Manitoba premier asks Doug Ford to keep Crown Royal on LCBO shelves

Manitoba Premier Wab Kinew urged Ontario Premier Doug Ford not to remove Crown Royal from LCBO shelves after Diageo announced it will close an Amherstburg bottling plant and move about 160 jobs to the United States.

Manitoba Premier Wab Kinew publicly asked Ontario Premier Doug Ford to reconsider a pledge to remove Crown Royal from LCBO shelves. The request follows Diageo's announcement that it will close its Amherstburg, Ont., bottling plant at the end of February and move roughly 160 positions to the United States. Diageo plans to keep other Canadian facilities, including the Gimli, Man., plant that Kinew visited this week. Ford has repeated his stance that Crown Royal will be removed from LCBO shelves. Key facts: - Premier Wab Kinew urged Doug Ford not to follow through on removing Crown Royal from LCBO shelves and appealed for interprovincial unity. - Diageo announced the closure of its Amherstburg bottling plant, with about 160 jobs moving to the United States, while maintaining operations in Gimli, Man., and Valleyfield, Que. - Doug Ford publicly poured out a bottle of Crown Royal last September and has said the product will be removed from LCBO shelves. - Kinew visited the Gimli Crown Royal plant, described it as one of the town's major employers, and has raised the matter with Ford by phone. Summary: The exchange highlights interprovincial tensions over manufacturing jobs tied to Diageo's restructuring, with premiers exchanging appeals and refusals. Undetermined at this time.