Imagine tiredly walking through the grocery store, grabbing last-minute items for the holidays, when suddenly the store is swarmed by several Santas and an army of elves. That was the reality for some Canadian grocery shoppers when they were at a Metro store on December 15, 2025, according to The Independent. Alleged members of the Canadian activist group Robins des ruelles, or Robins of the Alley, loaded up reusable bags with $3,000 worth of food and redistributed it to community fridges.
The group released a statement, translated here into English, via social media: “There’s no other way to say it: A handful of companies are holding our basic needs hostage. They continue to suffocate the population, to siphon (from) them as much money as possible, simply because they can. For us, this is theft and they are the thieves.”
Videos and photos of the incident caused mixed reactions from the public. “Not all heroes wear capes,” one commenter noted.
“Bravo. What a gesture,” added another.
“It’s an illegal action but a legitimate act,” commented someone else.
As an avid lover of Robin Hood and his Merry Men, I have to admit there is part of me that finds this activist group a little endearing. But the unfortunate reality is, an act like this, while noble in its intention, doesn’t really target the source of the problem.
“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.”
She also noted that the company has donated $1.15 million to food banks as well as other philanthropic donations “elsewhere” throughout the year.
It also happened that the protest occurred on the same day grocery prices hit their highest inflation point, according to Statistics Canada, the CBC reported.
There have been several modern-day Robin Hood figures throughout various cultures over time. For instance, in the 1930s amid the height of the Great Depression, John Dillinger targeted only the rich banks and robbed them in old-heist fashion. Much of the public supported him and felt it was “just desserts” for those who kept their boots on poor folks’ necks.
