The violent incidents and menacing texts targeting waste giant GFL
4/20/202627 min
For the last year and a half, the talk of construction sites and Bay Street was about a string of violent incidents targeting GFL, the waste management giant, and GIP, its sister construction company. There was suspected arson, vandalism, and executives’ homes were targeted in shootings in both 2024 and this past March. Earlier this month, police made an arrest in connection with the 2024 shootings: Ilan Philosophe, the founder of a competing company, Astro Excavating Inc.
The Globe’s Robyn Doolittle and Tim Kiladze spent the last year and a half reporting on this, including hours speaking with Philosophe before his arrest. Today, they bring us the full story about the shootings, menacing and hostile text messages, and fights over lucrative construction contracts.
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First 90 secondsCheryl Sutherland· Host0:02
For the last year and a half, the talk of construction sites and Bay Street was about who was behind a string of violent incidents targeting a multi-billion dollar waste management and construction giant. Here's The Globe's Robin Doolittle.
Robyn Doolittle· Guest0:17
Okay, so we are in Toronto's very expensive and posh Rosedale neighborhood. It's just before midnight, about eleven forty-five, and a dark-colored sedan does a U-turn on one of the most expensive streets in Rosedale, parks. A gunman gets out in a black shirt with white stripes on the front. His face is obscured with a black mask, and he opens fire on this really huge mansion. There's a security guard there watching this whole thing, and as the gunman starts to leave, he shoots at least one shot towards the security guard. Gets back in the car. About an hour later, what appears to be the same man wearing the same sweater pulls up to another huge house in another very expensive Toronto neighborhood and opens fire on the front door. And this time it seems that the gunman is filming the shooting. He's holding his cell phone in his left hand and the handgun in his other hand, gets in the car, speeds away. No one was injured in these incidents, but they, of course, really rattled the homeowners. Particularly in the second house, both of the occupants inside were awake. One was sitting downstairs watching television, another was upstairs,