Besides French, how prevalent are the Italians, and Irish, and what other groups are there (crime, construction)

[NJ Brazen_3133]

Besides French descendants/Quebecers, how prevalent are the Italians, and Irish? What other groups are there?

So I am big fan of organized crime. I started that thread asking about an ongoing turf war/Civil war involving the Mafia. Well, you cant really have an ethnic mafia unless there is a large number of that ethnicity present. Further research, and I find there is/was sort of an Irish/Anglo Mob called the West End Gang.

What are other groups present in Montreal in large numbers? How do all these groups compare to native Quebecers in terms of numbers? Do they mostly speak french or english?

And of course ethnic groups usually have their stereotypical occupations. In NYC Italians do construction, Irish are cops, and bartenders, and firemen. What are they for Quebecers, Anglos, Italians etc, etc for all the groups?

Also which gang controlled what? I have read Irish controlled the ports, but I have also read the Italians moved lots of cocaine through Montreal ports.

[Acajack]

AFAIK Irish organized crime in Montreal is all but dead.

The two main groups are the Italian mafia and the Hells Angels (mostly comprised of French Canadians).

The Italian mafia in Montreal is very trilingual and operates in Italian, French and English. The Hells Angels in Quebec operate mostly in French though most of their members also know some English.

[Acajack]

In terms of occupational stereotypes it's a bit different of course.

Irish cops are not a big thing though some Irish Montrealers are cops - they all speak French of course.

Italians in addition to be associated with the mafia are seen as big players in the construction industry.

Greeks operate a lot of restaurants, and not necessarily just Greek ones - Italian ones among others.

Haitians are stereotyped as taxi drivers.

WASPy anglos are simply stereotyped as being rich. No single occupation stands out. OK, maybe "business".

[Acajack]

Québécois francophones (French Canadians) were once dismissed as hewers of wood and drawers of water (porteurs d'eau) but that's long gone.

[Acajack]

Jewish Montrealers (mostly Ashkenazi anglo) were long associated with the garment and retail clothing industry.

[NJ Brazen_3133]

I am watching Bad Blood right now on Netflix. Its a show about the Montreal Gangs. It states the Irish did control the docks.

Come to think of it, I believe the Irish Westies also controlled the docks of NYC. How does a group like that gain control over something like that? I may have ask in the True Crime Subforum.

Also what are the percentages of various groups populations compared to each other?

[UrbanLuis]

I lived in the St Michel area of Mtl for a while. There are a lot of Italians around there. You see the Italian flag in a lot of business windows. There were probably more Italians in that area before. I went to St Pius school, the same school Vito Rizzuto went to for high school. Most Italian business I went into you would hear them speaking English. St michel is a working class area and there are now many Hispanics and Haitians in that area. There was a Haitian gang in that area (there still might be) called "Crack down posse". The Haitian gangs have made quite a name for themselves since the 90s. Mainly for drugs and prostitution rings. Not as big as the mob or the hells angels but they are getting up there.

I have heard rumors of the Jewish mob but I haven't really seen much about them in the news. I know of a Jewish guy that was gunned down in broad day light around the corner from where I used to live. He owed the wrong people a lot of money.

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/man-g...urant-1.247313

Here is an article about the guy that did the hit, you might find it interesting.

https://www.pressreader.com/canada/m...81590941488377

[MarisaMay]

When did the bulk of the Italians arrive in Canada? Here in Oz it was after WW2 and the bulk of the people who still speak Italian and retain some of the culture would be over eighty in age.

[Acajack]

Luis is right about Haitian gangs. But they are bit players compared to the mafia and bikers.

I know of a gang called Les Bo Gars.

There are also Anglo West Indian gangs.

[Acajack]

Originally Posted by MarisaMay

When did the bulk of the Italians arrive in Canada? Here in Oz it was after WW2 and the bulk of the people who still speak Italian and retain some of the culture would be over eighty in age.

They came in appreciable numbers both before and after WW2. It levelled off considerably in the 60s.

In Montréal at least many younger people can still speak Italian.