Interested companies in the wings for Amherstburg’s soon-vacant bottling facility, mayor says

Listen to this article

Estimated 3 minutes

The audio version of this article is generated by text-to-speech, a technology based on artificial intelligence.

While the closure of Diageo’s Amherstburg bottling facility is now a done deal, there could be more on the horizon for the soon-to-be-shuttered bottling facility, according to Amherstburg’s mayor. 

“I know some others, the union has worked trying to get Diageo to stay, but we are still concentrating on someone else to take over that factory,” said Mayor Michael Prue. 

Prue had previously hinted about possible interested buyers for the facility, and now says there are a couple of companies interested in the facility once it closes its doors in February.

“We have facilitated, the town has and I have as mayor, have facilitated meetings with the province of Ontario and people in the province to see what can be done in the short term to have the new company move into that facility,” Prue said.

“It would require a willing seller though. Diageo owns the property, not the town, not the Ontario government, but Diageo would have to determine that they wanted to sell it and we’re still hoping that that option will come through.”

Prue said he couldn’t elaborate more on the nature of the businesses interested, beyond saying that they were in the alcohol industry.

WATCH | Closure agreement signed for Amherstburg bottling facility:

Closure agreement signed for Crown Royal bottling plant in Amherstburg

The unionized workers at the Diageo-owned Crown Royal bottling plant in Amherstburg have agreed to its closure. Unifor Local 200 president John D’Agnolo and plant worker Doug Benekritis say the mood has been somber. CBC’s Dalson Chen reports.

Workers on Sunday ratified a closure agreement.

Diageo did not respond to a request for comment Tuesday, but has said in previous statements that the decision to close the Amherstburg facility is based on a need to be closer to U.S. consumers.

“Diageo will maintain its significant footprint across Canada, including at our Canadian headquarters and warehouse operations in the Greater Toronto Area and other bottling and distillation facilities in Gimli, Manitoba and Valleyfield, Quebec,” the company said earlier this year.

In a statement following news of the closure agreement, the province said “all options, including removing its products from LCBO shelves, are on the table.”

“Our government will always have the backs of Ontario’s workers, and we will continue to work with the municipality and local union to ensure the best outcome for workers and their families.”

It comes after Premier Doug Ford dramatically dumped out a bottle of Crown Royal earlier this year in response to the news of the plant closure.

“They’re sitting around, just absolutely as smug as they come … they’re hurting Ontario residents,” Ford said at the time.

Prue acknowledged people’s concerns about the impact of losing the employer on the town, and about the people who will be out of work.

“This is why we have championed, or said to this company that wants to come in and take over the plant, that we want them to do it,” Prue said.

“Because if they come in, they want not only the plant, not only the machinery, but the 168 full-time unionized employees, because those employees know how that plant operates. They would be able to continue operation on March 1st.”

Prue said that if it doesn’t work out with that company, they’ll support other companies that come forward and also want to do similar things with the town’s workforce.