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Premier Doug Ford is standing firm on a threat to halt the sale of Crown Royal whiskey in Ontario liquor stores.

He is upset with U.K.-based producer, Diageo and its plans to close its plant in Amherstburg, Ontario, later this year and move production elsewhere.

Ford says his decision is about protecting jobs.

“When you want to go after one of our,  basically, go after Ontarians and ship it down to the US, make no mistake about it. You think it is going to Winnipeg. You think it is going to Quebec. It’s going down to Alabama to be produced,” says Ford.

“And I will fight all day long to protect the jobs for Ontarians.”

The United Food and Commercial Workers Union says Ford’s attack on Crown Royal only threatens the plants and jobs in Manitoba and Quebec.

“As usual, Doug Ford is serving up another straight pour of betrayal to Canadian workers,” states Barry Sawyer, UFCW Canada National President, in a release.

“Elbows up’ doesn’t just mean ‘elbows up for Ontario.’ ‘Elbows up’ means all Canadian workers need to stand together in solidarity.”

Diageo says it will maintain a strong Canadian presence, with its Canadian headquarters and a warehouse remaining in Toronto, along with other bottling and distillation facilities in Gimli, Manitoba, and Valleyfield, Quebec.