ED
Elizabeth Dubney
Jan 26, 2026
Due to reports that the Jim Pattison Group sold property to ICE for a new processing facility, I no longer feel comfortable supporting Nesters Market. What can I say, human rights matters to me, not supporting the current US administration in any way shape or form ALSO matters to me.
**Update**
The sale of the property did eventually collapse, but only after intense and sustained public pressure. This included planned protests at business locations across Canada, a large-scale letter-writing campaign urging Canadian MPs to investigate Canadian companies doing business with ICE, a civilian boycott of all companies owned by The Jim Pattison Group, and a formal letter from the union representing workers at a JPG grocery chain stating they would strike if the sale proceeded. A major advertising firm (Point Blank) that works with JPG also publicly announced it would sever all ties with JPG companies if the deal went through.
At the local level, residents of Hanover County, Virginia - the site of the property - flooded a town hall meeting to voice their outrage at the prospect of such a facility being opened in their community. This public response led the Board of Supervisors to vote down the proposed use of the building and to issue a statement to state and federal representatives opposing the sale.
Only after all of this - two days after the town hall in Hanover - did JPG release a single-line statement confirming the deal would not proceed: “The transaction to sell our industrial building in Ashland, Virginia will not be proceeding.”
They were willing to do the business and profit from an unthinkable deal… just not willing to be seen doing it.