Is Windsor ready for spirits on grocery store shelves? Council says yes
Windsor city council is supporting a proposed pilot project to have some spirits available in grocery stores, after Spirits Canada president and CEO Jan Westcott contacted Mayor Drew Dilkens with the idea.
“We make spirits in Windsor — we’ve been making them there for longer than Canada has been a country,” Westcott says.
“It’s great that you’re selling beer from Mexico and the United States and wine from Chile… why can’t spirits made in Ontario by Ontario workers get the same opportunity?”
Westcott says Spirits Canada has been pressing the province on this in the years since beer and wine became available for purchase in grocery stores across the province.
“I don’t want to say that they’ve been unhelpful, they’ve been very helpful,” he says.
“But what they’ve said to us is it would be great if we could do something that garnered more information.”
This, he says, was raised in a conversation with government ahead of the 2023 provincial budget — giving him the idea to see if Windsor would raise its hand to host a hypothetical pilot of the sales.
"Spirits Canada is saying, we want our piece of the pie here,” Mayor Dilkens said in an interview on AM800’s The Morning Drive Tuesday.
"If they can get this pilot project off the ground and see if it makes sense … council last night said we want to be part of it.”
Westcott says he approached the city because of its storied history with the distilling industry.
He says council’s support does help, but whether or not the pilot becomes a reality is up to the provincial government.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
'They needed people inside Air Canada:' Police announce arrests in Pearson gold heist
Police say one former and one current employee of Air Canada are among the nine suspects that are facing charges in connection with the gold heist at Pearson International Airport last year.
House admonishes ArriveCan contractor in rare parliamentary show of power
MPs enacted an extraordinary, rarely used parliamentary power on Wednesday, summonsing an ArriveCan contractor to appear before the House of Commons where he was admonished publicly and forced to provide answers to the questions MPs said he'd previously evaded.
Leafs star Auston Matthews finishes season with 69 goals
Auston Matthews won't be joining the NHL's 70-goal club this season.
Trump lawyers say Stormy Daniels refused subpoena outside a Brooklyn bar, papers left 'at her feet'
Donald Trump's legal team says it tried serving Stormy Daniels a subpoena as she arrived for an event at a bar in Brooklyn last month, but the porn actor, who is expected to be a witness at the former president's criminal trial, refused to take it and walked away.
Why drivers in Eastern Canada could see big gas price spikes, and other Canadians won't
Drivers in Eastern Canada face a big increase in gas prices because of various factors, especially the higher cost of the summer blend, industry analysts say.
Doug Ford calls on Ontario Speaker to reverse Queen's Park keffiyeh ban
Ontario Premier Doug Ford is calling on Speaker Ted Arnott to reverse a ban on keffiyehs at Queen's Park, describing the move as “needlessly” divisive.
'A living nightmare': Winnipeg woman sentenced following campaign of harassment against man after online date
A Winnipeg woman was sentenced to house arrest after a single date with a man she met online culminated in her harassing him for years, and spurred false allegations which resulted in the innocent man being arrested three times.
Woman who pressured boyfriend to kill his ex in 2000s granted absences from prison
A woman who pressured her boyfriend into killing his teenage ex more than a decade ago will be allowed to leave prison for weeks at a time.
Customers disappointed after email listing $60K Tim Hortons prize sent in error
Several Tim Horton’s customers are feeling great disappointment after being told by the company that an email stating they won a boat worth nearly $60,000 was sent in error.