Instead of making a thread about my Canada question I'll just post it here. Was Canada always considered a more violent place for the mob or is this something more recent? These last years saw plenty of murders. Was it like that in previous decades as well?
I would say it's relatively recent. I just think Canada (and Montreal in particular) stands out because it's happening right now... But if you look at the grand scheme of organized crime and the inevitable violence it results in... Nah... It's probably not really any better or worse than anywhere else when there's friction in the OC world.
Maybe you could argue that mafioso in Canada tend towards violence as a convenient method for dealing with issues more often because it lacks the stringent organized crime laws found elsewhere. But, I think that would be a hard one to prove as a direct cause/effect (although I'm sure it is a significant factor).
No, I think it's just a time and a place thing. It'll blow over eventually. Things will flare up elsewhere. Certainly the recent violence in Canada's italian OC is nowhere near the levels of Italy in the 80's and 90's.
I think the problem for Canadians is that there are far fewer mafia groups nation-wide, they're mostly in two provinces, and thus there is very little national impetus to deal with the issue, and, I have noticed an unfortunate trend with quebecs provincial police to basically sit on their hands until their is a big public demand to put these guys behind bars (exactly how it was during the Quebec HA/Rock Machine war).
