A local MPP is telling the region to dump out any Diageo products they own.
Essex Conservative MPP Anthony Leardi says it's time to support those impacted in Amherstburg with the announcement of the Diageo plant closing, and that the community should dump their bottles out.
Last week, the company announced they would be closing the Crown Royal bottling plant in Amherstburg in February 2026, and would be shifting some bottling volume to be closer to U.S. consumers.
Ford stated on Tuesday that Diageo makes $740-million annually in Ontario while spending around $17-million on payroll in the Town of Amherstburg.
Ontario is Diageo's number one customer in North America.
Leardi says it's time to support Amherstburg.
"Go to your cupboards, if you see a Diageo product in your cupboard - dump it out. Dump it out today, don't worry about what you paid for it because you have to support your people, you have to support your friends and neighbours. Especially if you know anybody in the Town of Amherstburg, if you're related to anybody in the Town of Amherstburg, if you know somebody in the Town of Amherstburg, you go to your cupboard and if you found a Diageo product in your cupboard, go and dump it out."
He says this Amherstburg plant does it right.
"This is a plant that is efficient, it produces an excellent product, the workers are fantastic, the workers are proud of what they do, they've been doing it for generations. People have had their mothers there, their fathers there, and their grandparents have worked there, this is a tradition in the Town of Amherstburg, and we do it right. For Diageo to do this, this is a very bad, bad business decision."
Leardi says you don't treat your number one customer this way.
"Every option is on the table, every single option is on the table - the possibility that we could stop doing business at the LCBO level, we could just stop doing business with Diageo, we could certainly do that. There's a lot that Diageo is risking here, and we don't need to allow ourselves to be treated this way."
Unifor Local 200, who represents the local employees, has asked the province to remove the Crown Royal products from the shelves of the LCBO. Ford did not state whether he would or not.
There are 207 unionized employees at the Amherstburg plant.
The company has stated that its headquarters and warehouse operations in the Greater Toronto Area and bottling and distillation facilities in Manitoba and Quebec will remain open.
-with files from AM800's The Shift with Patty Handysides