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 18 hours ago by throws_lemy@reddthat.com to c/nottheonion@lemmy.world

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[–] Allero@lemmy.today 6 points 4 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

[–] Wilco@lemmy.zip 3 points 4 hours ago

The heroes this world needs.

[–] IAmNorRealTakeYourMeds@lemmy.world 7 points 5 hours ago

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

[–] sleen@lemmy.zip 8 points 9 hours ago (1 children)

Those poor billionaires, what are they gonna do now.

[–] Allero@lemmy.today 2 points 4 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

[–] iThinkDifferentThanU@lemmy.world 24 points 13 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 3 points 5 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.

[–] Sanctus@anarchist.nexus 160 points 18 hours ago* (last edited 18 hours 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 61 points 17 hours ago

Santa Hood and his band of Merry Elves

[–] TribblesBestFriend@startrek.website 31 points 17 hours ago

God this story is getting better and better

[–] Rhaedas@fedia.io 12 points 16 hours ago (1 children)

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

[–] Valmond@lemmy.world 4 points 16 hours ago (1 children)

Depends how they are deployed.

[–] TachyonTele@piefed.social 2 points 15 hours ago

The elves are drones, run by fiber cables

[–] bitjunkie@lemmy.world 10 points 12 hours ago

[–] _cryptagion@anarchist.nexus 87 points 17 hours 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 2 points 5 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 38 points 16 hours ago (1 children)

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

[–] Neptr@lemmy.blahaj.zone 6 points 12 hours ago* (last edited 12 hours ago) (1 children)

They factor the cost of theft into their item pricing.

[–] Susaga@sh.itjust.works 12 points 12 hours ago (1 children)

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

[–] Neptr@lemmy.blahaj.zone 7 points 12 hours ago* (last edited 12 hours ago)

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

[–] UnderpantsWeevil@lemmy.world 17 points 17 hours ago

Wage theft fully eclipses burglary and other petty crimes

[–] lath@lemmy.world 16 points 17 hours 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 -1 points 15 hours ago

Most grocery store do donate food

[–] Catoblepas@piefed.blahaj.zone 8 points 16 hours 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 12 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 17 hours ago

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

[–] Triumph@fedia.io 67 points 17 hours 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 16 hours ago* (last edited 16 hours 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 23 points 14 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 5 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 7 points 12 hours ago* (last edited 12 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.

[–] the_q@lemmy.zip 29 points 17 hours 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 1 points 5 hours ago

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.

[–] philophilsaurus@sh.itjust.works 20 points 17 hours ago

Hell yea, new Christmas lore!

[–] aramis87@fedia.io 14 points 16 hours ago (1 children)

So ... Half a dozen eggs?

[–] dubyakay@lemmy.ca 1 points 5 hours ago (1 children)

This is Montréal. No egg shortage here

[–] some_kind_of_guy@lemmy.world 1 points 4 hours ago

So you're saying there's un œuf?

[–] rozodru@pie.andmc.ca 14 points 16 hours 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.