After a week straight of online attacks, that culminated in a physical assault at the top of our driveway we no longer feel safe running our business in any capacity. Since discussion our specific economic and geographical problem, in relation to the Tariff disputes, with Ian Hanomansing on CBC last week the unhinged, and violent hate has not stopped. From “no caller ID” calls to my private cell phone threatening me, to endless emails, texts, messages, and social media comments filled with hate and vitriol directed at me, my partner, and even our 6-month old baby, we have been attacked from all sides, simply for saying our business is not going to be viable under the economic conditions at the border.

When we started our Gofundme, despite the uphill battle we clearly had ahead of us, we were both hopeful there was a positive path forward. We are both committed to working hard, putting our blood and sweat into our business, no matter how small it is, and working to make something we could be proud of. As media attention increased, and the contributions to our campaign grew, so to did our hope. This was until our live interview on CBC with Ian Hanomansing aired, and the landslide of hate began.

Since opening in June 2025 we have had three separate intrusions into our property, with others taking to social media to defame us, or drive by our home and hurl insults and profanities at us. This past Friday this behaviour escalated to a physical assault where two men jumped me in front of our home, threatened me, kicked me, accused me of SAing a minor while filming me and hurling insults at me, before fleeing. While it is only a few bad apples it has become clear that it is unsafe for our family to operate here, and we are unfortunately now questioning if anything would be different 5km away over the bridge, because after all, as we have been saying, it’s all one community, so nothing would stop these same individuals from going after us there as well.

At this point we are selling off what stock we have left, seeking employment outside of this community, and will evaluate options for moving forward.

This is not the outcome we had wished for when we sunk every dollar we had to our name into this business, but at the end of the day we need to put the safety of our family first, and we can’t do so when these attacks keep happening.

Thank you all for your support,

Zoltan and Laura.