Manitoba Premier Wab Kinew has called out Ontario Premier Doug Ford for talking himself “up onto a ledge” amid threats to remove Crown Royal whisky – which is distilled in Manitoba – from LCBO shelves.
“We can’t let him jump. We’ve got to give him an opportunity to talk his way down from that ledge,” Kinew told Vassy Kapelos in an interview on CTV Power Play Wednesday, as he discussed the ongoing dispute between the two premiers that began several months ago, when Ford made headlines for pouring out a bottle of Crown Royal in front of reporters.
The move came in a protest of Diageo – the parent company of Crown Royal – and their decision to close the whisky bottling plant in Amherstburg, Ont. Diageo has a whisky distillery based in Gimli, Man., which is an hour north of Winnipeg.
The Manitoba plant employs nearly 80 people, while the closure of the Ontario plant will affect nearly 200 employees.
Kinew stated that there was “no sense” in saying that “this Canadian worker’s job requires us to hurt another Canadian worker’s job,” adding that he has no plans to remove Ontario liquor from Manitoba shelves in retaliation to Ford’s move.
“I’m all for standing up for Ontario workers, but let’s not shoot ourselves in the foot while we’re at it,” the Manitoba premier said.
“It’s not the type of thing that’s in keeping with our Team Canada approach right now. Let’s get on to the business of standing together as Team Canada to protect workers in all our provinces,” Kinew added, referring to the solidarity approach that provincial and federal officials have taken since U.S. President Donald Trump imposed steep tariffs on several Canadian sectors.
“We want to get major projects built. We want to trade products, including alcohol, across our provincial borders,” Kinew said.
The Manitoba premier said he had invited Ford to see the Winnipeg Jets host the Toronto Maple Leafs on Saturday, to “sort this out and watch some hockey. He said he was “optimistic” about the outcome of that conversation.
“I don’t expect that having one press conference is going to get Premier Ford to change (his) direction, but I am going to keep working on him,” he said. “I think in time, we’ll be able to get to a good solution here.”
Kinew says the people who are going to be affected by this move are the ones who live in a community that started out as a fishing village. which later turned into a tourist destination, he added.
“They have the Crown Royal distillery in town — hard-working, blue-collar Manitobans — that’s who’s going to feel the pain here,” Kinew said. “You don’t want to take your fight to a place that is going to harm salt of the earth, blue-collar Canadians.”
Ford told reporters at the Ontario legislature on Tuesday that he had spoken to Kinew on the phone earlier that day but had refused to back down from his decision.
“(Kinew) is doing his job. He’s trying to protect jobs in Manitoba. I’m protecting jobs here in Ontario and he respects that. I respect him,” Ford said, adding that Crown Royal should have “thought twice” before closing the Ontario plant.
Watch the full interview with Manitoba Premier Wab Kinew and CTV News’ Vassy Kapelos at the top of the story
With files from the Canadian Press
