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Winnipeg Free Press
26-05-2025
- Politics
- Winnipeg Free Press
Jewish city councillor accuses grocer of sharing threatening content online, wants mayor to rescind BIZ award
A city councillor is publicly accusing a local business leader of sharing 'disturbing, threatening content' online. However, the business leader said those accusations are 'entirely false and misleading.' On Sunday, Coun. Sherri Rollins sent an open letter to Mayor Scott Gillingham, which accuses Food Fare manager Ramsey Zeid of sharing a video with 'thinly veiled calls to violence.' 'In it, people like me — Jewish, Zionist, and in public office — are portrayed as enemies to be 'dealt with,'' wrote Rollins. The councillor also accused Zeid of previously helping spread online a picture of herself and her daughter on a public list targeting Zionists. 'While I support free speech … I do think there are consequences,' said Rollins (Fort Rouge-East Fort Garry), in an interview. MIKAELA MACKENZIE / FREE PRESS FILES Coun. Sherri Rollins sent an open letter to Winnipeg Mayor Scott Gillingham accusing Food Fare manager Ramsey Zeid of sharing a video with 'thinly veiled calls to violence.' MIKAELA MACKENZIE / FREE PRESS FILES Coun. Sherri Rollins sent an open letter to Winnipeg Mayor Scott Gillingham accusing Food Fare manager Ramsey Zeid of sharing a video with 'thinly veiled calls to violence.' She said city council members have received complaints about the matter, with some people questioning a Mayor's BIZ Zone award given to Zeid's company, Maryland Food Fare, earlier this month. In her letter, she urged the mayor to rescind the award. 'When (this) honour is given to Mr. Zeid while he continues to share content calling for escalation and destruction, it is not a neutral act,' she wrote. 'While I support free speech … I do think there are consequences.'–Coun. Sherri Rollins The video, which has been shared widely online, begins with a masked person specifically calling for action against Zionists. It accuses Zionists of violence, colonialism, land theft and occupation, at one point calling them 'demonic.' It suggests 'non-peaceful revolutions are often required' and groups around the world should 'step up.' In a written statement, Ramsey Zeid said he is now seeking legal advice to challenge 'entirely false and misleading statements about my stance and character uttered against me by Coun. Rollins.' 'It's no secret that most Manitobans are aghast at the situation in Gaza. We watch the terrible violence and are saddened and sickened by the images of civilian death. I am, too. I will always stand against unjust war, against human suffering, and against every form of hate and intolerance,' wrote Zeid. Tens of thousands of people have died in the war in Gaza since it began with Hamas militants' early morning incursion into Israel in October 2023 in which 1,200 civilians were slaughtered and another 250 were taken hostage. MIKAELA MACKENZIE / FREE PRESS FILES Maryland Food Fare manager Ramsey Zeid, which received a Mayor's BIZ Zone award earlier this month. MIKAELA MACKENZIE / FREE PRESS FILES Maryland Food Fare manager Ramsey Zeid, which received a Mayor's BIZ Zone award earlier this month. Meanwhile, Zeid said he was honoured to receive a Mayor's BIZ award for his work. 'I was nominated by my colleagues in the business community because they know that I've always tried, to the best of my abilities, to help those who need it, especially in a time of rising poverty here affecting my fellow Winnipeggers,' he wrote. In an email, Winnipeg Police Service confirmed it is looking into the video itself. 'I can confirm the Winnipeg Police Service is currently investigating the video being circulated online calling for global violent 'intifada.' These types of investigation are complicated and take time to investigate. No specific individual is being linked to this video at this time,' the statement said. When asked if he will grant Rollins' request to rescind the award, Gillingham said the BIZ award was given to a business, not an individual, and followed a nomination from the West Broadway BIZ. 'Coun. Rollins sits on that biz board. So, if she's got a concern with the nomination, she should talk to her fellow board members and the executive director,' he said. The mayor said he saw the video Rollins mentioned and found it 'concerning,' though he didn't comment on who may have shared it. Wednesdays A weekly dispatch from the head of the Free Press newsroom. 'My understanding is that that's with the police right now,' he said. The mayor stressed hate speech is never acceptable. 'There is no room for antisemitism in the city. I've been clear on that before. There's no room for the rhetoric that would incite antisemitism or Islamophobia, for that matter, as well,' said Gillingham. X: @joyanne_pursaga Joyanne PursagaReporter Joyanne is city hall reporter for the Winnipeg Free Press. A reporter since 2004, she began covering politics exclusively in 2012, writing on city hall and the Manitoba Legislature for the Winnipeg Sun before joining the Free Press in early 2020. Read more about Joyanne. Every piece of reporting Joyanne produces is reviewed by an editing team before it is posted online or published in print — part of the Free Press's tradition, since 1872, of producing reliable independent journalism. Read more about Free Press's history and mandate, and learn how our newsroom operates. Our newsroom depends on a growing audience of readers to power our journalism. If you are not a paid reader, please consider becoming a subscriber. Our newsroom depends on its audience of readers to power our journalism. Thank you for your support.
Global News
06-05-2025
- Business
- Global News
‘Stretching their dollars': New study says Canadians struggle with food prices
A new national study says that while Canadians are buying the same amount of food as they did last fall, they're trying to spend less — and anxiety around food affordability has surged nationwide. The study, the Spring 2025 Canadian Food Sentiment Index, is an initiative of Dalhousie University's agri-food analytics lab, and is intended as a snapshot of people's attitudes toward food prices and grocery shopping behaviours. According to the survey of 2,994 Canadians, stress around affordability has ballooned to 28.5 per cent — almost 10 percentage points higher than the previous edition of the study in fall of last year. Food professor Sylvain Charlebois told 680 CJOB's The Start that people are shopping around more to get deals. 'People are looking at different stores and they are looking at buying bulk way more than before, stretching their dollars as much as possible,' he said. Story continues below advertisement Some sections of the grocery store that are feeling the pinch, he said, are those that offer fresh food — something many Canadians might be eschewing to save money. 'That's the one thing that concerns us — if you are spending less, you may be making some nutritional compromises, and that's certainly not a good thing, for sure.' The spring study has also shown that Canadian shoppers — in particular younger Canadians — are choosing to buy more local products in the wake of tariffs and threats from U.S. President Donald Trump. Get breaking National news For news impacting Canada and around the world, sign up for breaking news alerts delivered directly to you when they happen. Sign up for breaking National newsletter Sign Up By providing your email address, you have read and agree to Global News' Terms and Conditions and Privacy Policy 'People are starting to see local as a priority now,' Charlebois said. 'Because of what's going on with tariffs and Donald Trump, I think people are walking into the grocery store being concerned about America and of course the pressure that Canada is under right now.' View image in full screen Munther Zeid, the owner of the 'Food Fare' grocery store chain in Winnipeg. Michael Draven / Global News Munther Zeid, owner of Winnipeg's Food Fare grocery chain, says the shift to local products is something he's seeing firsthand. Story continues below advertisement 'The American products are still selling — not as quickly, but they're still selling…but the 'shop local', 'buy local' (trend) is definitely on the rise,' he said. Locally-produced grocery items like Harvest Bakery bread and Santorini yogurt, said Zeid, are flying off shelves. However, he says he's also noticing price increases for many Canadian goods, which could affect shoppers' long-term buying habits. 'The one bad thing we've noticed is a lot of the Canadian products are starting to go up in price by 10 cents here, 20 cents there. 'It's a minimal increase but it seems to be going up a little bit.' Vince Barletta of Harvest Manitoba told The Start it's unsurprising people are looking to save their dollars. He's seen the effects of food insecurity on a daily basis at the food bank. 'For, really, tens of thousands of Manitoba families, their incomes have not kept pace, have not kept up, and they're making difficult choices,' Barletta said. 'Sadly, one of those difficult choices is what goes on the kitchen table, and that's resulting in Manitoba's continued record-high demand for food banks.' Fresh food, he said, remains in high demand, as those items take the biggest bite out of people's wallets. To help meet the demand, Manitoba Egg Farmers has doubled its donation of fresh eggs to the food bank. Story continues below advertisement ''It really starts with our prodcuers, our agri-food community. We're so fortunate here in Manitoba to have that base of support from our agricultural producers. 'Whether that's eggs, whether that's meat, vegetables, fruit, those are some of the big costs, so when we can get eggs into people's food bank packages for the month, it's one of the more popular items that we distribute.'
