Overnight fire in Old East Village deemed suspicious
A residential fire in Old East Village, which kept crews busy overnight, has been deemed suspicious by police.
Around 3 a.m. firefighters responded to the two-storey home on Dufferin Avenue near Quebec street.
According to London fire, the home was 'fully involved' and an aggressive attack was initiated, with multiple units on scene. Nearby residences were evacuated as a precaution.
The fire was declared out a few hours later but due to the extensive damage, one truck is staying at the scene to monitor for hotspots.
Dufferin Avenue is completely blocked between Ontario and Quebec streets.
A fire prevention officer is on the scene to determine the cause. There is no indication if anybody was home at the time of the blaze. No injuries have been reported and the cost of damage is unknown.
Police continue to investigate.
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CBC
23 minutes ago
- CBC
Canada's deportation of alleged Mafia boss hinges on foreign eavesdropping
A federal deportation appeal on Monday that will decide whether an alleged Mafia boss must return to his native Italy is raising questions about foreign interference and constitutional rights in Canada. At stake is the question of whether a foreign government should be able to arrange warrantless surveillance of a person on Canadian soil, and then use evidence obtained in a Canadian legal proceeding. Vincenzo "Jimmy" DeMaria was born in Siderno, Italy, but has resided in Canada for most of his life. Siderno is in the poor, southern region of Calabria — the toe on the boot of the Italian peninsula. The seaside town was home to a group of family clans of the Calabrian Mafia known as 'Ndrangheta that began to migrate to the Toronto area in the 1950s. The DeMaria family arrived in Canada in 1955 when Vincenzo DeMaria was just nine months old. Despite living in the country for all of his 71 years, he would never become a Canadian citizen. Both the Italian and Canadian governments declined to speak directly about the case. However, court filings provide a clearer picture of the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA)'s allegations against the alleged mob boss. 'Ndrangheta, a powerful Mafia in Canada The 'Ndrangheta surpassed the Sicilian Mafia to become Italy's most powerful organized crime group many years ago, and it has spread its operations across Europe and the world, most notably Canada. In Toronto the 'Ndrangheta has been targeted in some of the biggest police operations of recent years, such as Project Sindacato in 2019, which focused on its illegal gambling operations. Canadian police have identified the most prominent branch of the 'Ndrangheta operating in Canada as the "Siderno Group," sometimes referred to in Italy as the Society of Siderno, because of its origins in DeMaria's hometown. Members of the group have allegedly accumulated considerable wealth through drug-smuggling, loan-sharking and other illegal activities, and were even able to infiltrate Canadian banks. The Government of Canada has argued that DeMaria is a senior figure in that criminal underworld, which he denies. His lawyer Jessica Zita told CBC News that DeMaria is a property manager. "He owns a number of properties and he manages all of them. Previously he was in the financial services business," she said. Italian police, however, have described him as one of the most senior leaders of the 'Ndrangheta in Canada, and a member of the group's Camera di Controllo, the equivalent of the Sicilian Mafia's Commission. DeMaria has denied those allegations. A murder in Little Italy In 1981, DeMaria shot a fellow Italian immigrant seven times in Toronto's Little Italy neighbourhood, and received a second-degree murder conviction for which he served eight years in prison. Because of that conviction he was never able to obtain Canadian citizenship and, like all convicted murderers, DeMaria is on parole for life, making him subject to re-arrest at any time. DeMaria has spent much of his life fighting to remain in Canada. His original deportation order, resulting from his murder conviction, was quashed in 1996. He was arrested again in 2009 and 2013 for associating with organized crime figures in violation of his parole conditions, which bar him from contact with even his own brother. In April 2018, he was ordered deported again on grounds of organized criminality, and placed in detention in the Collins Bay Institution in Ontario, pending appeal, only to be released into house arrest in 2020 as the COVID-19 pandemic hit and he had his own health complications. A visit from the old country While he was in prison in 2019, a murder in Siderno triggered a string of events that would become central to his case. A high-ranking mafioso called Carmelo "Mino" Muià was ambushed, and his brother Vincenzo Muià set off on a quest to find out who did it. Police have suggested he may also have been seeking the permission of the 'Ndrangheta's governing body to take revenge. His journey brought him to Canada, where he visited his second cousin DeMaria in prison at Collins Bay. What Muià didn't know was that the Italian Carabinieri — equivalent to Canada's RCMP — had installed spyware that effectively turned his phone into a microphone that was always on. In order to record his conversations on Canadian soil, however, they needed the co-operation of Canadian police. The Italians asked York Regional Police (YRP) for assistance both in intercepting communications and in maintaining surveillance on Muià while he was in Canada. But a Canadian Crown lawyer who was asked to review the request argued it should not be granted. Jeffery Pearson sent a letter to police in March 2019 stating that that he had found an "insufficient basis" to authorize surveillance under Part VI of the Criminal Code. He said there were "no reasonable and probable grounds to believe that either Mr. Muià or [travelling companion] Mr. Gregoarci have committed, or are committing, an offence in Canada." 'Illegal' surveillance, lawyers argue DeMaria's lawyers argue in their petition that things should have stopped right there. "Despite Pearson's clear denunciation and without the required judicial authorization, YRP moved ahead with the investigation and Mr. Muià's conversations during that time were illegally intercepted." They say the Muià was not only bugged but also placed under physical surveillance, without seeking judicial authorization and ignoring the legal advice given by Pearson. If they are successful, it would not be the first time that over-aggressive surveillance by York Regional Police may have sabotaged a case against alleged 'Ndrangheta members. Prosecutions arising from the Project Sindacato investigation, announced with great fanfare in 2019, ultimately fell apart in 2021 because YRP investigators were accused of eavesdropping on privileged conversations between the accused and their attorneys. Precedent for more snooping? DeMaria's lawyers dispute CBSA's arguments that the recordings made on Muià's phone support its contention that DeMaria is involved in organized crime. Only transcripts have been provided to Canadian courts and those appear to include lengthy sections that are paraphrased rather than verbatim. They also dispute whether references to a "Jimmy" in the recordings are really even about their client. And DeMaria's defence has poured scorn on the use of a police informant, Carmine Guido, who at times professed ignorance about the inner workings of the 'Ndrangheta, and who also made hundreds of thousands of dollars selling drugs while working with police. But their main argument against the CBSA's effort to remove DeMaria is that it relies on illegal recordings made at the instigation of a foreign government without regard for Canadian laws and civil liberties. If the precedent is allowed to stand, Zita says, "what that's saying is any foreign government can listen to us." She argued that the admission of paraphrased discussions "that aren't authenticated, that aren't tested," would also set a dangerous precedent. CBSA says all laws followed While declining to discuss DeMaria's case specifically, CBSA spokesperson Rebecca Purdy told CBC News that officials follow the law. "CBSA has a legal obligation to remove all foreign nationals found to be inadmissible to Canada under the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act," she said. "There are multiple steps built into the process to ensure procedural fairness and the CBSA only actions a removal order once all legal avenues of recourse have been exhausted." Zita says it's not that CBSA broke the law, but rather that it's relying partly on evidence collected illegally by York Regional Police. That, she said, must not be allowed to stand. "[Officials could] find ways through other countries outside of our borders with lower standards for evidentiary rules, take whatever evidence they're able to get using our technology, without having to report to anyone about it, bring that evidence back into our country and rely on it without any sort of testing whatsoever," she said. "That's as good as having no evidence at all. And it is demonstrably unfair for there's no way to reply to that. That's teetering very close to being an authoritarian regime." The virtual hearing begins on Monday at the Immigration Appeal Division in Toronto. The first witness is expected to be an investigator of the Carabinieri unit that made the original request for surveillance of Muià in Canada.
CBC
23 minutes ago
- CBC
Why are so many federal inmates dying shortly before their release date?
Kendal Lee Campeau spent most of his life in and out of prison. The last time he went in, he never came out. He was serving a seven-year sentence for assault, escaping lawful custody and possession of illicit substances, among other charges. In 2021, less than two years from his statutory release date, the 31-year-old died of a methadone overdose. Campeau died at Pacific Institution's Regional Treatment Centre (RTC) in B.C., a specialized prison for inmates with mental health issues. Prior to this, he had been transferred from Saskatchewan Penitentiary's RTC to Kent Institution in Agassiz, B.C. "Kendal was a very wild child, he got into a lot of trouble with the law," Campeau's sister, Ashley Fontaine, recently told CBC News, while sitting on her plant-filled deck in Garson, Man. "All he ever said about his experience in jail is that you never want to go there." Campeau had a little more than a year and a half left on his determinate sentence before he would be eligible for release. It's part of a larger trend of inmates dying with little time left to serve. A "determinate sentence" means an offender has a fixed date of release, at which point, barring extenuating circumstances, they will be released on parole for the final third of their time. An indeterminate — or indefinite — sentence is awarded when the court finds the offender to be a "dangerous offender." This means the inmate will still be eligible for full parole after seven years, but if it isn't granted, their time in prison will continue indefinitely. A package released to CBC in April by the Correctional Service of Canada through a freedom of information request showed the leading cause of death for inmates serving determinate sentences between January 2019 and February 2025 was suicide. Overdoses came a close second. The data said 45 per cent of inmates who died by suicide on their timed sentence had already served more than three-quarters of it; 39 per cent had served more than half. Anxiety over release Of the total number of non-natural deaths — which includes not only suicides and overdoses but homicides and accidents — 72 per cent were inmates serving determinate sentences. Suicide made up 47 per cent of non-natural deaths for those serving indeterminate sentences. In other words, inmates with a fixed release date were dying more frequently than those who were inside indefinitely — and close to when they were due to get out. Four days after CBC received the package of data from the Correctional Service of Canada, CSC sent CBC an email saying it had been sent in error and asked, "If you could please kindly delete the version you received on April 4, it would be most appreciated." Attached to that email was a second version of the package. While the original contained no redactions, the new one was almost entirely redacted. CBC has decided to share the original findings anyway. Toronto defence lawyer Alison Craig says release dates can act as a catalyst for already extenuating circumstances. "Your release date comes, the door opens, they say, 'Goodbye, good luck,' and you're out there to fend for yourself with no help, no support, no nothing," she told CBC News. The original CSC data showed that 60 per cent of inmates who committed suicide during their timed sentences had been released and subsequently re-incarcerated in less than three months. "Many of the people that are sort of on a course of just cycling in and out of custody are people who don't have homes, they're unhoused, they don't have families, they struggle with addiction or mental health issues," Craig said. "They want to be productive members of society. Nobody wants to spend their life going in and out of jail. But they also need help … and they don't ever have it." 'You're just breaking down' Former inmate Richard Miller says the mental anguish of being incarcerated is often where the pot boils over. "Emotionally, it's very … disturbing. Your rights and your dignity is kind of stripped from you. A lot of times, people's mental health, you know, plays a big part in it," he said. "You're just breaking down that you're not worth anything." Miller was incarcerated on and off at multiple federal facilities in Ontario for aggravated assault and subsequent parole violations between 2012 and 2017. He thinks he was moved around because he was speaking out about treatment from officers. He said a lot of time people bottle up the things they're experiencing because they feel there won't be repercussions for those who have wronged them on the inside. This creates a mindset of demoralization. "A lot of times guys are in there for a long time. They just give up. 'What am I going out to? I don't have any family.' [They] might have been here 26 years. You know, their family and their loved ones are all gone," Miller said. In some instances, the anguish comes from feeling a lack of safety, which was the case with Kendal Lee Campeau. According to his sister, Campeau had long struggled with mental health and managing his well-being, which was only exacerbated by his experience in prison. Fontaine remembers when Campeau first told her he was being abused in prison. She was on her way to Banff, Alta., for work in September 2019. "I took a call on my headphones while I was driving, and I was trying not to cry because of the things he was sharing with me over the phone," she said. When she later had a moment to process it, she was overwhelmed. "I just curled up into the fetal position. Those kinds of things that you just don't hear. I knew his mental health was deteriorating." According to Campeau, two correctional officers came to his cell asking him to mop his room. He initially refused, at which point he said the officers urinated in the bucket and proceeded to kick it over. From there, a physical altercation ensued, which Campeau had initiated in retaliation. Campeau told his sister the officers then rushed him, restrained him and raped him using the mop handle. He tried to take his own life shortly thereafter. In a statement to CBC, Correctional Service Canada said "CSC manages a complex and diverse inmate population which has a direct impact on the safety and security of institutions… Our staff are trained to handle tough situations safely and professionally, with the goal of avoiding harm to anyone." 'I do not trust a person in a uniform' Documents obtained by CBC News show Campeau had at one point gone so far as to file his own freedom of information request trying to obtain proof to corroborate an assault he claimed to have experienced. He also filed multiple grievances, writing things like "I am scared and living in fear for my own personal safety, I have self harmed as a result," and "I wet the bed and pace more than usual. I do not trust a person in a uniform" and "I have attempted to discuss my concerns with the [security intelligence officer] department and several correctional managers." When Campeau died on Nov. 14, 2021, of an overdose, it was his second one of the day. In their statement, CSC said, "Inmates are screened for suicide risk when they arrive and throughout their time in custody. Staff who work closely with inmates are trained to respond quickly to self-harming behaviour or to signs of suicide ideation." After a death in custody, an investigation is mandatory. The investigation report on Campeau's death cites 25 compliance issues. Among them is the fact that upon his arrival at Kent Institution, a proper risk assessment for suicide and security was not completed, despite the fact that Campeau had a history of suicidal ideation and "self-injurious behaviour." Evidence in his cell upon his death was also "not preserved and therefore not tested." The report said the two correctional officers conducting the search "discovered a burned piece of tinfoil with what appeared to be remnants of illicit substances on it. Unfortunately, the suspected contraband was inadvertently disposed of in the toilet." Fontaine isn't sure her brother's overdose was an accident. "I go back and forth with it … I believe something happened to him, but I don't know if it happened at the hands of the guards or inmates or both." She says her brother told her at one point that the officers gave him a razor blade and told him to kill himself. Records indicate he was found in the shower with large cuts on his arms and leg around this time. "Kendal spent a lot of time locked up. He mentioned to me during phone calls that he just wanted all of it to end." Lack of support Craig said that one problem is that there aren't enough effective programs to help inmates transition to parole release. "They focus on … your risk factors and how to avoid stressors and that sort of thing to avoid coming back," she said. "But they don't help you plan the practicality of release: where you're going to live, who you're going to live with, how you're going to earn a living, those sorts of things." Today, Fontaine wishes she could have just one more phone call with her brother. "Sometimes I just wish he could call me," she said. "The only thing I have left is his voicemail … when I'm struggling sometimes I'll listen to that voicemail, and it's not always positive, but there's some humour in there that makes me laugh."
CBC
23 minutes ago
- CBC
How app upgrades are helping Toronto police do more bail compliance checks
Social Sharing There's an app for that — even to help monitor people on bail in Ontario. And it's getting some upgrades, courtesy of a $2.4-million provincial grant, finalized last year. Back in 2019, Toronto police created a bail compliance dashboard, a mobile and desktop app, to give officers one spot to review bail conditions, surety information and the address of those out on bail for firearms-related charges before checking in on them. Earlier this year, Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) took over management of the app to expand it across the province. With three years of provincial funding, which began in 2023 and wraps next March, Toronto police have improved their systems so the dashboard receives court information faster and on more individuals, allowing officers to do more compliance checks. They can also now start monitoring people on the app facing other serious charges, like carjackings, home invasions and human trafficking. The work, done in partnership with Durham Regional Police, is called Project Aware. "We've expanded year over year," said Craig Lawrie, project lead from the Toronto police's information management unit. "We're getting court data faster, it's more accurate, and we're making sure that we're reducing administrative burdens where we can, so frontline officers have more time for bail compliance." Number of checks up 200% Last year, Toronto police completed 200 per cent more bail compliance checks compared to when the dashboard was first created six years ago. During Project Aware, officers were able to complete 2,718 more checks in 2024 than they did in 2023. "In the past, officers would have to use very manual-type methods like spreadsheets or mug shots on a wall," said Det. Sgt. Andrew Steinwall, who works with the bail enforcement unit. "This takes us into modern times." Steinwall says officers review the app before completing a compliance check, which usually starts with going to the home of a person out on bail for a serious offence to make sure they're following their conditions. What happens after depends on what they find. There are now more than 1,200 people facing charges from TPS with their information in the dashboard. The majority (714) are for firearms offences, alongside roughly 500 individuals being monitored for the other serious charges the service has added. More enforcement better than bail reform: lawyer Alison Craig, a Toronto-based criminal defence lawyer, thinks this a good investment. "I've long said the solution is more compliance checks and enforcement, rather than change in the bail laws and bail reform," she said. "I hope if the system is proven effective, it will assist perhaps in more people getting bail, because our jails are overcrowded." Most of Ontario's jails were over capacity in 2023, according to a Canadian Press investigation from last year. And people held in custody waiting for a court date or trial made up 80 per cent of that population in 2022-23, the most recent year for which data is available from Statistics Canada. "One of the grounds that has to be considered in bail is the public perception," said Craig. "If the public is aware that bail compliance is being taken seriously and money is being invested in that, then perhaps it will assist in fewer people being detained pending trial, because more people can be safely released on bail knowing that there will be compliance checks." Funding for the OPP's province-wide expansion of the app and these upgrades stem from $112 million in spending the Ontario government earmarked for strengthening bail enforcement in April 2023. 16 Ontario police services using app There are now 16 police services in Ontario using the Provincial Bail Compliance Dashboard, with another service set to start this week, according to the OPP. All of the police services in the Great Toronto Area are on it, and an OPP spokesperson confirmed it's working with the remaining police services in the province to get their data on it, as well. All together, the app is monitoring more than 2,730 people on bail, compared to about 1,650 nearly two years ago, Lawrie told CBC Toronto. "We've been able to get a better sense of the broader picture of who's on bail, and for what, through this project," he said. CBC Toronto obtained a copy of TPS's funding application and other related records for this provincial bail enforcement grant through a freedom-of-information request. The application included baseline numbers and targets for various stats aimed at reducing the rate of bail violations and recidivism, and improving the tracking of "high-risk" individuals on bail. Toronto police wrote in the application that in 2023, 2.9 per cent of those they monitored for bail compliance had re-offended. But they said they didn't know how many people under community supervision had been found in violation of their bail conditions overall nor how many of them had been re-admitted to custody while on bail. In their application, they said they didn't have the "technology and/or processes" to track those statistics. But Lawrie says that's also changing. "We've developed processes," he said. "We're hopeful, as it mentioned in the grant, by the end that we are able to have a better sense of that number, and then we can scale that to other agencies, as well." Another goal listed was to increase the total number of people monitored by the dashboard to 2,900 by the end of March 2026. At the moment, they're just under 200 people shy of that target. But Lawrie says their focus is quality over quantity. "We need to make sure that we have the capabilities to ensure that what we have in front of the officers doing the checks is always up-to-date and accurate," he said. "Until that can be assured, then we can't expand."
