愛污传媒

Canada

    • Threats, slashed tires: How cities are trying to rein in clothing donation bin chaos

    Share

    In the final part of a four-part investigation into the seedy underbelly of the lucrative clothing donation bin industry, CTV W5 correspondent Jon Woodward and producer Joseph Loiero look at how some cities are trying to rein in the chaos.

    One Ontario city staff member faced threats and even had her tires slashed while leading a crackdown on unlicensed clothing bins that may be connected to organized criminals, a former deputy mayor told W5.

    But the City of Markham didn't back down, and physically removed many of what it called "rogue" clothing donation bins that were popping up unasked for on city property and shopping plazas, said former Markham deputy mayor Jack Heath.

    "You shouldn't let people who are making threats, criminal threats, to stop the kinds of initiatives that make for a better city," Heath said in an interview.

    It's a call to action that Heath is hoping other cities follow amid a W5 investigation into what's behind some clothing donation bin operations.

    Trackers sewn into clothing and placed into bins that promised direct charity for local needy people ended up in commercial operations and even 7,400 kilometres away in the North African country of Tunisia.

    W5 placed a jacket with a concealed GPS tracker inside this bin. The jacket ended up 7,400 kilometres away in Tunisia, Africa (January 2024 / W5 Joseph Loiero)

    One tracker also showed items placed in a bin that appeared to belong to a charity called the Canadian Community Support Foundation but was headed to a local thrift store to be sold.

    That charity has long since had its status revoked after an audit showed it provided an "undue private benefit" worth $29,200 to a numbered company, a letter from the Canada Revenue Agency showed.

    And documents obtained by W5 show Toronto-area police linked assaults, stabbings and arsons to a turf war between rival organized crime groups looking to carve out a piece of the multimillion-dollar used clothing market.

    Over in Toronto, a freedom of information request filed by W5 shows that in the last four years, almost one in five city licences bear the names of people who have faced criminal charges or are family members of convicted criminals.

    One of those people was Giuseppe Siggia, who has drug trafficking and conspiracy to distribute cocaine convictions from the 1980s and 1990s. He also was charged in 2013 for smashing in the car windows of a bin industry competitor and later entered into a peace bond.

    His wife, Milda Romanoff, was a director of the Canadian Community Support Foundation.

    Siggia himself told W5 over the phone that he believes other people are using the bins of the Canadian Community Support Foundation, and he and his wife are no longer involved.

    "No, I'm not involved in the bin business for years and years," he said.

    When told his family names were on City of Toronto licences, he said, "I don't know why you keep goddamn insisting I'm still in the business. 鈥 listen, I don't want to talk to you. Call the police and do what the f*** you want to. You have a good day," and hung up.

    The presence of names connected to Siggia on the City of Toronto's licensed bin system is a sign that something's wrong, said Kate Bahnen of Charity Intelligence.

    "I don't know how the City of Toronto has permitted this without doing its due diligence," Bahnen said.

    Toronto Coun. Anthony Perruzza says he'll look into whether the city needs to do more.

    "I wasn't aware that we are granting actual licences to people that are in a for-profit activity and allowing people to sort of, you know, pretend to be a charity and, you know, to be charitable in some way. And if that's what we're doing, we should review that," he said.

    W5 looked into the company whose name was on the bin where we interviewed Perruzza. We found that a 2014 York Regional Police report suggests two of the company's directors were part of an "enforcement crew" hired to take over other competitor's bins.

    They were present one evening in 2013 when a confrontation broke out in an Orangeville parking lot and two other men had their car windows smashed in with baseball bats.

    Further research found the brother of one of the directors was charged for robbing a bank in Mississauga in 2013. One of the directors himself was also charged with possession of stolen property in Hamilton. The charges were withdrawn last year.

    Meanwhile, the City of Markham has removed most of its rogue bins 鈥 about 200 in the past five years. Its licensed bins can be spotted by the city logo on them.

    Heath says his city stood tall against the threats and cleaned up the industry.

    "The most important [thing] is to go ahead and do it. You can do it," he said, a call he hopes other cities answer.

    For tips on donation bins or any other story, please email Jon Woodward or call 416 859 8617

    A clothing bin in Toronto. City of Toronto Coun. Jack Perruzza says this bin has been placed on school property without permission (September 2024 / W5 Kirk Neff)

    CTVNews.ca Top Stories

    The Maritime Sikh Society says the body of a young employee who died at a Walmart in Halifax last weekend was found by her mother.

    Four people are dead and another is in hospital after a Tesla driving through downtown Toronto at a high rate of speed crashed into a guardrail and struck a concrete pillar on Lake Shore Boulevard.

    Montreal police say four teenagers suffered stab wounds after an altercation near John F. Kennedy High School in the city's Villeray鈥擲aint-Michel鈥擯arc-Extension borough on Thursday.

    • With the final results of the B.C. election still pending, speculation is rampant about what concessions the Greens might ask for to prop up a potential NDP minority 鈥 and it could be a common philosophy about health care that ultimately helps forge an alliance.

    • Crews removed approximately 50 tonnes of "fatbergs" from the sewer system in Richmond, B.C., earlier this month, according to Metro Vancouver.

    • The Canadian government's plan to reduce the number of immigrants entering the country could impact B.C.'s housing affordability.

    • U.S. authorities earlier this year knew the whereabouts of a former Canadian Olympian who is now on the run for allegedly running a transnational drug trafficking ring and orchestrating murders in Ontario, according to Ontario court documents.

    • Four people are dead and another is in hospital after a Tesla driving through downtown Toronto at a high rate of speed crashed into a guardrail and struck a concrete pillar on Lake Shore Boulevard.

    • It's a dream for many Canadians, trying to save up enough money for a down payment on their very first home. That was also the dream for the Esmeralda family, a family of five with two dogs who currently live in a Scarborough apartment building.

    • Alberta's government and meat producers worry a bill about preventing and preparing for future pandemics could be harmful to the agriculture industry.

    • A Calgary business owner is frustrated and looking for answers after Google removed his business' profile without warning, resulting in a loss of bookings and damage to his company鈥檚 reputation.

    • The Carolina Hurricanes handed the Calgary Flames their first loss in regulation this season with Thursday's 4-2 victory at the Saddledome.

    • NEW THIS MORNING

      NEW THIS MORNING

      CTVNewsOttawa.ca looks at things to do in Ottawa and eastern Ontario this weekend.

    • The Ottawa Police Service has identified the woman who was stabbed to death at Paul Landry Park on Uplands Drive Thursday morning.

    • A new organization that aims to help people struggling with addiction officially launched in Ottawa Thursday, named after the late Matthew Perry.

    • Montreal police say four teenagers suffered stab wounds after an altercation near John F. Kennedy High School in the city's Villeray鈥擲aint-Michel鈥擯arc-Extension borough on Thursday.

    • October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month and on Thursday the Quebec Breast Cancer Foundation held a brunch in downtown Montreal featuring a special guest: Matthew Knowles.

    • A new tree-planting pilot project in Plateau-Mont-Royal is drawing criticism for eliminating parking spaces in a borough already facing limited parking, as well as for its cost.

    • Some Edmonton public school support staff walked off the job Thursday morning, after the province stepped in on Wednesday to prevent strike action.

    • The man who cut up the body of his grandson's mother is going to prison after the Alberta Court of Appeal overturned his previous sentence.

    • The City of Edmonton says staying proactive has helped keep its 90,000 elm trees relatively untouched by the devastating Dutch elm disease (DED).

    • The Maritime Sikh Society says the body of a young employee who died at a Walmart in Halifax last weekend was found by her mother.

    • WorkSafeNB is investigating after a man was killed in a workplace incident at a tire shop in Moncton, N.B., last week.

    • The Nova Scotia Liberals are accusing former member Fred Tilley of accessing party files one day before he crossed the aisle to join the Progressive Conservatives.

    • The Manitoba man who brutally murdered his partner and two young children stood in court, voice wavering, and apologized for his actions that ended the lives of three people he said he loved very much.

    • A pair of councillors in the RM of Springfield plan on bringing forward a motion to opt out of Plan 20-50 when they are first able to.

    • A Winnipeg teenager has been charged with multiple offences after a stolen car crashed in St. Boniface Thursday morning.

    • After two days of advance polls, more than 119,000 people have already cast a ballot in-person for the 2024 Saskatchewan election.

    • A man is dead and two other people were injured in a two vehicle collision north of Regina on Wednesday evening.

    • Regina police says a reward of up to $50,000 is available for information that leads to the arrest of Daniel 'Juma' Drie Atem, who officers say is responsible for a murder that occurred downtown in the summer of 2023.

    • Fire crews responded to a house fire in St. Clements Thursday night.

    • Erick Buhr, the man on trial for second-degree murder in the death of his grandmother Viola Erb, took the stand Thursday to testify in his own defense.

    • One Ontario couple is taking a different approach to growing their family.

    • The Saskatchewan RCMP is calling off its dangerous persons alert after two people were arrested in the Tobin Lake area Thursday afternoon.

    • A former tire recycling company in Saskatoon is announcing additional layoffs months after a dispute with the provincial government.

    • Saskatoon police are investigating a series of suspicious fires that were lit in the Mayfair neighbourhood on Thursday morning.

    • The Maritime Sikh Society says the body of a young employee who died at a Walmart in Halifax last weekend was found by her mother.

    • The Gathering Place board chair Peter Gregory is vowing to fight to keep the doors to the Cassells Street soup kitchen open after the District of Nipissing Social Services Administration Board denied their six-figure funding request.

    • Greater Sudbury Police have released a photo of a person they say escaped by driving their motor vehicle on a sidewalk past pedestrians and then the wrong way down a one-way street.

    • The London Health Sciences Centre Research Institute (LHSCRI) has released findings on their study looking into mood and anxiety disorders in young adults.

    • When she took the stand at a London courthouse on Thursday, 21-year-old Kaiah Edmonds testified that she arrived at the bush party off of Pack Road in a vehicle driven by one of the accused - Carlos Guerra Guerra.

    • Hundreds of students got a taste of the numerous jobs available in Ontario鈥檚 agriculture industry earlier this month in Listowel.

    • The cost of living is increasing, from groceries to gas, prices are consistently going up, and now there鈥檚 controversy surrounding paying for parking at hospitals.

    • A haunted house in the Ontario Town of Innisfil is causing a real scare for some people a week before Halloween.

    • Emergency crews were called to attend a fire that broke out in a grassy area in Barrie on Thursday morning.

    • A former Lakeshore man is facing a 10-year prison sentence after he was found guilty on drug charges.

    • Speeding along Walker Road is a concern for residents who live, work and drive through the major Windsor artery, but according to one city councillor, implementing traffic calming measures is not a feasible solution.

    • The Chatham-Kent Police Service is investigating an indecent act report it received.

    • As the RCMP prepare to strap cameras to the chests of front-line police officers, an expert warns they might not work 鈥 at least, not in the way some had hoped.

    • Mounties on Vancouver Island are investigating after a set of popular driftwood sculptures was reportedly stolen last week.

    • Voting officials say recounts in two ridings that could determine the outcome of British Columbia's election won't start until Sunday afternoon 鈥 and it won't be until Monday before the makeup of the legislature is finalized.

    • Dave Lindsey began growing giant pumpkins to bring a bit of magic to his grandkids' Halloween.

    • A U.S. District Court judge in Montana has sentenced a 27-year-old man from Kelowna, B.C., to 18 months in prison for using fake names to buy guns with the aim of selling them in Canada.

    • Nearly two years after a man was stabbed to death in downtown Kelowna, RCMP have made an arrest in the case.

    • The Municipality of Crowsnest Pass deserves a better shot at becoming a significant tourism hub than the UCP government is giving it, an NDP shadow minister said as the southeastern Alberta community gears up for a coal mining plebiscite.

    • A three-game road trip across the prairies got off on a sour note Wednesday night as the Medicine Hat Tigers defeated the Calgary Hitmen 4-2.

    • A town in southern Alberta will be one of the first to let golf carts be driven on select roads as part of a provincial pilot program.

    • A critical piece of the Sault鈥檚 homeless outreach strategy is almost ready to hit the road.

    • Police seized drugs, $70,000 and a large gold chain in a drug trafficking bust earlier this month in Thunder Bay.

    • An annual event held in Sault Ste. Marie is back for the 29th year to ensure local kids get the winter clothing they need as the temperature dips.

    N.L.

    Local Spotlight

    A new resident at a Manitoba animal rescue has waddled her way into people's hearts.

    Hundreds of people ran to the music of German composer and pianist Beethoven Wednesday night in a unique race in Halifax.

    He is a familiar face to residents of a neighbourhood just west of Roncesvalles Avenue.

    A meteor lit up our region's sky last night 鈥 with a large fireball shooting across the horizon over Lake Erie at around 7:00 p.m.

    Residents of Ottawa's Rideauview neighbourhood say an aggressive wild turkey has become a problem.

    A man who lost his life while trying to rescue people from floodwaters, and a 13-year-old boy who saved his family from a dog attack, are among the Nova Scotians who received a medal for bravery Tuesday.

    A newly minted Winnipegger is hoping a world record attempt will help bring awareness for the need for more pump track facilities in the city.

    A Springfield, Ont. man is being hailed a 'hero' after running into his burning home to save his two infant children.

    Hortense Anglin was the oldest graduate to make her way across the platform at York University's Fall Convocation ceremony this week. At the age of 87, she graduated with an Honours degree in Religious Studies.

    Politics

    Health

    Sci-Tech

    Entertainment

    Business

    Lifestyle

    • A Toronto man who only recently checked a Lotto 6/49 lottery ticket he bought back in June is now $2.5 million richer.

    • A new resident at a Manitoba animal rescue has waddled her way into people's hearts.

    Sports

    Autos

    Shopping Trends

    The Shopping Trends team is independent of the journalists at 愛污传媒. We may earn a commission when you use our links to shop.聽Read about us.

    Stay Connected
    Follow 愛污传媒