on August 28, the company said that Ontario will close the bottling facility in Amherstburg until February in order to bring their operations closer to US customers.

“Crown Royal will continue to be crushed, distilled and aging in Canada just like 1939,“ Crown Royal said. It also plans to protect the Canadian center in Toronto and its facilities in Manitoba and Quebec.

Ford performed Canadian interests during the trade war of the United States and the country. Together with other state leaders, the United States attracted alcohol from the government’s stores earlier this year to retaliate against import tariffs from Canada.

Ford said Diageo spoke with the president of the North American operations and offered incentives to reverse the closure decision, but they refused.

The movement is expected to affect approximately 200 jobs in 23,500 towns on the Detroit border. The bottling plant is the biggest employer of the town, representing the workers in a statement.

Diageo’s statement, Crown Royal, sold in Canada and outside the United States, said he would continue to bottle in Quebec.

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