While in the USA at the beginning of the century, before the Mafia Commission was formed, there was the so-called "Black hand", a common denomination for extortionist gangs that usually signed the threatening letters with a black hand picture, but what about Canada? Were the Black Hand gangs active there too or was there no significant mafia presence before RIzzuto, Violi and others? What was the situation in the first decades of the century?

I don't know about the mafia, but I do know that the famous Italian criminal Ponzi lived in Canada early in the century and spent time in prison up there. I don't think he tried a Ponzi scheme until he moved to the US though.

yes there was plenty of black hand activity going back to at least 1906, especially in Hamilton, the Niagara area, Toronto and Guelph Ontario involving mostly Calabrians. There was activity in many other areas but these are the main areas. the first major trial took place in 1909 in Hamilton involving joseph taglerino and several associates. Another big story around that time that made the black hand a major news story was the murder of Black Hander Frank Tarro in in 1911 in a poor immigrant section of Toronto known as The Ward. He was killed by one of his extortion targets. by the late teens and early 20s the black hand in southern Ontario was involved in a series of bombings and murders, particularly in Hamilton. in the decade between 1914 and 1924 there was at least 20 murders in the italian community mostly as a direct result of either the black hand or of italian criminal infighting over the local bootleg trade. Southern Ontario would be a major bootlegging and gambling area during prohibition and there was a lot of violence in the area. This is just a very brief summary. I can probably post more when I get a chance, maybe tomorrow after work.

There are some books that have plenty of info on the early days of OC in Canada. 'Iced: the story of organized crime in Canada' is a huge book with a ton of great info on all types of Canadian OC past and present. I highly recommend it. 'King of the Mob: Rocco Perri' is all about southern Ontario in prohibition times. I just started reading this one. 'Mob Rule: Inside the Canadian Mafia' is a great read, mainly about Paul Volpe and the Siderno Group but with some info on the early days and a special section on Rocco Perri at the end as well. "Deadly Silence: Canadian mafia murders' has some good stories in it covering both Montreal and southern Ontario. And I believe the Johnny Papalia book by Adrian Humphreys has some good info on the early days as well. Lots of info out there.

Vic Catroni was the boss of montreal and was very close with carmine galante in the 50s. the charts have him as a capo in the bonannos in the 50s. paul the fox volpe was a member of the maggadino family as was pops papalia. rocco perry went for a ride and was never seen again before my previous info. his wife they believe had a hand in it back during prohibition. I think her name was tess haha go figure. I have seen mob stories Canada they have good info on all these Canadian players. I cant find any on youtube outside of dominic racco of Toronto and frank catroni who did time in lewisberg with glante. it was said franks back up was in question when galante was hit in 79. he had a hitter who did 5 hits, got nailed and ratted. he wasn't Italian. im rambling and my memory is faltered due to late night drinks. real simard I think is the name of catronis driver and hitter.

Reviving a really dead thread but it seemed the best palce to ask the questrion.

Any of you guys know if theres any truth to the stuff outlined in this blog about former Ontario Finance Minister Greg Sorbara's father? The dude who built half oF Woodbridge.

http://morgeti.blogspot.ca/2008/07/counterfeit-sam-sorbara.html

Apparently SOrbara's dad was involved in passing counterfeit money in the 30s with a cousin of Rocco Perri, a man who associated with Tony Papalia's father and some dude suspected in bombings and murder?

Any other public sources where this stuff can be verified?

There appears to be a lot of 'associations' here...then again, maybe his dad was just a poor, misunderstood, misguided youth

"Apparently SOrbara's dad was involved in passing counterfeit money in the 30s with a cousin of Rocco Perri, a man who associated with Tony Papalia's father and some dude suspected in bombings and murder?"

Rocco Perri was a cousin of Matthew Perry and starred in a Mafia version of friends called "Friends of Ours."

King of the Bootleggers: Profile of Hamilton mob boss Rocco Perri http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profil...profile-of-hamilton-mob-boss-rocco-perri