Premier Ford says he ‘can’t’ put U.S. alcohol back on LCBO shelves

It looks like U.S. alcohol pulled off of LCBO shelves will stay in storage for the time being — as other provinces, like Nova Scotia and Manitoba, sell off their inventory and donate the proceeds to charity.

Provincial Liberals have been calling on the Ford government to sell off the U.S. liquor, but Premier Doug Ford says he can’t.

“We just can’t sell it off, and I’m not going to do that during the Christmas holidays when it will hurt our wineries and distilleries,” says Ford at a press conference in Niagara Falls on Monday.

“It’s just not going to happen. I want to support local jobs and opportunities here. But, if we find a buyer in another province, that’d be different.”

U.S. alcohol was pulled from LCBO shelves in March as Canadian provinces pulled together to fight against the tariff threats from U.S. President Donald Trump.

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In the second quarter of this year – April to June – the U.S. saw a sharp decline of 85 per cent in liquor exports to Canada, according to a report from the Distilled Spirits Council of the United States.

Some Hamilton residents say that they think the alcohol should stay off the shelves.

“It’s really important to support Canadian. I am all for keeping U.S. product off the shelves until whatever is going on down there is settled.”

“We have to start making choices like that all the time. What’s happening is not going to go away.”

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But that is not necessarily good news for Canadians either.

“The North American spirits sector is highly interconnected, and the immediate and continued removal of all U.S. spirits products from Canadian shelves is deeply problematic for spirits producers on both sides of the border,” the President and CEO of Spirits Canada, Cal Bricker said earlier this year.

As of July, overall alcohol sales in Canada dropped up to 12 per cent nationwide, and 20 per cent just in Ontario.

Of the $80 million of U.S. booze sitting in storage in Ontario, about $2 million of product is expected to expire in the next six months.

It is also worth noting that the LCBO’s expenses – whether it’s money used to purchase alcohol or used to store inventory – are funded by taxpayers since it is a Crown corporation.

CHCH News is waiting to hear back from the LCBO and Ministry of Finance for comment.

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