Santas and elves rob Montreal grocery store to ‘give food to the needy’ | Canada
A group of Santa Clauses dressed in red suits and supported by masked elves walked into a Montreal supermarket, loaded thousands of dollars’ worth of groceries into their bags and disappeared into the night.
Rogue Santa later released a statement saying the food would be distributed to those in need, and said the Robin Hood-style display was intended to highlight the escalating cost of a life crisis that has made basic needs increasingly out of reach for ordinary Canadians.
About 40 members of a group called Robins des Ruelles (Robins of the Streets) took part in the robbery late Monday.
A statement titled “When hunger justifies the means”, published late on Thursday, said: “We are increasingly working to get food from supermarket chains that use inflation as an excuse to make record profits.
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“There’s no other way to explain it: A handful of corporations are holding our basic needs hostage.”
The group said companies “continue to strangle the population to extract 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 were affected by factors such as disruptions in the global supply chain, volatility in commodity prices, changes in international trade conditions and retail crime.
Retail crime is on the rise and will cause more than $9 billion in lost sales by 2024, according to the Retail Council of Canada.
“It is worth noting that as a retailer we are the last stop in the supply chain,” Grégoire said. “Prices on store shelves directly reflect the costs of the supply chain.” Grégoire also noted that Metro donated $1.15 million in 2025 and provided more than $81 million in food products to food banks.
The three companies control the vast majority of grocery stores in Canada and have enjoyed record profits in recent years. Despite government concerns about profiteering, companies say profit margins are shrinking as profits approach record levels.
Police told reporters they were investigating the theft but no arrests had been made.
The Robins left some food in a public square at the base of a Christmas tree Tuesday evening, adding that the rest will be distributed through community food banks.
“Remember, hunger justifies the means,” the group wrote. “Merry christmas!”
