{"id":489432,"date":"2026-02-21T07:25:14","date_gmt":"2026-02-21T07:25:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/489432\/"},"modified":"2026-02-21T07:25:14","modified_gmt":"2026-02-21T07:25:14","slug":"extortion-crimes-led-to-exodus-of-residents-businesses-from-peel-region-brampton-deputy-mayor","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/489432\/","title":{"rendered":"Extortion crimes led to ‘exodus’ of residents, businesses from Peel Region: Brampton deputy mayor"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Federal support against extortion crimes in Peel Region is being welcomed by residents, especially after several targeted business owners have moved away out of fear, said the deputy mayor of Brampton.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cWe’re seeing an exodus of business owners in the region of Peel and the city of Brampton who are scared for their safety,\u201d said Deputy Mayor Harkirat Singh.<\/p>\n

Among those affected by extortion crimes are long-time Brampton residents and businesses that are the \u201cbackbone\u201d of the community, he said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

On Thursday, federal Finance Minister Fran\u00e7ois-Philippe Champagne announced dedicated financial intelligence experts who will support regions, such as Peel, to address extortion crimes targeting Canadian businesses and households.<\/p>\n

\u201cBehind every investigation is a person, a shop owner, a worker who depends on their job, a family that deserves to feel safe in their neighbourhood,\u201d said Champagne.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cTo those who have been targeted, I want to say you’re not alone. We stand with you, law enforcement stands with you and Canada stands with you.\u201d<\/p>\n

WATCH | Federal support announced Thursday to combat extortion crime:\"\"<\/p>\n

Canadian intelligence experts to focus on extortion crime, federal minister says<\/p>\n

Canadian financial intelligence experts to adopt a \u2018follow the money\u2019 strategy to combat extortion crime, federal Finance Minister Fran\u00e7ois-Philippe Champagne said at a news conference Thursday. As CBC\u2019s Tyler Cheese explains, the threats are affecting several communities in Ontario. <\/p>\n

The country\u2019s Financial Transactions and Reports Analysis Centre of Canada (FINTRAC) will work closely with local law enforcement and prioritize receiving more timely and relevant financial intelligence to identify criminal networks and support investigations, Champagne said.<\/p>\n

Singh and other community members say law enforcement is typically slow to investigate and address extortion crimes, but they\u2019re hopeful that federal support and the \u201cfollow the money\u201d tactic will “make a big dent\u201d in cases.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe crimes are happening very fast, but getting the evidence and gathering intelligence isn’t happening as fast as the crimes themselves,\u201d said Singh.\u00a0<\/p>\n

He added that these crimes are especially \u201cdevastating\u201d given how they impact entire families.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Solution ‘urgently needed’: psychiatrist<\/p>\n

The fear of being targeted by extortionists has become a common concern among his clients recently, said Dr. Maher Hussain, a psychiatrist with the South Asian Canadians Health & Social Services.<\/p>\n

Two of his clients moved out of Peel Region \u2014 one to the U.S. and another back to India \u2014 after they received harassing calls, he said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cThe police were also helping them, but they felt that help was not enough. They did not feel safe,\u201d he said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Hussain says he feels \u201csome hope\u201d with the new federal announcement, adding a solution is \u201curgently needed\u201d to help residents feel safe.<\/p>\n

There were a total of 476 extortion crimes reported in Peel Region in 2025 \u2014 a number that has gone up over the years, Peel police Deputy Chief Nick Milinovich told CBC Radio’s Metro Morning Friday.<\/p>\n

He said the most common extortion cases in the region fall under three categories: cases related to tow-truck violence, drug trafficking and those that target business owners.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The final category has caused a \u201ctremendous amount of concern\u201d in the community, especially as the number of cases have increased from 50 businesses impacted in 2023 to 153 in 2024 and 192 in 2025.\u00a0<\/p>\n

WATCH | Caledon mayor called for federal support to address extortion crimes last year:\"\"<\/p>\n

Caledon’s mayor calls for feds to help combat extortion cases<\/p>\n

As anxious victims demand answers, the mayor of Caledon, Ont., says the town doesn\u2019t have enough resources to tackle the issue of international extortion and wants the federal government to step in. CBC’s Naama Weingarten explains.<\/p>\n

This pattern is similar to the early trends in auto theft in the region, he said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cI feel oftentimes that Peel can be the canary in the coal mine. We experience things first,\u201d he said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Right now criminals view extortion as \u201chigh reward and low risk,\u201d which Milinovich says they\u2019re hoping to change that by \u201cmaking it incredibly risky\u201d with low reward.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Their tactic is to make use of the FINTRAC experts and federal support to \u201cattack the reward\u201d and trace it back to criminals.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cFollow the money and you\u2019ll find the organization responsible for organizing these [crimes],\u201d said Milinovich. <\/p>\n

In a statement to CBC Toronto, Conservative MPP Frank Caputo (Kamloops\u2014Thompson\u2014Nicola) said the announcement “will not do anything to stop the violence on our streets.”<\/p>\n

“Criminals don’t comply with regulations and they will find new ways to launder their crime money,” he said. “FINTRAC\u2019s main purpose is already to \u2018follow the money\u2019 and they have existing tools to do exactly that.”<\/p>\n

“All the Liberals have done is created a slogan and a new check box for a performative photo op while ignoring the root of the problem.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Listen to this article Estimated 4 minutes The audio version of this article is generated by AI-based technology.…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":489433,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[194339],"tags":[51759,49,48],"class_list":{"0":"post-489432","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-brampton","8":"tag-brampton","9":"tag-ca","10":"tag-canada"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/489432","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=489432"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/489432\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/489433"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=489432"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=489432"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=489432"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}