Ah ha. That's really the issue here. How we define what we call "the Rizzutos." It seems that many have made the mistake of equating all of organized crime in Montreal with "The Rizzutos." Or thinking that everything, at least from an Italian OC perspective, falls under that umbrella there.

Technically speaking, I don't know if it's really accurate to call it the "Rizzuto crime family." Once again, Salvatore Vitale testified that there were about 20 made guys up in Montreal, including Nick and Vito Rizzuto, who were made members of the Bonanno family. And, before he was killed, Sciascia was the captain of the Montreal crew. Vito was a soldier. My understanding is most of these guys descended from Cattolica Eraclea and Siculiana. They were the core of what you call Rizzuto's network.

Now, as far as this larger network, which eventually could involve just about all of organized crime in Montreal and elsewhere in Canada, here's what Lamothe said over on the Real Deal a few years back -

"The Rizzuto Criminal Organization is made up of various individuals and groups, including LCN, 'ndrangheta clans, and small family groupings of perhaps a father and two sons who have proven themselves over time in the underworld -- the father is made and the sons aren't. The Associates are everybody: white collar crooks, telemarketers, bikers, Natives, Chinese, Iranians. So it seems there are three "levels". Born/blood Sicilians loyal to the clan; criminal organizations and groups loyal to the clan but have their own interests and other loyalties -- such as 'ndrangheta -- and Associates. As long as the Rizzuto Family is strong that's where the power will flow from; if another powerful -- likely Sicilian based from Western Sicily -- emerges from the problems of the Rizzutos, then that layer will be drawn to them; the Associates are without loyalty and will go to whoever can protect them and allow them to make money successfully."


Here's another way he described it on another forum before that -

Explaining the makeup and structure of the Rizzuto organization is even more complicated. There's no pyramid of boss, underboss, captains, soldiers. The simplest way to figure it out is to draw circle the size of a dime on a piece of paper. That's the core of the Rizzutos -- essentially think of it as a cult of families all related by blood and marriage. Within the hard core centre are the Rizzutos, the Mannos, more recently the Ragusas, the Rendas, etc.Now make other circles, smaller, orbiting the main circle. These are other Sicilian or Calabrese clans or groups. Among the little orbiting circles are some triangles: these are the pyramids, more traditional groups that follow the American pyramid style. Scattered well away from the main group and the more closely associated smallest circles and triangles are various groups: bikers, Natives, Chinese, lawyers and accountants and stock brokers. These stretch across the country.


This has what has led to people more or less equating the Rizzutos or a "Sixth Family" with the larger organized crime scene in Canada as a whole. And then making inaccurate comparisons between it and specific LCN families in the U.S. While a lot of good information is provided in both books, that's what the Sixth Family was really doing: saying the Rizzutos had become stronger than the entire Bonanno family when it was really putting up most of the Montreal underworld to the Bonanno family.