MLA walks back ‘let them steal’ comments

A Manitoba MLA has apologized for “confusion” caused by comments she made suggesting retail workers are told to let thieves steal, after those comments went viral on social media.

While debating Bill 210, which would amend the laws that determine civil claims for damages made by anyone 12 or older who trespasses for the purpose of committing a crime, Seine River MLA Billie Cross said the amendments introduced by the Opposition could “give people carte blanche to make justice decisions in a split second when they’re in fear.”

“I don’t think anyone’s property is more valuable than a human life. That’s why we have insurance, that’s why we buy insurance for our property, that’s why it’s so important that we not put ourselves in the line of fire when something’s being stolen,” she said Oct. 29 in the Manitoba Legislature.

“You know, we tell people who work in retail, ‘someone comes in, they want to steal, let them steal.’ It’s not worth your life, we’ve seen what happens when people don’t do that.”

Her comments — particularly, “they want to steal, let them steal” — were criticized in the house by the Opposition and later went viral on several social media channels.

On Monday, Cross said she hadn’t properly expressed her beliefs and pointed to public safety initiatives the NDP has headed.

“Let me be clear: stealing is wrong and there should be consequences when someone breaks the law,” she said in a statement. “Obviously I didn’t express myself well. I apologize for the confusion my comments caused.”

Clips of her comments have also been shared across social media beyond Manitoba.

On one social media account named “End Wokeness” on X, with nearly four million followers, a 10-second clip with two lines from her comments spliced together has nearly one million views and 1,500 comments.

Progressive Conservative leader Konrad Narth said the response to Cross’s comments was indicative of widespread frustration with soft-on-crime government policies.

“I expected there to be a big reaction,” he said. “It kind of almost flipped me off my chair when I was in the chamber myself.”

The PCs have said the bill would focus on protecting homeowners from being sued by a trespasser, as opposed to promoting violence.

Narth, who serves as the MLA of La Verendrye, said Cross’s comments touched a nerve in part because Manitobans are seeing businesses close as a result of retail crime.

“You’ve got malls that are basically closing up, you’re seeing 7-Elevens disappearing, Giant Tiger, it’s creating a food desert in our downtown right now because we aren’t addressing these repeat offenders,” he said.

“And we may all, as common-sense Manitobans, think that maybe MLA Cross had misspoken, but the reality is not only did she double down, she tripled down in those comments.”

A homeowner in the Rural Municipality of Dufferin who faces several firearms charges after he fired shots at a group of people accused of stealing from his property in August will appear in court Tuesday.

RCMP said the homeowner, a 66-year-old man, was alerted by a motion-activated camera and saw four people on his property transferring fuel from a portable container into what was discovered to be stolen vehicles.

During a confrontation with the group before police arrived, he fired shots toward their vehicles. Three suspects remained at the scene and were arrested and a fourth fled in one of the vehicles. Various items believed to have been stolen from the property were found in the back of one of the trucks.

The three suspects were arrested and charged and the vehicle driven by the fourth suspect was later found.

Premier Wab Kinew said about those charges at the time Manitoba “can’t have people being judge, jury and executioner, allegedly.”

malak.abas@winnipegfreepress.com