October 21, 2008 Tuesday
CTV NEWSNET
MIKE DUFFY LIVE
Biker Wars in Quebec?
MIKE DUFFY: Julian Sher is an investigative journalist. He joins
us now from Montreal. He's written about all kinds of important
topics in his career, one of which is the bikers and what's been
going on. Julian, what do you think is happening there? What happened
on the weekend?
JULIAN SHER (Author and Investigative Journalist): Well it's
been, you know, there hasn't been this much interest in the Hell's
Angels in Quebec since the Julie Couillard bomb exploded in the
headlines here. This was a different kind of explosion.
DUFFY: Different kind of casualties. Political casualties.
SHER: Political casualties, and that was also to some degree
about a Hell's Angels past. This is very much about the Hell's
Angels present and future. Just about an hour ago the Public Security
Minister here in Quebec was on the TV saying that the police are
on alert. The police have set up a 1-800-number. You know I think
the gravity of the attack shocked even veteran biker watchers
like me because it's one thing for somebody to go and get into
a bar fight with a Hell's Angels member, even that would take
a lot of guts, but to attack a fortress, probably the most famous
bunker in Canada. This is where the Hell's Angels started in Canada.
This is where, when they moved into Ontario and 200 members were
patched over, 200 people from Ontario came to get their colours,
their full patch colours to become members of the Hell's Angels,
they went to the Mecca of Sorrel. So to attack this fortress and
burn it to the ground was a stupendous act. So in that sense I
think people were shocked.
DUFFY: Are you making any bets on who actually did it? There's
some suggestion it might have been the mafia who are tired of
the bikers cutting into their territory. What do you think is
behind it?
SHER: You know, we don't know. I think one thing, the only two
people who know who did it were the people who did it and the
Hell's Angels. I'm pretty sure the Hell's Angels know who their
enemies are, and particularly their enemies in Sorrel. It's not
a style of the mafia. Also, to a large degree, the mafia and the
Hell's Angels have long been partners. It basically boils down
to two possibilities. Could it be a major rival gang like the
Banditos? The Banditos were pretty much wiped out in Ontario.
They massacred themselves. They have a foothold in Winnipeg. But
they've long fought the Hell's Angels around the world and here
in Canada. If it is group like the Banditos or another outside
group, then, yes, this is a dangerous situation. Yet the evidence
doesn't point that way, partly because the Hell's Angels have
a monopoly in Quebec and in most of Canada. They are number one.
They are the main outlaw motorcycle gang, and few gangs will really
go up against them.
DUFFY: Remind...go ahead.
SHER: I think more likely, and the speculation is, is that it's
a group of individuals, maybe a small gang that has some obviously
big beef with the Hell's Angels. The key question is, we know
the target was in Sorrel, the question is were the targetters,
were the people who did this attack, are they limited to Sorrel?
If that's the case, then the biker war or the follow-up from this
will be limited to Sorrel. It won't spread. If, however, the individuals
who did this in any way are tied to any groups that exist outside
Sorrel, then things could get nasty.
DUFFY: Finally, just a reminder, the bikers aren't just guys
out for a weekend on their Harleys. They're in every aspect of
organized crime you can think of - drugs, prostitution, gambling,
extortion.
SHER: Absolutely. And I think, you know, the biggest thing about
this attack is that it obviously woke up the neighbours and woke
up the Hell's Angels, but I hope in many way it helped wake up
the Quebecers and even people in the rest of the country. Look,
there was this sense that after "Mom" Boucher, Maurice
"Mom" Boucher, probably the most notorious leader, went
to jail in 2001, that kind of the bikers were no longer a problem.
The problem is that he's not the John Gotti, he's not the godfather,
that's not the way the Hell's Angels operate. The fact that several
top leaders were put away, that's all fine and well, but it doesn't
affect the other cells that basically operate independently. In
the next couple of months, major biker trials are coming up in
Ontario dealing with major gang conspiracy trials. In Manitoba,
the president of the bikers there was sent away on cocaine charges.
In British Columbia, huge gang conspiracy trials are heading up.
So this was kind of a rude awakening I think so that Canadians
realize, hey, you know, you have these guys in your neighbourhood.
Sooner or later, whenever there's a Hell's Angels near you there's
going to be violence, there's going to be explosions, and there's
going to be blood.
DUFFY: Julian Sher, the man who knows it. Thanks very much for
joining us. We'll keep in touch as the next few months evolve.
Appreciate your time today.
SHER: Thanks, Mike.
