mtl mafia boss linked to city’s garbage cans?

This post was written by MJ on 3rd Feb, 2003
Ah, the days of hot-and-cold running show girls and the Marseilles connection are long gone, eh Vito?
Vito Rizzuto, the reputed boss of the city’s Sicilian Mafia, is driving a late-model car owned by an advertising firm with substantial business with the city of Montreal, La Presse is reporting.

May 30 last year, Rizzuto was pulled over by the cops in downtown Montreal. They decided he was in no condition to drive and took him to a police station. His car, a blue 2001 Jeep Cherokee, is registered to Salvatore Oliveti, a former local TV star in Toronto, and is being rented by Michele Strizzi, head of OMG Quebec. OMG has installed over 3,000 ad-covered garbage cans in Ottawa, Toronto and Montreal in deals with those municipalities.

When La Presse called OMG HQ in TO to check their story, a receptionist said “I don’t think Mr Rizzuto is in today.” When OMG higher-ups got involved, they suddenly had no idea who Mr Rizzuto is.

In Other news

This won’t hush any of the whispering
Montreal’s executive committee has met in a closed-door session to discuss the city’s possible link to the reputed head of the Italian mafia, La Presse is reporting.

Last week, the newspaper revealed that Vito Rizzuto, alleged crime boss, has been driving a late-model Jeep Cherokee owned by OMG Media Group of Toronto. That fact came to light after Mr Rizzuto was pulled over for impaired driving last year; when La Presse called OMG’s Toronto HQ, the receptionist said Mr Rizzuto “wasn’t in” that day.

Ho, ho.
Last year, OMG Media signed a deal with the city to install garbage cans throughout downtown. They paid the city for the rights and will keep the cash they generate from selling ads. So far, they’ve installed 350 units with another 2,000 on the way. According to La Presse, almost all of the ads have been sold to Cinema Guzzo, the well-known local chain of megaplexes.

According to a “well-informed source” in the meeting, the executive committee split over what to do about the apparent problem. Noushig Eloyan — in charge of public works — noted city bureaucrats were favourably disposed to the deal. “According to our sources,” reported La Presse, “exec comittee members Gerry Weiner and Ivon Le Duc strongly supported OMG’s candidacy.” (Mr Weiner is no stranger to scandal; in 1999 he was cleared by the SQ of wrongdoing after failing to disclose he owned land that would benefit from a zoning change.)

Mayor Gerald Tremblay commented on the matter for the first time yesterday, typically speaking lots but saying little: “What is important is that our administration has integrity, is transparent, and that we shine a light on this dossier and whatever decision we take.”