The world’s largest business organization is warning Premier Doug Ford against unilaterally cancelling a contract with the Beer Store and outlawing compensation payments for the companies involved.

In an ominous letter to the premier — who has made “open for business” his governing slogan — the United States Chamber of Commerce said Ford was sending the wrong message to investors.

“While the provincial government rightfully should pursue policy it deems of benefit to its constituents, it is essential this process be conducted in a manner that ensures the sanctity of existing contracts be honoured,” wrote the chamber’s senior vice-president Neil Herrington.

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“Our strong concern is that terminating an existing contract, and doing so without compensation — something we understand is proposed in the case of the ‘Bringing Choice and Fairness to the People Act’ — risks sending a negative signal to U.S. and other international investors about the business and investment climate in Ontario,” said Herrington.

“This in turn could undermine the constructive work you and your government have done and the case the Ford government has made that the province is open for business,” he said in the letter dated Tuesday.

The U.S. chamber, which represents 3 million companies, is the world’s biggest business federation.

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Who has the right to compensation in Beer Store dispute and who doesn’t

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Ford met with representatives from the group during his trade mission to Washington earlier this year.

Herrington said the chamber “believes there are few factors more critical to investment and economic growth than the legal certainty and predictability fostered by the respect for the rule of law.”

“We thus strongly urge your government to work with all corporate stakeholders in the ‘Bringing Choice and Fairness to the People Act’ process to ensure that a resolution amenable to all parties is achieved in a manner that upholds your government’s heretofore strong commitment to making the private sector an engine of the province’s growth.”

The letter comes as Finance Minister Vic Fedeli is expected to pass legislation Thursday to scrap the 10-year “master framework agreement” signed by the previous Liberal government in 2015 with Molson, Labatt, and Sleeman.

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That accord ensured that beer and wine could be sold in 450 supermarkets. Breaking it could cost taxpayers $1 billion in financial penalties and expose Canada to international trade sanctions because the parent companies of the major breweries are American, Belgian, and Japanese.

The Beer Store is already threatening legal action for breach of contract.

But Fedeli wants beer and wine sold in thousands of corner stores and big box outlets across Ontario and insists there will be no compensation for the foreign-owned multinationals who run the 450-outlet Beer Store.

“Yes, we own the LCBO, but the Beer Store is owned by three global beer giants. They were given a sweetheart deal by the Liberal government,” the treasurer told the house Wednesday.

“It is a sweetheart deal that rewards only the Beer Store and their near monopoly. We would have to open 11,500 new outlets just to be at the same level per capita as the province of Quebec,” he said, dismissing the U.S. chamber’s broadside.

Fedeli stressed the Tories are not bound by any agreement signed by the previous government and shrugged off the potential $1-billion penalty as a “Beer Store insider made-up number.”

But NDP Leader Andrea Horwath said the American business group is “raising serious concerns about a government that rips up contracts on a whim” and accused the Conservatives of triggering “an international incident.”

“Ontario families are wondering why the government is ready to blow hundreds of millions of dollars on this Beer Store scheme — this Beer Store battle, in fact — when that money could be so much better invested in things like education and health care,” she said.

The Ontario Chamber of Commerce, which represents 60,000 businesses in the province, has also criticized the government over its plans to terminate a signed contract.

As well, the union representing 7,000 Beer Store employees fears massive job losses if the government breaks its agreement with the breweries.

United Food and Commercial Workers Local 12R24 has been targeting Tory MPPs on Twitter with personalized messages reminding them of the local impact of the decision.

Under instructions from the premier’s office, the MPPs have countered by posting selfies in local convenience stores where beer is not yet sold.

The Canadian American Bar Association (CABA) appealed in writing to Ontario Attorney General Caroline Mulroney to stop a move that “risks undermining the rule of law in a number of ways.”

“It represents a seemingly arbitrary decision by the government in office to invoke its legislative power to override the law of contract and depart from a legal undertaking by the Government of Ontario relied on by private parties,” CABA president Ivo Entchev wrote.

Entchev said it also “targets the parties to a specific contract” while denying “them any right to compensation and redress in Canadian courts.”

“This last characteristic has few, if any, precedents in Canadian legal history.”

Beyond the 7,000 unionized Beer Store employees, the major brewers employ more than 2,700 Ontarians.

As per its 2015 agreement with the province, the Beer Store has invested $100 million in capital improvements while Molson, Labatt, and Sleeman have invested $330 million in Ontario over the past four years.