  The final part of Sun Media’s series on the state of Canadian righteousness — based on exclusive research by Leger Marketing — found that for some Canadians, money trumps a sense of morality. (Shutterstock.com)
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“You owe me,” they reply when cornered.
“I can’t afford it and you won’t miss it,” they reason.
“It’s just payback for a faulty fridge you sold me 10 years ago,” they continue.
There was a time when a thief would get flustered after getting caught stealing — including red-handed with a naked mannequin under one arm.
But not anymore, laments Don Berezowski, who, for two decades, has nabbed shop thieves — the modern name given to shoplifters.
Now, they have guile and not much guilt.
In the final part of Sun Media’s series on the state of Canadian righteousness — based on exclusive research by Leger Marketing — we wanted to follow the needle on our ethical compass to a final destination.
What we found was that for some Canadians, money trumps a sense of morality.
In fact, one-third of those polled would be willing to sell their family’s privacy to reality TV and one-fifth would sell their spouse for sex.
Many do not have old-time rigid values in place when it comes to ethical behaviours, concludes Dave Scholz, vice-president of Leger Marketing.
“It used to be very clear — if you steal, that’s incorrect,” he explains.
“Now, it’s not so clear.”
To get a final bearing on this ethical compass, we wondered what happens when we lose our way?
Then you may end up facing Berezowski. As a vice-president of loss prevention for Sears Canada, he oversees the largest store in their chain. The multi-level Yonge and Dundas complex in the heart of Toronto is a mecca for shoppers and thieves.
As he walks the floor — Las Vegas-style camera eyes able to follow him in every direction — he explains: “We have a direct connection to morality.
“We see how they react when they make that decision.”
All around, high-end espresso makers and expensive purses tempt from open shelves. Clothes wait patiently on hangers to become must-haves.
A stumbling economy has meant a substantial increase in merchandise being pinched by both shop thieves and unscrupulous employees. More middle-class heisters are being caught — from police officers to lawyers.
Across the country, an estimated $2.7 billion — more than $7 million a day — is lost yearly to shop thefts.
And as Christmas carols promote goodwill from department to department, Berezowski has a difficult time with the tune he hears most often now from thieves.
“A sense of entitlement,” he explains as he checks a security tag on a purse.
“They say it in their actual statements — ‘I’m just taking back what I should have.’”
When the 40-year-old security expert started in Edmonton 20 years ago, there was less rationalization among thieves.
Of the guy who undressed and tried to swipe the mannequin, Berezowski recalls the man didn’t feel remorse. Instead, it was love. He was simply unstable.
But when the rest of us put our morals to the test and fail to live up to a Canadian code of conduct, do we fess up with old-time regret?
Or do we believe it’s reasonable payback?
