The impact of the Mafia in Montreal
Presented to
Jeanette Novakovich
Composition Stage II
ENLG 213
Prepared by
Isabelle Dufresne-Dubé
9235175
December 2nd, 2010
Introduction
La Cosa Nostra is the Sicilian division of the Italian Mafia. Historians trace back the
origin of the Mafia to 1838. Not only does the Mafia have a very important influence and
control in Italy, but the reach of its power is worldwide. Unfortunately, the general public
does not know much about this secret organization. Like in many other cities in Canada, the
Mafia and its members exert a powerful control on the city of Montreal. Recently, many
important figures of the Mafia have been murdered in Montreal and numerous fires were
lighted in Italian coffee shops. Since the murder of Nicolò Rizutto on November 10th 2010,
the press and the population of Montreal seem to be more interested in the Mafia’s case.
Unfortunately, due to the poor regulations of the provincial and federal governments, the
Mafia has been able to infiltrate the legal economy of Montreal and can easily launder
money from criminal activities. Montreal citizens are not aware of how much the Mafia
affects them on a day-to-day basis and how they unknowingly contribute to the prosperity
of this secret organization. In order to understand the ascension of the Mafia in Montreal,
every citizen should be aware of the Mafia’s history, its code of conduct and customs, its
impact on citizens’ lives and the strategies used by authorities to abolish this supremacy.
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1. The History of the Montreal Mafia
The history of the Mafia in Montreal is very complex because it is intertwined of
conflicts between clans and battles to reach complete control. In the 1940s, many Italians
immigrated to the urban regions of Canada because of World War II. Unfortunately, the
massive waves of immigrants included many members of the Italian Mafia. In order to build
a strong and structured empire of the Mafia in North America, five families directed the
implementation in New York City, which eventually became their headquarters. A few
years later, the families assigned other
divisions in major regions of Canada,
including Montreal. The most well known family in Montreal is the Rizutto clan because
they have been at the power for the last decades. However, the Cotronis maintained control
over Montreal for many years before having to pass on the reigns to the Rizuttos. At that
time, the Bonnano family, which was located in New York City, was responsible of the
Montreal division and they elected the Cotronis (Vincenzo and Giuseppe) as a subset to
their family. Nicolò Rizzuto only joined the
Montreal Mafia in 1954 when he left his small
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village of Cattolica Eraclea in Sicily, Italy. One
of the few ways to penetrate the tight bonds
of the Mafia is to marry a member of a clan.
http://cattolicaeracleaonline.it/wpcontent/uploads/2010/02/cattolica-eraclea.jpg
For instance, the Rizuttos’ history with the
Mafia started in Italy when Nicolò’s dad, Vito Rizutto married Maria Renda, which was the
sister of a Sicilian Mafia Don. Nicolò Rizzuto acquired a reputation of an outlaw at an early
age in his village. Even though crime was somewhat tolerated in Cattolica Eraclea, Nico was
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not part of the Mafia yet and he acquired a bad reputation in his community. With a career
of thief that started at a young age, it was inevitable for Nicolò to eventually get arrested.
Actually, the first time Nicolò got caught for his wrong doings was in 1945, while he was
about to sell an important quantity of wheat on the black market (Cédilot 50). When he
turned 21, Nico Rizutto married Libertina Manno, the daughter of a very affluent mafia boss
in Italy named Don Antonino Manno. Therefore, when Nico married Libertina, he also
married the mafia (Cédilot 51). In 1952, the Rizutto family moved clandestinely to the
United States, but they did not stay for a long time because they got sent back to Italy. Due
to this failure, Rizutto moved to Venezuela where he lived for some time until he finally
decided to return to Sicily. At that point, he started procedures to immigrate legally to
Canada. The Rizutto family decided to establish Montreal as their home because there was
already a good Sicilian community
implemented in that part of
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Quebec, whereas the Calabrians
were more tempted by Ontario.
Nick Jr.
Vito
Nick Sr.
http://www.globalnews.ca/world/2397694.bin?size=sw620nws
Vito, one of Nicolò’s children
married Giovanna Cammalleri, which gave him three children including Nicolò born in
1967, named after his grandfather. Even though Nicolò Senior was a very successful
godfather of the Montreal Mafia, his predecessor, Vincenzo Cotroni also had a lucrative
career with the Mafia.
Vincenzo Cotroni, the principal rival of Rizutto was born in 1911 in Calabria, which is
located in the south of Italy. He dropped out of school very young, but it never stopped him
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from being a very lucrative businessman either in legal and illegal business, such as
prostitution, gambling and bookmaking (Cédilot 56). When Rizutto arrived to Montreal, it
did not take long for both clans to develop a strong rivalry.
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2. Code of conduct, customs and structure
Members of the Mafia are constrained in their actions by a strict code of conduct and
customs, which must be respected otherwise severe sanctions are applied. The structure
and authority are crucial in the organization and can never be contested. In order to obtain
special permissions, a Mafioso must seek the approval of a superior. In order to maintain a
climate of order and obedience, the Mafia has a clearly defined code of conduct, which is
carefully respected by every member, because the worst penalty is death (Russell 148). In
his book, A Family Business, the author wrote a summary of the first code of conduct of the
Mafia written in 1892. There is also a revised version of the same code of conduct written in
1900, which still applies.
The Mafia Code
In 1892: 1. Reciprocal aid in case of any need whatever. 2. Absolute obedience to the
chief. 3. An offense received by one of the members to be considered an offense
against all and avenged at any cost. 4. No appeal to the state’s authorities for justice. 5.
No revelation of the names of members or any secrets of the association. (Russell 136)
In 1900: 1. To help one another and avenge every injury of a fellow member. 2. To
work with all means for the defense and freeing of any fellow member who has fallen
into the hands of the judiciary. 3. To divide the proceeds of thievery, robbery and
extortion with certain consideration for the needy as determined by the capo. 4. To
keep the oath and maintain secrecy on pain of death within twenty-four hours.
(Russell 136)
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EXPLANATION
In her book Mafia Brotherhoods, Letizia Paoli summarizes the main ideas related to
the basic values of the Cosa Nostra and the ‘Ndrangheta, which are the two main secret
societies of the Italian mafia. First, both clans fulfill the criterion of any Mafia’s organization,
each family follows their own rules and structures according to their biological families
(16). Second, when they recruit new members in their organization, both clans require from
the recruit complete devotion to their new cosa (band) and to completely end any previous
relationship with other allegiances. If necessary, the recruits have to be willing to sacrifice
their own life for the good of the mafia. This means that the mafia can always count on its
members to be faithful and obedient until the end. These two rules provide an extreme
power to the chiefs of the clans, because they can use their subordinates to fulfill their own
desires.
The structure of the Montreal Mafia in the 1940s was directly linked to the five
families in New York City, which were the Genovese, Gambino, Lucchese, Colombo and
Bonanno. These families operated the Mafia and controlled all the activities of the North
American division. Subsequently, the Montreal Mafia was divided in two major branches,
the Calabrian led by Cotroni and the Sicilian who eventually challenged the power of the
Calabrian, led by Rizutto. However, they both had to report to the head chief of the Bonnano
family in New York. When the Rizutto and other families arrived in Montreal, the Cotroni
felt threatened. A representative of the Cotroni’s family, Paolo Violi, declared that the new
families had to pass a five-year probation before being accepted by the Bonanno family and
participating in the Mafia’s activities. The Rizzuto did not like the restriction and Nicolò, the
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leader of the Rizzuto, wanted to start his activities in Montreal right away. Because of this
disagreement, Nicolò Rizzuto and Paolo Violi became enemies. In fact, Violi complained
about Rizzuto’s attitude and lack of respect towards Cotroni and in return Rizzuto qualified
the Montreal division of being not well organized. After long discussions about the Rizzuto
case and its role in Montreal, higher ranked members decided that the Rizzuto clan was
permitted to remain in Montreal and pursue their activities. Later on, nothing seemed to get
better between the Sicilian and Calabrian; Rizzuto had had enough and ordered the killing
of Paolo Violi in 1978. From that point on, the Rizzutos took over the control of the
Montreal Mafia. The infighting among the Montreal mafia provoked a transfer of power
from the Calabrians (Cotroni) to the Sicilians (Rizzuto). With the arrival of the Rizzuto, the
Montreal Mafia became stronger and more organized than ever before and they even
became more important than the Bonanno family in New York. Another important, but
silent feature of structure of the Mafia is the role played by women in the organization.
Although we often hear about Men of Honor, women also bring an important
contribution to the prosperity of the Mafia. They never represent a public figure, they
always stay in the background and their main role consists in tying strong bonds within the
family. They raise their children by teaching them respect and obedience, which facilitates
the cohesion in the clan when they grow up. Sometimes, women can also participate in
various sorts of crimes. For example, the mother of Nicolò Rizzuto Senior participated in the
wheat black market (Cédilot 50). One could think of the role of the women as superficial,
but they are actually highly respected and necessary to the development of the Mafia. In the
next extract, the author explains how women are almost considered as divine and it
illustrates the crucial role they play.
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The figure of women seems to be ambivalent; though they are socially subjugated by
the power of “men”, they represent power within the family organization through the
function of matriarchy in deciding their children’s future. The woman-mother can
push her sons into committing any violent action (e.g., revenge) in order to perpetuate
the ancient family culture and her daughters’ futures as women-mothers capable of
ensuring family integrity. (Fiandaca 95)
Basically, without women in the Mafia, the cohesion and discipline would not be as present
and strong as it is now.
From another point of view, the ambivalence of the women is immense. In the following
extract, the author explains that women are used strategically at all times: “Women become
goods for exchange; as in the old aristocracy, the offer of virginal blood, when a woman
marries a man from another family, consolidates new alliances and seal ties through blood
relations. ” (Fiandaca 94) This illustrates the fact that women do not hold any direct form of
power and control in the organization, but without them the Mafia would not be as
organized and men would not have as much opportunities to create and maintain strong
partnerships.
Finally, women fulfill many emotional functions in relation to the mafia. For example:
 They reinforce the bonds within members of the mafia families.
 They play a crucial role in the educational and socializing processes.
 They manage the religious education and institute the importance of the Church.
 They participate strategically in the communication processes.
 They provide a positive and respected image of the Mafia in general.
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 They provide equilibrium of normality in the organization.
 They are the most relied on figures in case of emergencies
 They play a strategic role when it comes to avoiding troubles with authorities.
(Fiandaca p.75)
EXPLANATION
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3. The impact of the Mafia
The Mafia has an important impact on our lives. In fact, without being aware of it,
everyone contributes to the prosperity of the organization. The Mafia has infiltrated the
legal economy and is gaining power and control. For instance, the authorities have
discovered that the Mafia has corrupted the construction industry (Gravel). The Mafia
threatens many entrepreneurs over the phone by telling them to not place offers on certain
contracts or they could get hurt. After receiving complaints, the police investigated and
discovered the collusion in the industry and related it to the Mafia. In order to gain such a
huge control over the construction industry, the Mafia used constant corruption and
violence for many years. More than often, they decide who gets very important construction
contracts and once they assign a contract to a certain contractor, the latter is forced to pay a
5 % cut off the contract. For example, if a contractor obtains a one million dollar contract,
the Mafia receives $50,000 (Gravel). Storage of such important quantities of cash often
becomes one of the biggest problems incurred by the Mafia. In order to launder their dirty
money and increase profits, the Mafia runs legal businesses, such as, restaurants, boutiques
and used cars (Masson). Unfortunately, many citizens contribute every day to the
prosperity of the Mafia by buying their products in legal businesses.
Another alarming fact about the Mafia is their ease in importing and exporting drugs
and illegal products through Canadian borders. At one point in time, the Mafia controlled
the Dorval airport and many of its members worked at the airport to monitor the import
and export of drugs, weapons and other illegal products. Any sellers interested in import or
export had to notify the Mafia and pay a tax to ensure safe traveling of illegal substances.
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The tax paid by the seller could be an exchange of merchandise or monetary
compensations. If the sellers were cooperative, they would avoid any troubles with the
organization. Besides the airport, the port of Montreal is another medium for transiting
merchandise.
Another way employed by the Mafia to make profits is to charge a tax to many small
entrepreneurs in Montreal in order to peacefully operate their businesses. The pizzo tax is a
tax paid to the Mafia to have a right to run a business (Masson). It also protects the
entrepreneurs from other criminal organizations. If the owners of a business refuse to pay,
the Mafia will either burn down the shop or use violence to convince them to disburse the
sum required.
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4. The descending power of the Mafia
In the past decade, the Mafia has significantly lost power and control in Montreal.
The Mafia has been hurt by police interventions and especially by the imprisonment of the
head of the Montreal Mafia, Vito Rizutto. Two major interventions took place in 1994 and
2006 to eradicate the power of the Mafia. The first intervention, Opération Compote,
conducted in 1994 had for goal to stop the massive laundering of money made by many
members of the Mafia. Undercover police officers set up a bank to attract the Mafiosi
looking to launder money (Cédilot 167). During the investigation, the Mafia transferred
over 165 million dollars of drug money. In August 1994, the police arrested 46 mobsters in
relation to tax evasion. The second intervention, called Opération Colisée, necessitated 700
police officers, which started the arrests
at six o’clock on the morning of
November 22nd, 2006. On that day, they
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arrested 73 out of the 90 suspects
wanted. Nicolo Rizutto was among the
73 members arrested, along with Paolo
Renda, Rocco Sollecito, Francesco
Arcadi, Francesco Del Balso and Lorenzo
http://www.montrealgazette.com/ne
ws/3809526.bin?size=620x400
Giordano, all very important
members of the Sicilian mafia. The main charges consisted of gangsterism, importation and
exportation of marijuana, illegal gambling, corruption and tax evasion . Besides making
massive arrests, the police also seized over 6 million dollars, 800 kilos of cocaine and 40
kilos of marijuana. (Cédilot 342).
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In addition to the massive arrests of 1994 and
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2006, Vito Rizutto, the head of the Mafia at
that time, was imprisoned in 2004 and
pleaded guilty to a triple murder he had
http://www.cyberpresse.ca/images/bizphotos/
435x290/201010/25/210185-vito-rizzuto-arriveeaeroport-pierre.jpg
committed back in 1981 in New York City.
Not only had they lost the head of the Mafia, but also important figures of the
Montreal Mafia have been murdered in the past year. In December 2009, Nicolo Rizutto Jr.,
Vito’s son was murdered in Montreal in the middle of the day. Since then, the police have
been trying to find the murderer without success. Nicolo Rizutto Jr. was supposed to take
the lead of the Mafia in the next years, because his father was in jail. Also, Paolo Renda got
kidnapped in May 2010 and Agostino Cuntrera was murdered in June 2010, they were both
very close to Nick Rizutto. Because of all the
attacks towards the Sicilian clan, Nicolo Rizzuto
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Sr. was scared for his life. In fact, Nicolò was shot
by a sniper on November 10, 2010. The
http://www.truecrimereport.com/NicoloRizzuto.jpg
Godfather of the Montreal Mafia was
murdered in front of his wife and daughter in
his kitchen while having supper. The crime is still under investigation and police authorities
have not yet found the murderer. Many hypotheses have been mentioned, such as street
gangs or other Mafia clans, however the way Nick was murdered goes against the Mafia’s
standards. It is very unusual for Mafiosi to kill someone in front of their family. Usually,
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murders occurred in public places without the presence of family members, like the murder
of his grandson, Nicolo.
As mentioned in section 2, sometimes there can be infightings among different clans.
The most important infighting occurred when Rizutto fought to gain power of the Montreal
division. More recently, the murder of Nick Rizutto raised suspicion in regards to a new
fight between the Sicilians and Calabrians. However, the probabilities are very minimal
since the Mafia has learned to work in teams, instead of against each others (Myles Le
Devoir).
The Mafia suffers from serious threats from other criminal organizations, which are
trying to gain power, territory and control over the illegal businesses in Montreal. In the
past year, many coffee shops in the North of Montreal have been attacked with Molotov
cocktails. One hypothesis of the possible instigators are street gangs. Since the murders and
imprisonment of important figures of the Mafia, street gangs have been trying to enlarge
their territories and strengthen their power in Montreal. When Vito Rizutto got arrested in
2004, he claimed to be a peacekeeper in Montreal. According to him, he was the only one
able to maintain order between the Mafia, street gangs and biker gangs. Vito said that the
streets of Montreal would become epic without his supervision. Besides street gangs, the
Mafia is also threatened by biker gangs, such as the Hells Angels. In fact, all criminal
organizations are constantly fighting to gain territory and increase their profit. Once again,
because of the big hits on the Mafia, other organizations are trying to be opportunistic and
take advantage of the present weaknesses of the Cosa Nostra. However the Hells Angels
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have also been hurt by police interventions in the past years, so the main threats of the
Mafia right now are the street gangs.
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Conclusion
In conclusion, the Mafia was able to build an empire in Montreal without arising
suspicion. The origin of the current Montreal mafia is in Italy, both from Sicily and Calabria.
The structure of the Mafia is the best organized out of any other criminal organizations in
Canada. Members of the Mafia are all confined to secrecy and blind obedience. The impact
of the Mafia is enormous, but discrete in Montreal. However, authorities are looking into the
Mafia’s activities and are discovering proofs that will enable them to proceed to many more
arrests. Hopefully, in a near future, the Mafia will be tamed, weak and will stop poisoning
our economy with tax evasion, fraud and illegal gambling.
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Annotated bibliography
1. Cédilot, André, and Noël André. Mafia Inc. Montréal: Les Éditions de l’Homme, 2010.
Print.
André Cédilot worked for La Presse for 35 years, as time went by he developed a
strong interest for the Mafia and became an expert on the subject. André Noël has
been with La Presse for 20 years now and is still active, he also wrote many articles
with Cédilot. This book is new on the market and both authors are promoting it
through different channels in Quebec because they feel it is important for the citizens
to understand the incredible power of the Mafia. This book is a true reference and
revelation on the Mafia and its ramifications in Montreal.
2. Cédilot, André. Interview by Marc André Masson. RDI Matin. Radio Canada. Montreal, 26
October 2010. Television.
In this interview, the co-author of the book Mafia Inc., André Cédilot, explains the
content of his book and the importance of the Mafia in our society. He briefly explains
some aspects of the Mafia and mentions that the government has to do something to
gain back control on the legal economy. The interview was broadcasted by RadioCanada, which is a serious and reliable source of information.
3. Charbonneau, Jean-Pierre. Auger, Michel, ed. La filière canadienne. Montréal: Éditions
trait d’union. 2002. Print.
Jean-Pierre Charbonneau is well known in the organized crime industry. He wrote
many books on the topic and won award for his work. In 1973, while working for Le
Devoir, Jean-Pierre Charbonneau received three bullets in his arm. He was shot by a
member of the Montreal Mafia, Tony Mucci. However, the incident never stopped him
form pursuing his work. The editor of the book, Michel Auger was also victim of an
attempt of murder from bikers, but survived the six bullets in his back. In this book,
Charbonneau talks about criminals who marked the Canadian history from 1934 to
1975. This book is well known in the industry and even today, authors rely on his
work to write about the Mafia and other criminal organizations.
4. Edwards, Peter and Michel Auger. The Encyclopedia of Canadian organized crime: from
Captain Kidd to Mom Boucher. Toronto: McClelland & Stewart Ltd., 2004. Print.
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The Encyclopedia of Canadian organized crime defines the organized crime in Canada.
Michel Auger and Peter Edwards provide a description of every criminal organization
in Canadian history. The book is in alphabetical order to facilitate the reader’s
research. The two authors have a really broad knowledge on crime and they combine
it to come down with a very entertaining product. This source is important for my
research because they talk about the Sicilian and Calabrian gangs.
5. Fentress, James. Rebels & Mafiosi: death in a Sicilian landscape. New York: Cornell
University Press, 2000. Print.
Rebels & Mafiosi is a book about Sicily and the Mafia. It explains the history of Sicily
and the birth of the Mafia. This book is helpful for my research because it helps
understanding the roots and the origin of the Mafia. James Fentress did extensive
research to come to his final product, which makes the information provided in the
book reliable.
6. Fiandaca, Giovanni, ed. Women and the Mafia, female roles in organized crime studies.
Trans. Stephen Jackson. Italy: Dipartimento di Scienze e Crimminologiche, 2003. Print.
The book is divided in two parts, the first parts is about the history of women in the
Mafia and the second part is a comparison of women in the Italian Mafia and women
in other criminal organizations such as, Argentina, Brazil, Japan, Germany and others.
For my research, I will only use the first part, because I do not want to expand the
scope of my research to other criminal organizations. The book is a collection of
several essays written by twenty-two different authors. Stephen Jackson translated
the book from Italian to English and the editor is Giovanni Fiandaca. The book is well
structured and the information is well diversified.
7. Paoli, Letizia. Mafia Brotherhoods: Organized crime, Italian style. Oxford: University press,
2003. Print.
Letizia Paoli, professor in criminology wrote this book and relied primarily on
confessions of informers who agreed to work with the police. She also gathered
information from criminal cases, parliamentary hearings and interviews with law
enforcement officials. The book explains the history of the Italian Mafia and the way it
influenced the North American Mafia. The book is divided in five sections, which all
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discuss different aspects of the Mafia. By doing so, it allows the reader to have a
thorough understanding of the history and the complexity of the Italian and American
Mafia.
8. William I. Macadam, James R. Dubro and Pierre De Champlain. “Organized crime.” The
Canadian Encyclopedia. Historica-Dominion, 2010. Web. 30 Oct. 2010.
The Canadian Encyclopedia provides articles written by experts on several subjects.
This particular article defines organized crime in general, corruption, illegal activities
and it also describes the Mafia and its structure. Three organized crime experts
combined their knowledge to write the book. One of the authors, Pierre De Champlain
is a well-known author when it comes to the Mafia. The article is concise, precise and
delivers the information in an efficient and clear way.
9. “Collusion frontale: pratiques douteuses dans l'industrie de la construction.” Alain Gravel.
Enquête. Radio-Canada. Radio Canada, Montreal, 15 October 2009. Television.
In this program, Alain Gravel talks about a conspiracy in the construction industry.
According to him, the Mafia plays a key role in this conspiracy and also gets a
percentage on the contracts. Alain Gravel is known for his expertise and
professionalism.
10. “Mafia et Construction.” Alain Gravel. Enquête. Radio-Canada. Radio Canada, Montreal,
11 November 2010. Television.
This show is about the Mafia and its implications in the construction industry. This
episode depicts the procedures used by the Mafia to assign contract to specific
contractors and the profits obtained from controlling the industry.
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