True Patriot Love - [Best of TPL] Tariffs Are Hurting GhostBuster's Star Dan Aykroyd's Crystal Head Vodka

00:00:00.000 We are all feeling the effects of tariffs, not just hearing about it anymore, we're actually

00:00:09.800 feeling the effects of tariffs. Products here in Canada are basically being neglected at the

00:00:16.580 moment based on tariffs. Companies are being leveled and devastated by the tariff effect

00:00:23.660 on how they're going to produce in Canada for the rest of the world. And today, I'm delighted

00:00:29.480 that jonathan hemi would join us from crystal head vodka uh this is something we've heard you

00:00:36.280 talking about in the press a lot this has had a really devastating effect not just on your business

00:00:43.000 but on the community that is supporting your business and the employees therein thanks for

00:00:49.480 joining us to talk about how the tariffs are affecting uh what you guys are doing thanks for

00:00:53.720 for having me i appreciate it this is uh wild uh you know hearing dan akroyd make uh discussion of

00:01:01.340 this in such plain and simple terms hearing you talk about the real dollar devastation that is

00:01:07.860 associated with this it kind of put it into focus for me to be honest with you oh thank you yeah um

00:01:13.420 you know this tariffs are really hurting the smaller businesses and medium-sized businesses

00:01:17.600 they aren't hurting the big businesses they they have the ability to pivot they have the ability

00:01:21.140 to manufacture in different countries they have the ability uh to lay off people and and uh and

00:01:28.320 then still find a way to function smaller businesses don't have that ability mid-sized

00:01:32.940 businesses don't have that ability um and the ironic thing is it's the small and mid-sized

00:01:37.900 businesses are probably that are probably really all canadian owned uh whereas a lot of big companies

00:01:43.040 aren't necessarily canadian owned just because you make something in canada doesn't mean you're

00:01:46.660 you're a canadian company that's true so we're one of those companies so we are a 100 canadian owned

00:01:53.140 company from canadian farmers with our grains to making it in newfoundland we use chatham farmers

00:02:00.340 for our corn our grain silos that we work from are in chatham and then uh the product the product is

00:02:06.980 produced and bottled in newfoundland so so there's two communities directly involved in the creation

00:02:13.380 of this product that is i mean very canadiana uh you you can't get more canadiana than dan akroyd

00:02:19.540 uh producing a a vodka here at home yeah um and then to hear that there have been these challenges

00:02:26.580 along the way uh which many products have to endure yeah but you guys have had to endure these

00:02:34.100 several times along the way right here in canada where the product was picking up steam around the

00:02:39.220 world you've already had to face several challenges even before the tariffs arrived yeah correct like

00:02:44.980 for example when we first launched this product we could sell anywhere everywhere but our own home

00:02:48.660 province which was kind of ironic we were doing we were a big success in the us we were a success in

00:02:54.020 europe and and we could sell across canada but we couldn't sell in ontario uh because uh a certain

00:03:00.740 gentleman at the lcbo who's no longer there thank goodness uh was uh didn't like the skull bottle

00:03:06.980 uh and didn't see the creativity artisticness in it and then eventually uh public pressure got the

00:03:12.340 better of them and we were able to start selling and it was a great success hey before we go any

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00:03:34.020 well it's uh i've pointed this out to you recently uh restocked a bar uh well not recently as in the

00:03:41.220 last five six years started a bar from scratch at home and the first thing that we bought was

00:03:46.100 this very distinctive bottle for two reasons canadian and beautiful frankly before i even

00:03:53.780 crack the uh crack the the bottle open it's a beautiful product just to have at home so

00:04:00.900 So you had this challenge, just getting into the LCBOs here.

00:04:06.580 So what do you think would make it easier at this time?

00:04:12.540 Now that you, because you point out, Jonathan, you went through all of these issues.

00:04:17.000 You had to create a bottle that I'm sure was so unique in its time it had its challenges.

00:04:23.040 Now you're faced with this challenge.

00:04:26.120 What do you think the solution is?

00:04:27.900 i mean is there a solution or do we have to wait for the big governance of negotiation to take

00:04:34.060 place and and wait yeah i i think we have to wait for the politicians to get in the same room

00:04:43.660 and uh and work out a deal not work through delegates um not work through uh third parties

00:04:51.980 i think you need you know i know from a business perspective at least when when my biggest customer

00:04:57.900 has a problem with me i go and see him i don't send my sales manager i don't send a team of

00:05:03.480 other people uh i want to work it out that way and i think that still needs to happen it seems

00:05:08.580 like a nebulous team of people kind of circulating in this process but no real we didn't really have

00:05:15.120 our uh our firm team it never felt like and certainly it felt like the prime minister was

00:05:21.260 somewhat distant from the process well i'd like to see him be more involved in the process i think

00:05:27.100 when when the two heads of countries get involved we've seen it before things seem to happen a lot

00:05:32.500 faster and a deal is usually done um and uh i think that's the only way this is going to happen

00:05:39.240 i think uh we need we need uh his involvement uh directly um and same with the president's

00:05:46.300 involvement he needs to be directly involved as well what is the american supply chain saying to

00:05:51.160 about your product are they i mean obviously it's very popular in the u.s yeah um you know

00:05:57.400 our distributors and our importer uh that's revenue for them too that they're gonna miss out on yeah

00:06:02.920 um you know we've spent a lot of time and money building relationships um you know this is this is

00:06:09.960 not about the people of america or canada like we all get along this is purely politics uh and it's

00:06:17.160 a shame because it has nothing to do how well of how well we run our business uh we could run the

00:06:22.200 best business but we'd still be in the same predicament because of politicians rather than

00:06:27.720 um letting businesses do what they do best i know this is not something you've lobbied for

00:06:33.480 and you certainly haven't spoken to it in fact i think that you guys made a really lovely gesture

00:06:38.760 to say come on get together we'll put you guys in a room we'll handle it we'll make sure that

00:06:42.360 there's plenty of crystal vodka crystal head vodka in there for you you made the offer to

00:06:47.080 to create that symbolic moment where you said okay we really need you two to get together on this

00:06:53.320 yeah do you think that there is the possibility that the federal government could step in and

00:06:59.240 save the day is it and it's not something i've heard you guys even mention do we need to offset

00:07:05.560 the losses in your industry now do we need to create a bubble for the moment that keeps these

00:07:12.680 companies alive and finds new markets around the world um it's a long time um so if they're gonna

00:07:21.240 do that i guess then it's sending a message that we're gonna have to dig in for the long term

00:07:26.520 um would we like to see some support i think we need it yeah um we didn't put ourselves in

00:07:31.720 the situation so um the least i think the government can do is we all pay a lot of taxes

00:07:37.880 it'd be nice if they could provide some level of support um more for the jobs so forget about

00:07:44.600 the corporation per se but how about help with some of the payroll so that we keep these guys

00:07:49.560 going uh they're not going to be as busy no one wants to get laid off um small companies like ours

00:07:55.960 they're family yeah i think we know everything about each other i think for that reason we need

00:08:00.520 to embrace companies your size doing things in canada using canadian uh the supply chain is

00:08:07.800 entirely canadian by the sounds of things it is um the ownership the supply chain uh the money

00:08:13.560 goes back into canada it doesn't go into some faceless corporation um but yeah we we don't

00:08:21.000 really care about the profit we care about the people right now and i think if there were some

00:08:26.200 things that would be directed towards helping companies make payroll so that so that people

00:08:31.000 don't lose their jobs um i don't need them to find more markets for us we that's our job we're a

00:08:36.520 business our job is to find uh more markets and build our business outside of america it won't

00:08:43.400 be easy you just don't replace in america it's uh they are costco and walmart right so it's not

00:08:52.200 something you can just you may never replace them but you can pivot but in the meantime we need some

00:08:56.760 short-term support so that we can keep everybody whole has anybody come to the floor with that

00:09:02.520 uh notion that okay look we're gonna step up we're gonna create subsidies we're gonna do something

00:09:07.000 just hang in there there's been some talk about it we've been on their websites we filled out

00:09:11.000 applications um we've given them all the information they want they want a lot of information

00:09:17.960 basically you have to open up your books and everything which we're happy to do um so far

00:09:23.160 we haven't seen anything yet i'm hoping that changes but even our best programs i think

00:09:28.280 doesn't provide enough support um to create that sustainability of employment it's really

00:09:34.280 employment we want we want to keep employment right now um because once you keep employment

00:09:38.680 then you can then you it gives you time to grow and be at your best when you go into other markets

00:09:45.080 if you have to lay off people you're not getting you're not going back you're not going to a new

00:09:49.720 market or any new market with the same amount of resources that you need to build it so in the

00:09:55.960 short term uh that would be something that would be really helpful for i think not just us i think

00:10:00.440 other businesses as well i was going to say i think there's many categories out there and sectors

00:10:04.600 that probably need uh some injection right now yeah we look at major it's so funny because you

00:10:10.360 know we look at these major projects that are on the books and one of my thoughts was and i'm just

00:10:14.360 your average canadian dopey guy yeah but one of my thoughts was okay take one of those projects

00:10:19.800 off the books and let's put it across the board as a major project to save industry right uh during

00:10:26.600 this time and i really haven't seen a lot of indication that we're going to do that and i

00:10:30.680 think it's because we're waiting to the midterms to arrive in the u.s to see if we actually get a

00:10:36.200 real deal and everything calms down yeah what are your feelings on that a very quick favor before

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True Patriot Love - October 23, 2026

[Best of TPL] Tariffs Are Hurting GhostBuster's Star Dan Aykroyd's Crystal Head Vodka

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