Santas and elves rob Montreal grocery store to give food to the needy'

"Dressed in red suits and backed by masked elves, a group of Santas marched into a Montreal supermarket, loaded their bags with thousands of dollars worth of groceries and disappeared into the night. The bandit Santas later released a statement saying the food would be distributed to the needy, and saying the Robin Hood-style stunt was intended to highlight the spiralling cost of living crisis that has pushed basic necessities increasingly out of reach for ordinary Canadians."

"Roughly 40 members of a group called called Robins des Ruelles Robins of the Alleys participated in the robbery late on Monday. The statement, released late on Thursday, and entitled When hunger justifies the means, said: We are working more and more just to be able to buy food from supermarket chains that take advantage of inflation as a pretext to make record profits."

"There is no other way to put it: a handful of companies are holding our basic needs hostage. The group said the companies continue to suffocate the population to siphon away as much money as possible. Metro, which owns eight major grocery brands in Ontario and Quebec, said in a statement that shoplifting is a criminal act and unacceptable. The company said price increases are influenced by factors include disruptions in the global supply chain,"

A group of roughly 40 people dressed as Santas and backed by masked elves entered a Montreal supermarket, loaded bags with thousands of dollars of groceries, and left. The group identified itself as Robins des Ruelles (Robins of the Alleys) and said the food would be distributed to the needy. The stunt was described as Robin Hood-style and intended to highlight the spiralling cost-of-living crisis that has put basic necessities out of reach for ordinary Canadians. Metro called shoplifting criminal and unacceptable and said price increases reflect supply-chain costs and other factors. The Retail Council of Canada reported retail crime caused more than $9bn in lost sales in 2024. Metro also noted a $1.15m donation in 2025.

Read at www.theguardian.com