Memo to Ford: Ontario farmers must have a strong spirits industry

Last week was Ontario Agriculture Week, with countless politicians, organizations and everyday Canadians showing their love for local food and the farmers who grow it.

We can’t let that appreciation wither on the vine.

Instead, Agriculture Week should kick-start momentum for real change that can support farmers.

Across the province, farmers and rural communities are feeling the direct and indirect impacts of trade wars.

If trade wars weren’t enough to worry about, changes here at home could translate into a major hit for one of our most important and valued customers — Ontario’s distilled spirits manufacturers.

Many people don’t realize Ontario distilled spirits are a truly local product from grains to glass.

Ontario’s distillers typically source grains from within 150 kilometres of their plants, and some Ontario farmers’ relationships with local distillers date back for generations.

Ontario distillers buy more than $30 million-worth of Canadian grain every year, making distillers the largest purchasers of Canadian rye and fourth largest purchasers of Ontario corn. So when Premier Doug Ford announced plans to get rid of many of Ontario’s Prohibition-era alcohol policies, grain farmers were optimistic.

We have no doubt Ontario spirits made from Ontario grains can compete with any imported beer or wine.

But unless the Ford administration changes course, imported beer and wine will be sold in hundreds of grocery and convenience stores still forbidden from selling Ontario’s own spirits.

It’s clear the Ford administration did not intend to damage our farmers and distillers this way.

Expanding alcohol shopping options is meant to give consumers real choice and convenience while showing the world the province is “open for business.” But, people can’t choose what they can’t find on store shelves.

A report issued by the Canadian Centre for Economic Analysis (CANCEA) shows the stark choice facing Ontario.

Locking spirits out of Ford’s plan would have enormous consequences for the nearly 5,000 Ontarians who work making spirits and the province’s 28,000 grain growers.

CANCEA found that excluding spirits from Ford’s retail expansion plans would result in major job losses, huge hits to provincial tax revenue, and lost opportunities for growth. We don’t have to look far to see how such predictions play out in the real world.

When Quebec allowed beer and wine in grocery stores but kept spirits confined to separate stores, spirits’ market share fell by 65 per cent.

The CANCEA report predicts that for every job lost in direct spirits manufacturing, Ontario will lose five additional jobs in the broader economy.

In contrast, when Ontario’s distillers grow, Ontario’s grains grow.

If spirits have equal access to consumers, we’ll sell more grain that will be distilled into more spirits from a strong domestic market and even stronger export potential.

Premier Ford has repeatedly said his government will always stand with Ontario’s farmers.

And in this case standing with farmers means choosing Ontario family farms over American vineyards and European brewers.

Ontario’s farmers are proud to grow the premium grains used in making some of the world’s finest whiskies. Let’s not hide these under a bushel — let’s showcase them on our stores’ shelves.