Ontario’s towing industry to be overhauled

Newly created task force aims to increase safety, standards and penalties

Ontario is overhauling the GTA’s violence-plagued towing industry and assembling a task force, the provincial government announced Monday.

The province-led task force will help develop a regulatory model that will “increase safety aaand enforcement, clarify pro- tections for consumers, improve industry standards and consider tougher penalties for vvviolators,” according to the gov- ernment’s news release.

Over the past two years, the industry has seen at least four murders, numerous arsons, brazen shootings and fraud across Greater Toronto.

The towing task force will work with police, public safety

experts, and municipal and industry partners, Premier Doug Ford said, calling the violence “totally unacceptable.” “To all the bad actors out there, my message is clear: The party’s over,” Ford said Monday at his daily briefing. “We’re coming for you, we’ll catch you, and we will lock you up.” York police said earlier this month that four distinct criminal organizations had been fighting over turf in a complex ff fraud ecosystem that involves f kickbacks and insurance fraud kk at auto centres, physiotherapy aa clinics, car rentals, body shops and more. Ford said the task force’s proposals would be aimed at “a small group of bad apples out there causing trouble, lighting tt trucks on fire, smashing windows and getting mixed up in organized crime.” Transportation Minister Caroline Mulroney said her min

istry and the solicitor general will lead the task force, which ww has met twice already. Representatives from four other ministries, as well as the Ontario Provincial Police, will also be involved, Mulroney said. Tow truck licensing is currently regulated at the municipal level. But only about 20 of the province’s 444 municipalities have a system in place, Teresa Di Fel- ss ice, assistant vice-president of government and community relations at the Canadian Automobile Association (CAA), told the Star earlier this month. Di Felice said Monday in a statement that the CAA “would like to see a tow truck licensing system, clearer rules around consumer protection and the establishment of a body to oversee the industry.” CAA is also advocating for a regulation that would “implement criminal background checks, discourage

racing to accident scenes, charging consumers sky-high towing bills and fraud,” reads her statement. Mulroney said on Monday that the provincial government was considering a provincial li- ww censing scheme. “We are looking at all options. We want to strengthen provin- WW cial oversight of the towing industry. It’s something that we have heard from stakeholders on this issue, and that includes provincial licensing. The task force will provide recommendations and we’ll continue to consult with industry,” said Mulroney. In May, as part of a joint-forces operation called Project Platinum, police arrested 20 people across southern Ontario, seizing guns, cash and drugs in a project targeting organized crime violence in the GTA tow truck industry. York Region police seized 11

tow trucks, a machine gun, 16 handguns, 13 shotguns, nine rifles, a sawed-off shotgun and brass knuckles, among other weapons. Police also announced the seizure of five kilograms of fentanyl, 1.5 kilograms of cocaine, 1.25 kilograms of crystal meth, 1.5 kilograms of cannabis and more than $500,000 in cash. The announcement comes one week after 11 people were arrested, including a veteran Toronto police officer, for the TT alleged theft of an encrypted a police radio, among other charges. Police allege he participated in the theft of encrypted police radios that fell into the hands of towing companies, allowing tow truck operators to monitor police activity and learn about accidents before their competitors. With files from Peter Edwards, Robert Benzie and Jacob Lorinc