Councillor urges Winnipeg mayor to rescind civic award given to Food Fare owner

CBC News

· Posted: May 26, 2025 7:18 PM EDT | Last Updated: 1 hr ago

City constabulary are investigating a video circulating online regarding the Israel-Hamas warfare which has prompted a Winnipeg metropolis councillor to telephone for a civic grant to beryllium taken distant from a section businessman.

Coun. Sherri Rollins wrote an unfastened missive to Mayor Scott Gillingham connected Sunday astir Ramsey Zeid.

Zeid, a co-owner of Winnipeg's Food Fare market stores and president of the Canadian Palestinian Association of Manitoba (CPAM), accepted a Mayor's Business Improvement Zone Award connected May 15.

The grant was for the Maryland Food Fare's assistance with assemblage events successful the West Broadway area.

"I impulse you to rescind this award," Rollins wrote successful the letter. 

Rollins said The Canadian Palestinian Association of Manitoba (CPAM) precocious re-posted a video successful their Instagram Stories that talks astir actions that Palestinian radical could instrumentality to advocator for their cause.  

The Jewish Federation of Winnipeg provided a screenshot of the post, which appears to amusement that CPAM shared the video successful question from its account.

The video features a masked fig successful a Palestinian keffiyeh scarf calling for non-peaceful enactment astir the globe to "move the needle" and "eventually destruct the presumption quo."

It calls Israel a violent overseas entity and refers to "demonic Zionists." A Zionist refers to idiosyncratic who supports the thought of a Jewish nationalist homeland successful Israel.

The video past refers to how a radical successful its infancy is mounting up successful prime cities and are readying to marque this planetary "on a monolithic scale."

It calls for astatine slightest 1 idiosyncratic successful each metropolis to pb teams of non-peaceful disruptors.

Rollins called the posts "thinly veiled calls to violence" and said they are "not harmless expressions of opinion."

In an email to CBC News, Zeid said helium is seeking ineligible advice about what Rollins wrote to the politician and, arsenic such, can't remark further.

As for the award, helium said he's honoured due to the fact that it reflects that "I've ever tried, to the champion of my abilities, to assistance those who request it, particularly successful a clip of rising poorness present affecting my chap Winnipeggers."

Awards reception

Gilligham wasn't astatine the awards reception — lawman Mayor Markus Chambers filled successful — but repeatedly told media connected Monday that Food Fare, not Zeid, was the recipient.

"The grant was fixed to a business, not an individual, and the information was enactment guardant by the West Broadway Biz, and Coun. Rollins sits connected that board," Gillingham said.

If Rollins has a occupation with the nomination, she should speech to her chap committee members and executive, helium added.

In an interrogation connected Monday, Rollins said Gillingham needs to instrumentality his ain accountability for an grant that comes from his office.

Free code is important but "Words matter. And that's wherefore I deliberation it is truly due for a rescinding of this award," she said.

"I bash privation to spot radical learn, radical recognize the harm, and arsenic assembly we person a relation to play connected convening peace," she said.

In her letter, Rollins cited different post, made earlier this twelvemonth by an Instagram account called Zionists successful Winnipeg, which featured her image. 

An representation of Gillingham was posted by the aforesaid account.

Rollins pointed to the "real-world consequences" specifically the fatal shooting past week of mates Sarah Milgram and Yaron Lischinsky successful Washington, D.C., arsenic they were leaving the Capital Jewish Museum wherever they attended an lawsuit promoting bid successful the Middle East.

Washington Metropolitan Police main Pamela Smith has said the shooter was chanting "Free Palestine, escaped Palestine" arsenic helium was being taken into custody.

Gillingham said Monday greeting he had not yet spoken to Rollins astir her concern.

"I sat crossed the array from her connected Saturday nighttime astatine an event. She said thing of this. And past Sunday I get a missive from her," helium said.

"I think, arsenic a substance of bully faith, she could person raised it Saturday night, pulled maine speech astatine the lawsuit we were at, sitting crossed the array breaking breadstuff together."

As for the video, Gillingham has seen it and calls it concerning. It has been forwarded to the police, helium added.

A spokesperson for the Winnipeg Police Service confirmed it is investigating the video being circulated "calling for planetary convulsive intifada," and that those types of probe are analyzable and volition instrumentality time.

"There is nary country for antisemitism successful this city, I've been wide connected that before," Gillingham said.

"There's nary country for the rhetoric that would incite antisemitism oregon Islamophobia, for that substance arsenic well."