(first published in the Niagara Independent)

This week saw an odd publicity stunt in Ontario, with Premier Doug Ford melodramatically pouring out a bottle of Crown Royal whiskey at a press conference while stating “A message to the CEO in France – you hurt my people, I’m going to hurt you.” This was in reference to the planned closing of a Crown Royal bottling plant in Amherstburg, Ontario, and the CEO of the parent company of Crown Royal, Diageo. 

This was an absurd stunt by Ford for a number of reasons. For starters, the bottle Ford was using was quite large and it took an inordinate – bordering on comical – amount of time to empty. Secondly, Crown Royal has a number of operations in Canada which will remain in future and is essentially a Canadian product. Why would Ford put on such a dramatic display and be so critical of a company that has a significant presence in Canada? 

Ford also used absurd hyperbole during the press conference such as saying that the Diageo CEO must be “a few fries short of a happy meal” and “dumb as a sack of hammers” to choose to move the bottling facility out of Ontario to the U.S. A number of commentators noted that while Ford appeared apoplectic about Crown Royal’s departure, he didn’t say a word when Brookfield, Prime Minister Mark Carney’s former alma mater, moved its head office out of Toronto for the U.S. Very selective outrage, it seems. 

Unifor, which was the union involved in the Amherstburg facility, must also shoulder its share of the blame. Unifor has a track record of being intransigent with employers and making business more difficult. Union representation in the private sector in Canada has plummeted over the last few decades in Canada, as unionized businesses leave the country for more welcoming locations and a heightened competitive environment proves difficult for unions to navigate. 

The reaction of Unifor to the Crown Royal announcement was typical union thuggery, as union representatives demanded Crown Royal be taken off LCBO shelves. Wow – a Canadian union recommending that a Canadian product should be removed from retail shelves. That should certainly encourage more businesses to locate in Ontario! Interestingly, neither employees in the Crown Royal facility in Gimli, Manitoba nor those in Valleyfield, Quebec are represented by Unifor. Those plants will remain in operation. 

A more constructive reaction would have been for the union and Ford to ask themselves why this business decided to leave Ontario in the first place. Diageo representatives said it was for “efficiency” reasons and had nothing to do with U.S tariffs. Businesses never leave a particular location for no reason, as moving incurs costs, inconvenience, severances for departing employees and a need to hire new employees, among other things. No business would do so unless there were clear advantages in the new location. 

It is well documented that investment has been fleeing Canada in recent years, and particularly in recent months, as Canada and Ontario have become known as jurisdictions in which it is costly and difficult to do business.  Approvals and permits for various projects take an inordinately long time to obtain, taxes are high, and the regulatory burden is much heavier than in many other Western countries, especially the U.S. This is not exclusively Ford’s fault, as the federal Liberals have made things much more difficult for businesses in the last decade and nothing has significantly changed since Carney took over from Trudeau. Ford also inherited a bloated, intrusive, anti-business government from the Ontario Liberals in 2018. Unfortunately, he has done little to improve the business climate in the seven years since. 

Many of the initial promises to the business community from Ford when he was first elected have not been fulfilled. In fact, many Ontario businesses continue to move or investigate moving out of the province and out of Canada as they find themselves increasingly uncompetitive and struggle to survive. Some companies retain a rump operation in Canada but expand their businesses and the good jobs they offer south of the border. Despite this, the Ontario government seems to believe that over-the-top press conferences are the answer, not taking a serious look at business realities in the province.  

During the pandemic, Ontario was particularly hard on small- and medium-sized businesses, mandating their closure while large businesses were permitted to remain in operation. There was no logical reason for this different treatment, and it damaged many businesses unnecessarily. The Ford government also promised to shrink government and reduce red tape, yet government has ballooned under his tenure. In some areas, Ford has outdone the spendthrift Wynne government in terms of spending, and the province’s debt and deficits have increased accordingly.  

The government also failed to honour its promises on tax cuts. It had committed to a reduction in the basic corporate income tax from 11.5 per cent to 10.5 per cent, but that has not taken place. They did follow through with their promise to slightly reduce the small business rate from 3.5 to 3.2 per cent. As for the middle-class tax cut that was promised in the 2018 election, that has not taken place either, although they did reduce the provincial portion of the gas tax. Energy costs are a big competitive problem for businesses after they were effectively doubled by the Ontario Liberals under their Green Energy Act, and Ford did say he would reduce energy bills significantly when campaigning. This has not taken place to date and remains a serious competitive disadvantage. 

Both Ford and Carney have made much political hay out of criticizing U.S. President Donald Trump, and it has sadly been a political winner for them as there are enough Canadians with an anti-American streak to buy into the fiction that all of our current problems are being created by the U.S. The reality is that Canada has been weakened for years by bad government policy both federally and provincially, making us much more vulnerable to the tariff war currently being conducted. Ford can thump his chest and pour out as much Crown Royal as he likes, but he has been a contributor to the uncompetitive business environment in which Ontario now finds itself. Until he makes significant changes in the tax and regulatory environment, and fulfills some of his early election commitments, no amount of grandstanding and silly stunts are going to prevent businesses from leaving Ontario to go to more attractive jurisdictions.

Catherine Swift

Catherine Swift is President of the Coalition of Concerned Manufacturers & Businesses of Canada (CCMBC). She was previously President of Working Canadians from 2015-2021 & President & CEO of the Canadian Federation of Independent Business (CFIB) from 1995-2014. She was Chief Economist of the CFIB from 1987-1995, Senior Economist with TD Bank from 1983-1987 & held several positions with the federal government from 1976-1983.

She has published numerous articles in journals, magazines & other media on issues such as free trade, finance, entrepreneurship & women business owners. Ms. Swift is a past President of the Empire Club of Canada, a former Director of the CD Howe Institute, the Canadian Youth Business Foundation, SOS Children’s Villages, past President of the International Small Business Congress and current Director of the Fraser Institute. She was cited in 2003 & 2012 as one of the most powerful women in Canada by the Women’s Executive Network & is a recipient of the Queen’s Silver & Gold Jubilee medals.

She has an Honours BA and MA in Economics.