this post was submitted on 19 Dec 2025

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Thieves dressed as Santa and his elves bust into grocery store and steal $3,000 worth of food (www.independent.co.uk)

submitted 1 day ago by throws_lemy@reddthat.com to c/nottheonion@lemmy.world

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[–] Allero@lemmy.today 10 points 12 hours ago

"No matter the reason, it is unacceptable and a criminal act,” Metro spokesperson Geneviève Grégoire told CBC News in a statement. ”Retail crime resulted in losses of $9.2 billion in Canada in 2024. Many factors influence food inflation, including disruptions in the global supply chain, volatility in commodity prices, changes in international trade conditions, and retail crime.”

Let me play the world's smallest violin

[–] IAmNorRealTakeYourMeds@lemmy.world 13 points 14 hours ago

BTW, if you see anyone stealing food, you saw nothing.

[–] Wilco@lemmy.zip 3 points 12 hours ago

The heroes this world needs.

[–] Sanctus@anarchist.nexus 183 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago) (3 children)

In an Instagram post, the Robins des ruelles said four masked "Santa Clauses" and a "swarm of elves" redistributed the alleged stolen goods after the symbolic “food drive” to community fridges across Montreal and under a Christmas tree in Place Valo

Fuck yeah

[–] bklyn@piefed.social 68 points 1 day ago

Santa Hood and his band of Merry Elves

[–] TribblesBestFriend@startrek.website 37 points 1 day ago

God this story is getting better and better

[–] Rhaedas@fedia.io 15 points 1 day ago (1 children)

I thought it was called "Christmas of elves", not swarm.

[–] Valmond@lemmy.world 6 points 1 day ago (1 children)

Depends how they are deployed.

[–] TachyonTele@piefed.social 2 points 23 hours ago

The elves are drones, run by fiber cables

[–] iThinkDifferentThanU@lemmy.world 28 points 21 hours ago (1 children)

when it comes to food , no ine stole shit, other than some fatass greedy cunt overcharging we humans

[–] IAmNorRealTakeYourMeds@lemmy.world 4 points 14 hours ago

If there are hungry people in a state, while there are people with more resources than they can spend in a lifetime, it is the state that stole (or allowed the rich to steal) the food from the poor.

[–] sleen@lemmy.zip 11 points 18 hours ago (1 children)

Those poor billionaires, what are they gonna do now.

[–] Allero@lemmy.today 5 points 13 hours ago

Subtract it from cashiers and guards' salary. At least how it's done where I live.

These mf's will do anything to keep their profits

[–] _cryptagion@anarchist.nexus 97 points 1 day ago (6 children)

Retail crime resulted in losses of $9.2 billion in Canada in 2024.

I don't think I really care how much money billionaires lose.

[–] IAmNorRealTakeYourMeds@lemmy.world 3 points 14 hours ago

If wage theft totals to a greater number (I read than in the US it is the biggest form of theft, not canada, but dont have data for canada), then it is not the poor who are stealing food, it is the rich who stole and the poor are starving

[–] Susaga@sh.itjust.works 45 points 1 day ago (1 children)

That's the thing. They lost $9.2 billion, but they still turned a profit.

[–] Neptr@lemmy.blahaj.zone 13 points 21 hours ago* (last edited 21 hours ago) (1 children)

They factor the cost of theft into their item pricing.

[–] Susaga@sh.itjust.works 20 points 21 hours ago (1 children)

And yet, if theft stopped, prices wouldn't go back down.

[–] Neptr@lemmy.blahaj.zone 12 points 21 hours ago* (last edited 21 hours ago)

Naturally. By not stealing you are giving them free money.

[–] UnderpantsWeevil@lemmy.world 23 points 1 day ago

Wage theft fully eclipses burglary and other petty crimes

[–] lath@lemmy.world 18 points 1 day ago (1 children)

Doubt they'd have these losses if they stopped throwing away the food and instead gave it to people in need.

[–] TachyonTele@piefed.social -5 points 23 hours ago

Most grocery store do donate food

[–] Catoblepas@piefed.blahaj.zone 10 points 1 day ago (1 children)

Major retail theft is almost always done by employees, anyway. Very intellectually lazy reporting to just drop that factoid (produced by retail stores, not independent studies) without that context.

[–] rozodru@pie.andmc.ca 5 points 20 hours ago

been this way for decades or since like ever. I remember working at Best Buy in the early 00s and the primary shrink factor was internal theft not shoplifting. Hell the LP guy that stood in the front of the store with the yellow shirt spent more time watching employees than actual customers.

[–] TribblesBestFriend@startrek.website 6 points 1 day ago

You know you’re right, we could do better ! That’s rookies number

[–] Triumph@fedia.io 73 points 1 day ago (1 children)

"Retail crime resulted in losses of $9.2 billion in Canada in 2024."

I wonder how that compares to wage theft for the same period.

[–] foggy@lemmy.world 11 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago) (1 children)

In 2017 Ontario found ~60M in wage theft.

With this we can deduce that it's about 2 billion in wage theft in canada in 2017.

So not quite total offset but significant enough that this is gonna have to fall under the cost of doing business.

[–] lemmyng@piefed.ca 26 points 23 hours ago (2 children)

Found wage theft. That is, of the number of incidents reported, which ones were ruled to be theft. But there's the undocumented part of wage theft.

[–] IAmNorRealTakeYourMeds@lemmy.world 2 points 14 hours ago

most wage thefts are not even reported. boss makes you come in early? stay late? have lunch at your desk? answer emails and calls outside of work? those are still wage theft even if they never touch your pay check.

and if I were to put my Marx hat, then all for profit business is wage theft (although I get it is not legally so, but who made that fucking law?)

[–] bitjunkie@lemmy.world 8 points 20 hours ago* (last edited 20 hours ago)

On top of that, there are "legitimate" cases that should be considered wage theft, i.e. extraction of value from the worker. The tally on that is essentially the entire world economy.

[–] bitjunkie@lemmy.world 12 points 20 hours ago

[–] the_q@lemmy.zip 35 points 1 day ago (1 children)

This is actual action, folks. This puts food in bellies and hurts the rich. Not a protest or a hashtag campaign.

[–] IAmNorRealTakeYourMeds@lemmy.world 0 points 14 hours ago (1 children)

I wouldn't call it direct action or praxis. I doubt it was done for some political message or to help people, they are likely poor and hungry... although if they stole so much food to share, then I would count it as direct action.

[–] Krauerking@lemy.lol 1 points 11 minutes ago* (last edited 10 minutes ago)

Way to brag about not reading the article.

The food was donated to food shelters all over the city and placed under a public christmas tree.
You just jumped to them doing it for themselves.

[–] philophilsaurus@sh.itjust.works 23 points 1 day ago

Hell yea, new Christmas lore!

[–] rozodru@pie.andmc.ca 16 points 1 day ago

"stole" from a Metro. Good. in Canada all of THREE companies own ALL the grocery chains in the country. Metro being one of them. So I totally support this.

Also if you ever see someone stealing food from a Canadian owned grocery store, no you didn't. and if you ever report ANYONE for stealing from a Metro or Loblaws or Sobeys or ANY of their subsidiaries then you're a piece of shit.

[–] aramis87@fedia.io 15 points 1 day ago (1 children)

So ... Half a dozen eggs?

[–] dubyakay@lemmy.ca 1 points 14 hours ago (1 children)

This is Montréal. No egg shortage here

[–] some_kind_of_guy@lemmy.world 1 points 13 hours ago

So you're saying there's un œuf?