Amherstburg mayor says Crown Royal ban should have stayed until plant was sold

The mayor of an Ontario town, which once hosted a Crown Royal bottling plant, says international drinks maker Diageo appeared to lose any urgency trying to sell the facility after Premier Doug Ford ended his threat to ban its whisky.

Ford threatened for months to remove Crown Royal from the shelves of the LCBO if Diageo didn’t find a way to save some 160 jobs in Amherstburg, Ont.

But at the 11th hour, as pressure from other provinces mounted, he backed down in exchange for $23 million in spending commitments from Diageo for other parts of Ontario.

Amherstburg Mayor Michael Prue said the moment the deal was agreed, he felt Diageo lost interest in trying to quickly find a buyer for their facility.

“They had a meeting scheduled with us two weeks ago, which they cancelled, and this came out shortly after the deal came out,” he told Global News in early March.

“We have no idea. We’re waiting for them to call back and schedule another one, but I’m not holding my breath.”

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The agreement Diageo signed with the Ford government was released without fanfare on a Friday afternoon, lauding $23 million the company had promised to spend across Ontario.

Some of the money was for bulk orders of spirits, advertising and packaging. Only $500,000 was to be spent directly in Amherstburg.

The bottling plant was officially closed in February and currently sits idle.

Prue said Ford’s threat to ban Crown Royal — which was first surfaced after he poured out a bottle of the whisky — was making a difference before it was stood down.

“Our best card was the premier. That was our best card. And that card has now been played,” he said. “We don’t have any independent cards. We can’t force them to sell. We can beg them, we can ask them, we can fall on our knees.”

The premier’s office did not address questions from Global News.

Diageo officially put its plant on the market in December. Prue suggested he had heard from bidders keen to quickly take it and its workforce over, but responses from the drinks maker were slowing the process down.

A spokesperson for the town itself said they remained “hopeful there will be a buyer (who) will reactivate the plant.” They said offers had been made through the formal process.

Diageo explained it had identified qualified bidders to take on the plant and was at the stage of officially soliciting bids. They said no qualified buyers had come forward before it was put on the market.

The ball, Prue said, is now squarely in the drink maker’s hands.

“They totally own the property. They own it lock, stock and barrel,” he said. “Nobody else can move in unless they sell it and that’s the roadblock.”