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Connections: An Investigation into Organized Crime in Canada
Produced by	William Macadam & Martyn Burke
Production company	A CBC/Norfolk Communications Ltd. coproduction
Country	Canada

Connections: An Investigation into Organized Crime in Canada consisting of two television documentary programs broadcast as a CBC/Norfolk Communications Ltd coproduction transmitted by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation in two 90 minute segments on successive nights: Sunday June 12 and Monday June 1977.

The second series was Connections: a further Investigation into organised crime in Canada also a CBC/Norfolk Communications Ltd coproduction was broadcast by the CBC on three successive nights beginning on Monday, March 26, 1979 as a 90 minute program followed as two 60 minute programs on Tuesday March 27 and Wednesday, March 28, (see separate section below covering the Second Series).

Both series covered the growth of organized crime in cities across Canada and conections to US organised crime. Both series were commissioned by Peter Herrndorf from Bill Macadam of Norfolk Communications. Among organized crime groups they exposed the activities & personalities of the Mafia, bikers, Asian gangs and corruption by some mobsters of certain public figures. The series was notable for its use of advanced equipment - including pioneering night film and hidden microphones - and for interviews with criminal leaders.

William Macadam and Martyn Burke were co-producers of both series. The third senior member of the production team was James Dubro (his screen credit on first series was Research Director and on the second series Associate Producer). For complete list of screen credits see sections below.

Overview of both Connections series from the book Making Connections

"On Sunday, June 12,1977, at 9:30 p.m., the first of two ninety minute programs on organized crime in Canada appeared on the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation TV network and caused an instant sensation. All the underworld figures we'd read about - Paulo Violi, John Papalia, Paul Volpe, Vic Catroni, Carmine Galante – were there on the screen. We saw them outside ice cream parlours, beside highways, on church steps, in real estate offices and in back yards. We saw them eating, meeting on street corners and whispering to each other at funerals. Sometimes we could even hear what they were saying.

"The second ninety minute program appeared at the same time the next night. The ruction across Canada was one of stunned fascination, not so much for what was revealed but for how it was revealed.

""The most staggering, shocking and revelatory documentary ever made," gasped the Winnipeg Tribune. "The biggest and most daring expose ever undertaken into organized crime," said the Goderich. Star, (Ontario). " Perhaps the finest thing the CBC has ever done," said the Toronto Sun. "The CBC has done a valuable job for the community," intoned the Toronto Globe and Mail.

"It was like watching the first televised moon walks: one was fascinated by the scenery, but even more staggered by the fact that it was there to be seen on a TV screen.

"The two programs called Connections, took three years and more than half a million dollars to make. If the investigative journalists on the Connections team didn't travel as lightly as the print reporters, they learned some new tricks of their own. They used camera equipment developed for military use in Vietnam – a lens capable of multiplying the available light 80,0000 times. They used film so fast that it could only be processed in a special New York laboratory. They used camouflaged surveillance vehicles and relayed instructions to one another sotto voce over sophisticated walkie talkies. They used hidden body-pack tape recorders the size of pocket books and concealed microphones smaller than an olive pit. They used informers, decoys and renegade mob members.

"...When it was all over, the producers were unanimous in vowing "never again". But...nearly two years later in March, 1979, three sequels were aired [Connections: a further investigation into organized crime in Canada]. In many ways the second series, though flawed, was even more fascinating than the first. The investigative techniques had been refined and polished, and some significant new wrinkles added. Once again, critics were lavish in their praise.

"I was asked to write this book in December, 1978, three months before the second series went on air...It was an extremely hectic period for the men and women responsible forConnections, yet they were always willing to take time to talk about the series and to answer my many questions. I am especially indebted in this regard to the three prime movers of the project: Bill Macadam and Martyn Burke, and research chief Jim Dubro, and to Executive producer Dick Nielsen."

From the Prologue of the book Making Connections by Wade Rowland.

Description of series from the book Here's Looking at Us: Celebrating Fifty years of CBC-TV

"Connections, a two part (1977,'79) investigative report on organised crime, took four years and fifteen journalists to complete. Along the way the investigative team – code named "Housing Crisis" – talked to the RCMP, FBI, Interpol, and police forces in Canada, the U.S. and Italy.

"But it was the TV filmmakers' conversations with mobsters that made the series compulsive viewing.

"At one point, Macadam was in Montreal talking to mobster Ziggy Wiseman while Burke was in California visiting syndicate boss Bill Bonanno.

" "I just showed up at his door one day," Burke said. "He was so surprised, he talked out of sheer curiosity. The best footage came from such surprise encounters rather than sophisticated technology."

"Connectons, did however, surreptitiously capture many disturbing incidents, including a scene of mobsters shaking down a Montreal notary by threating to kill his wife and son.

"While the team of Macadam, Burke and fifth estate veteran Jim Dubro were frequently threatened, the only series casualties were mobsters. Three Montreal crime family members profiled in the 1977 series – Paulo Violi, Pietro Sciarra, and Louie Greco – were killed before the 1979 instalment.

"The programs resulted in great ratings and critical acclaim along with eight lawsuits. Burke later admitted to the Globe and Mail that the process of getting the series on the air was never easy."

From the CBC's 2002 book book Here's Looking at Us: Celebrating Fifty Years of CBC–TV by Stephen Cole.

From the New York Times

"Millions of Canadians got a startling peek into their countries criminal underworld this week through a dramatic television documentary that featured heavy use of hidden cameras and microphones.

With reporters and undercover plants, the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation and Norfolk Communication Ltd., an independent filmmaker here, spent the last four years and almost $1 million compiling 90 hours of film and 37,000 files on Canadian criminals and their activities throughout North America.

The scenes, from which obscenities were not cut, included taped and film talks between one of the plants and a man negotiating the sale of stolen securities."

The New York Times, 1 April, 1979.

Synopsis of first Connections series

File:Making Connections book cover.jpg

Cover of book Making Connections: How a television team exposed organized crime in Canada

Connections: An investigation into organized crime in Canada, part one, broadcast on CBC network at 9:30pm June 12, 1977

Definition The first program began with several definitions of organised crime presented during interviews by experts - on both sides of the law. Then followed by connections.

The Montreal Connecton which covered the Cotroni/Violi Mafia family there with its ties with the Joe Bananno Mafia family in New York then headed by Carmen Galante.

The October Crisis Connection The links between the murder of Quebec cabinet minister Pierre Laporte (murdered in 1970 by his FLQ kidnappers) and Montreal Mafia figures who offered support to try and find his kidnappers.

The Loan Shark Connection was a chillingly authentic examination of one of organised crime's major money making enterprises with many of the people involved shown and interviewed.

The Toronto-Buffalo Connection showed that in the Toronto area there was not just one Mafia family but a thriving confederation of four and all were filmed.

Portrait of a Mobster was a thumbnail profile of toronto Mafia boss Paul Volpe including Volpe in his garden talking about the police.

The Union Connection detailed attempts by by members of the Luppino Mafia family to take control of an Ottawa paster and cement masons union.

The Chemical Drug Connection described Toronto as the then "illicit" speed capital of the world.

The Family Connection. The final item in the program was the shortest but "also the most significant. In it were detailed for the first in public to elaborate blood ties that bind together the various Mafi families across the nation. It was a revelation to even the most experienced Mafia watchers."

Connections: An investigation into organized crime in Canada, part two, broadcast on CBC network at 9:30pm June 13, 1977

The Financial Connection It described how former contract killer Meyer Lansky invented a series of methods "laundering" the mob's dirty money and his Toronto associate Jhn Pullman

The French Connection described the notorious Marseilles-New York heroin pipeline and the unknown role played by Montreal gFrench speaking gangs and the Corsican drug dealers. It included interviews with two French Connection drug dealers. Also a telephone tape with na Montreal mobster and a New York customer.

The French-Canadian Connection contained sinterviews with Claude Dubois and rival gang member Pierre McSween challenging established Mafia organisations in Quebec and going about there business.

the Political Connection was presentation of Pasquale " Paddy" Calabrese]'s encounters with an MP.

The Five Dragons. The final hour was devoted to an exploration of the five Dragons about corrupt Hong Kong policemen.

The Hong Kong police force was described as among the world's most corrupt.
A former Hong Kong police department officer knew definitely only two in a force eight or nine thousand strong who weren't.

The Royal Commission into the situation had uncovered the fact that the police in Hong Kong ran most of the nightlife and crime that fed on it.

The five Hong Kong police sergeants, who were reputed to be the richest, most corrupt and most powerful on the force had recently moved to Vancouver area. The men were called 'The Five Dragons'.

How and why these men - each worth a fortune obtained in Hong Kong bribery and corruption – had been allowed to immigrate to Canada?

The segment covered the 'Five Dragons's' substantial real estate holdings in Vancouver and Toronto were examined.

It examined the 'Five Dragons's' connections with the police, in Canada.

With an interview with a man who had been one of the biggest drug exporters out of Thailand. He refused to testify at a Vancouver drug trial because he believed the Vancouver RCMP was infiltrated as they had leaked information to drug traffickers and he felt they therefore could not offer him adequate protection.

How the investigative series was done

The Research Stage

The over year long exhaustive research stage was conducted by one of the producers William Macadam and James Dubro, working for Norfolk Communications, along with a further research team working for the company (see full numbers in list of credits below). It was researched for a year throughout Canada and in the United States. Initially the research team did not even know that organized crime existed in Canada but they steadily uncovered its tentacles often reaching across the US/Canadian border. This was before the internet and computers as they later evolved. A complex cross file system ultimately amounting 37,000 files was set-up back at Norfolk's nerve centre and if a new name came up during research it was entered into it plus every name on their research notes each day. Macadam or Dubro could phone back to check if a new name had in fact a cross check connection to others. In that manner they were slowly able to identify the tentacles of organised crime, of which the police with their Provincial juristicians were often unaware.

The filming stage

The filming stage was done the following year when it had been pre-arranged that Martyn Burke would join the production team for the purpose. It was directed and produced and the interviews were done by both of the coproducers William Macadam and Martyn Burke. The research stage had identified the names of the people involved and what they looked like. However Burke and Macadam were very aware that as filming equipment was then still large and cumbersome that they had to innovate if they were to get their prey on camera while miinimising the danger to themselves and their camera and sound team in the process. Macadam, Burke and Dubro worked out the form of the filming however the filming of criminals created a new research challeng other than just unwieldy size of film equipment as their whereabouts at any given moment for being filmed had in itself had to be researched.

The Editing Stage

With a huge amount of film footage amounting to over 90 hours the editing of the vast amount of film into coherent parts becoming a daunting undertaking for Burke and Macadam. Richard Nielsen, a long time former Executive Producer of CBC's Weekend but by then a partner with Pat Ferns in Nielsen-Ferns, an independent pioneering production company like Norfolk Communications. He was shown some of the foottage and felt "What I saw was the most exciting television film I had ever seen" and...'after years ... producing current affairs programming ...you're sure you've seen it all ...". He suggested the easiest way to handle the mountain of footage was to divide it into individual crime connections. It became an obvious solution. He was immediately made the Executive Producer with both Burke and Macadam's agreement to be able to advise with a distance from the project. His suggestion meant that Macadam and Burke could take on the editing and scripting of sections without concern for overlap. It turned out to be a brilliant suggestion out of which the name Connections logically evolved.

The legal stage

A team of lawyers legated every word. The team would not take "no" for an answer so if the narration created a legal problem Macadam, Burke and Nielsen would push them for a wording that conveyed the same meaning but was not a legal problem. James Dubro would produce the legal documentation required at any point by them in the process. The legaling of such a massive project took many weeks. Sometimes when a source could not be put on the stand to protect their lives, the lawyers would advise the team not to use wording such as "he has permission to order contract killings." The team's response was well if the mobster sues sues and he has already been convicted of Mob activities what good reputation can he claim we have had damaged? He has none. It made sense and the lawyers agreed.

Music and Sound

Bruce Nyznik was brought on by Norfolk to do the sound score. The CBC was aghast that Macadam had put aside a few thousand dollars for a sound score. The CBC usually paid no more than a hundred or two for 'Music' which was hardly needed, their accountants argued, for a documentary. Nyznik had suggested an individual sound for each character. The CBC and the rest of the team had screened rough cuts as they became ready and had been re-edited for legal reasons where necessary. Nyznik's sound score was finally layed into one of these screenings and the effect was electric. The score heightened the effect of the footage and was felt to be an exceptional addition.

On screen credits first series

Title: Connections: An Investigation into Organised Crime in Canada

A CBC/Norfolk Communications Ltd. coproduction

Co-Producer: William I Macadam

Co-producer: Martyn Burke

Research Director: James Dubro

Researchers:

Michel Auger

Jean-Pierre Charbeneau

Craig Taylor

John Sham

Andrea Kolchinsky

Kevin Sinclair

Camera: Francis Granger

Sound: John Crawford

Editors: Names withheld by request

Sound and music editor: Bruce Nyznik

Unit Manager: Kim Hester

Service producer: Alf Norris

Facilities Co-ordinator: Casey Kollantay

Production Assistants: Clarisa MacNair

Seven names withheld by request

Graphics: Name withheld by request

Narrator: Name withheld by request

Executive Producer; Richard Nielsen

Synposis Connections (the second series) broadcast in three parts on succeeding nights on March 26,27 and 28, 1979 (1 x 90' plus 2 x 60') on CBC television network in Canada

File:Making Connections book back.jpg

Making Connections: The behind the scenes story. The book back cover

Connectios: A further investigation into organised crime in Canada (Part One - 90 minutes) broadcast by CBC on Monday March 26, 1979 at 9:30 - 11:00 p.m.

Update since last series. What had happened to some of the principal crime figures covered in the first series.

The Violi Connection. A profile of Paolo Violi, examining his rise to power in the Montreal Mafia and conflicts that led to his murder in 1979.

The Godfather Connection, a look at the "leadership race" taking place in the wake of Violi's murder and featuring the producers interviews with Vic Cotroni, Vincenzo Eandizi, Nicolos DiIorio and Joe DiMaulo.

The Stock Scam showed techniques used by organized crime and included a former mobster working as a member of the production team discussing the sale of "stolen' securities with a Vancouver mob figure.

Visit from the Moblooked at the Mob's extortion techniques and featured a videotape of an actual extortion attempt against a local notary.

Death in the Mob dealt with their ultimate source of power – murder. Leaning heavily on interviews with former mobsters Vincent Teresa and Chuck Carlo, it described some of the techniques and rituals of organazd crimee killings.

Connectios: A further investigation into organised crime in Canada (Part Two - 60 minuted) broadcast by CBC on Tuesday March 27, 1979 at 10:00 - 11:00 p.m.

The Loanshark Connection was an interview with a Montreal promoter and pimp by letting the man talk about his way of life dispelling any romantic illusion of the mob as tough, wily, honourable men.

The Toronto Connection was a sequel to a portion in which the main Toronto Figures were introduced and led into the next.

Toronto Updatewhich described the changes in the lives of these men in the proceeding two years.The release from prison of one, the extension into trucking of another crime family and the extension into real estate of Volpe and his previous involvment in Haiti in gambling there.

The Casino Connection with former mobster Paddy Calabrese working with the team, as with the Vancouver stock scam, showing the mob connections with Atlantic City, New Jersey and Toronto filmed talking with mobsters.

Connectios: A further investigation into organised crime in Canada (Part Three - 60 minutes) broadcast by CBC on Wednesday March 29, 1979 at 10:00 - 11:00 p.m.

The Biker Connection showed the then recent involvement of the Hell's Angels with organized crime across Canada.

Family Ties was a repeat of that section in the first series, two years before, showing the blood links between the North American various Mafia families.

The Getty Connection showed how the Getty kidnapping was undertaken by the 'Ndrangheta, the Calabrian, southern Italy organized crime, much of it shot on location in southern Italy.

The Calabrian Connectionshowed the connections with some of the Toronto and Montreal crime figures with the 'Ndrangheta Calabrian crime families, shot both in southern Italy and Canada.

Life in the Mob was a vivid description by former mobsters, mainly Vincent Teresa and Chuck Carlo of what their life in Mafia consisted of.

On screen credits for second series

Connectios: A further investigation into organised crime in Canada

Producers: William Macadam and Martyn Burke

Associate Producer: James Dubro

Senior Researcher: Michel Auger

Researchers:
Jamie Boyd
Jane Porter
Craig Taylor
Andrea Kolchinsky
Felix Sulvaran
One name withheld by request

Consultants:
Patrick Calabrese
Ralph Salerno

Camera:
Francis Granger
Len Gilday
Martin Duckworth

Sound Score: Bruce Nyznik

Sound Recording:
Aerlyn Weissman
John D. Crawford
Glenn Hodgins

Senior Film Editor: Steve Weslak
Editor: Oliver Manton
Assistant Editor: Daniel Dutka

Unit Manager:Jim Innes

Facilities Co-ordinator: Casey Kollantay
Andrew Bell

Production Secretaries:
Joan Miller
Lynn Ackerman
Mary Silvano

Sound Re-recording: Soundmix

Service Producer: Alf Norris

Narration: Name withheld by request

Executive Producer: Richard Nielsen

Book about the making of the programs

"MAKING CONNECTIONS tells the story as fascinating as the elevision programs that stunned a nation with their revelations about organised crime in Canada. This true life detective story reveals how Bill Macadam, Martyn Burke and Jim Dubro, the TV team who made the series, set out to track down and tackle the Mafia. They appeared the unlikeliest trio imaginable - an Eton graduate, an economics major and a scholar of eighteen century poetry. Before they started they weren't even sure that organised crime existed in Canada. But once they began their search it took them over thousands of miles and into interviews with hundreds of witnesses. Before they finished they had been sued, warned, threatened and spent days living in apprehension and fear.

"In MAKING CONNECTIONS, the reader learns the inside details about the the years in which the Connectionsteam travelled two continents, mingled with mobsters and killers, compiled secret codes and files and had countless adventures, some amusing, some terrifying. Author Wade Rowland also shows some of the inner workings of television journalism - the new equipment developed for surveillance work, the backroom intrigues and conflicts which shaped the programs, the last-minute panics before the shows were aired.

"Connections I and II provided 6 1/2 hours of the most gripping television ever seen in Canada. The behind-the-scenes story of how these shows were made offers an exciting and intriguing view of investigation journalism and the world of television."

Front Flyleaf of the book Making Connections by Wade Rowland.

Some Media Reviews/Comment on the series

'The Canadian people were stunned with the broadcast of the first series of CONNECTIONS: An Investigation into Mafia activities in Canada and the United States. For the first time Canadians saw underworld figures and heard them identified by name, The documentary showed the criminals (through surveillance) conducting their business in the streets of New York, California, Detroit, Buffalo, Montreal, Vancouver and many other North American cities. The Second series was equally staggering. CONNNECTIONS broke new ground in hard edged investigative television journalism.

"The CBC, stepping in where newspapers in the country fear to tread, laid bare organised crime in this crisp, fearless two part documentary. It was all dynamite stuff. For the first time on Canadian television, names were named, legitimate businesses fronting their illegal enterprises were shown, family associations were drawn nationally, and the alleged kingpins were filmed ... a sensational expose."
Sid Adelman writing in Variety (the Hollywood film and television daily paper).

" The shows...must surely rank as compulsory viewing and Canada's greatest TV achievement in years"
The Globe and Mail, Toronto

"The CBC made television history last night and Sunday with what was undoubtedly the most staggering, shocking and revelatory documentary ever made. CONNECTIONS, a superbly produced two-part investigation of organanized crime across the nation, towered over anything CBS-TV's respected 60 Minutes has ever done...it is likely the two episodes drew the largest audience in Canadian TV history."
The Winnipeg Tribune.

'Hollywood should hang its head ...it makes the Godfather look like a comic strip".
The Toronto Star.

Awards

The programs received an Anik Wilderness Award (for best CBC documentary of the year) and the ACTRA Award (both 1977). As well they received an honourable mention from the Michener Award in 1977,

Further reading

• Rowland, Wade (1979). Making Connections. Gage Pub. ISBN 0-7715-9442-9.
• Rosner, Cecil (2008). Behind the Headlines: The History of Investigative Journalism in Canada. OUP Canada. ISBN 978-0-19-542733-2.

DRAFT EDIT June 26, 2020

Connections: An Investigation into Organized Crime in Canada consisting of two television documentary programs broadcast as a CBC/Norfolk Communications Ltd coproduction transmitted by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation in two 90 minute segments on successive nights: Sunday June 12 and Monday June 13 1977.

The second series was Connections: a further Investigation into organized crime in Canada also a CBC/Norfolk Communications Ltd coproduction which was broadcast by the CBC on three successive nights beginning on Monday, March 26, 1979 as a 90-minute program followed as two 60 minute programs on Tuesday March 27 and Wednesday, March 28, (see separate section below covering the Second Series).

The series was notable for its use of advanced equipment - including pioneering night film and hidden microphones - and for interviews with criminal leaders.

Both series covered the growth of organized crime in cities across Canada and connections to US organized crime. Both series were commissioned by Peter Herrndorf from Bill Macadam and his Norfolk Communications. Among organized crime groups they exposed the activities & personalities of the Mafia, bikers, Asian gangs and corruption by mobsters of certain public figures. The series was notable for its use of advanced equipment - including pioneering night film and hidden microphones - and for interviews with criminal leaders.

William Macadam and Martyn Burke were co-producers of both series. The third senior member of the production team was James Dubro (his screen credit on the first series was "Research Director" and on the second series "Associate Producer"). For a complete list of screen credits see sections below.

Overview of both Connections series from the book Making Connections

"On Sunday, June 12, 1977, at 9:30 p.m., the first of two ninety minute programs on organized crime in Canada appeared on the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation TV network and caused an instant sensation. All the underworld figures we'd read about - Paolo Violi, John Papalia, Paul Volpe, Vic Cotroni, Carmine Galante – were there on the screen. We saw them outside ice cream parlours, beside highways, on church steps, in real estate offices and in back yards. We saw them eating, meeting on street corners and whispering to each other at funerals. Sometimes we could even hear what they were saying.

"The second ninety minute program appeared at the same time the next night. The reaction across Canada was one of stunned fascination, not so much for what was revealed but for how it was revealed.

""The most staggering, shocking and revelatory documentary ever made," gasped the Winnipeg Tribune. "The biggest and most daring expose ever undertaken into organized crime," said the Goderich. Star, (Ontario). " Perhaps the finest thing the CBC has ever done," said the Toronto Sun. "The CBC has done a valuable job for the community," intoned the Toronto Globe and Mail.

"It was like watching the first televised moon walks: one was fascinated by the scenery, but even more staggered by the fact that it was there to be seen on a TV screen.

"The two programs called Connections, took three years and more than half a million dollars to make. If the investigative journalists on the Connections team didn't travel as lightly as the print reporters, they learned some new tricks of their own. They used camera equipment developed for military use in Vietnam – a lens capable of multiplying the available light 80,0000 times. They used film so fast that it could only be processed in a special New York laboratory. They used camouflaged surveillance vehicles and relayed instructions to one another sotto voce over sophisticated walkie talkies. They used hidden body-pack tape recorders the size of pocket books and concealed microphones smaller than an olive pit. They used informers, decoys and renegade mob members.

"...When it was all over, the producers were unanimous in vowing "never again". But...nearly two years later in March, 1979, three sequels were aired [Connections: a further investigation into organized crime in Canada]. In many ways the second series, though flawed, was even more fascinating than the first. The investigative techniques had been refined and polished, and some significant new wrinkles added. Once again, critics were lavish in their praise.

"I was asked to write this book in December, 1978, three months before the second series went on air...It was an extremely hectic period for the men and women responsible for Connections, yet they were always willing to take time to talk about the series and to answer my many questions. I am especially indebted in this regard to the three prime movers of the project: Bill Macadam and Martyn Burke, and research chief Jim Dubro, and to Executive producer Dick Nielsen."

From the Prologue of the book Making Connections by Wade Rowland.

Description from the CBC book Here's Looking at Us: Celebrating Fifty years of CBC-TV

"Connections, a two part (1977, '79) investigative report on organised crime, took four years and fifteen journalists to complete. Along the way the investigative team – code named "Housing Crisis" – talked to the RCMP, FBI, Interpol, and police forces in Canada, the U.S. and Italy.

"But it was the TV filmmakers' conversations with mobsters that made the series compulsive viewing.

"At one point, Macadam was in Montreal talking to mobster Ziggy Wiseman while Burke was in California visiting syndicate boss Bill Bonanno.

"I just showed up at his door one day," Burke said. "He was so surprised, he talked out of sheer curiosity. The best footage came from such surprise encounters rather than sophisticated technology."

"Connections, did however, surreptitiously capture many disturbing incidents, including a scene of mobsters shaking down a Montreal notary by threating to kill his wife and son.

"While the team of Macadam, Burke and fifth estate veteran Jim Dubro were frequently threatened, the only series casualties were mobsters. Three Montreal crime family members profiled in the 1977 series – Plo Violi, Pietro Sciarra, and Louie Greco – were killed before the 1979 instalment.

"The programs resulted in great ratings and critical acclaim along with eight lawsuits. Burke later admitted to the Globe and Mail that the process of getting the series on the air was never easy."

From the CBC's 2002 book Here's Looking at Us: Celebrating Fifty Years of CBC–TV by Stephen Cole.

Report from the New York Times

"Millions of Canadians got a startling peek into their country's criminal underworld this week through a dramatic television documentary that featured heavy use of hidden cameras and microphones.

With reporters and undercover plants, the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation and Norfolk Communication Ltd., an independent filmmaker here, spent the last four years and almost $1 million compiling 90 hours of film and 37,000 files on Canadian criminals and their activities throughout North America.

The scenes, from which obscenities were not cut, included taped and film talks between one of the plants and a man negotiating the sale of stolen securities.

— The New York Times, 1 April 1979.

Connections: An investigation into organized crime in Canada (the first series) synopsis

File:Making Connections book cover.jpg

Cover of book Making Connections: How a television team exposed organized crime in Canada

Connections: An investigation into organized crime in Canada (Part One) broadcast on CBC network at 9:30pm June 12, 1977

Definition The first program began with several definitions of organized crime presented during interviews by experts - on both sides of the law. It was then followed by these "connections":

The Montreal Connection which covered the Cotroni/Violi Mafia family there with its ties with the Joe Bananno Mafia family in New York then headed by Carmen Galante.

The October Crisis Connection The links between the murder of Quebec cabinet minister Pierre Laporte (murdered in 1970 by his FLQ kidnappers) and Montreal Mafia figures who offered support to try and find his kidnappers.

The Loan Shark Connection was a chillingly authentic examination of one of organized crime's major moneymaking enterprises with many of the people involved shown and interviewed.

The Toronto-Buffalo Connection showed that in the Toronto area there was not just one Mafia family but a thriving confederation of four and all were filmed.

Portrait of a Mobster was a thumbnail profile of Toronto Mafia boss Paul Volpe including Volpe in his garden talking about the police.

The Union Connection detailed attempts by members of the Luppino Mafia family to take control of an Ottawa plaster and cement masons union.

The Chemical Drug Connection described Toronto as the then "illicit" speed capital of the world.

The Family Connection. The final item in the program was the shortest but "also the most significant. In it were detailed for the first in public to elaborate blood ties that bind together the various Mafia families across the nation. It was a revelation to even the most experienced Mafia watchers."

Connections: An investigation into organized crime in Canada (Part Two) broadcast on CBC network at 9:30pm June 13, 1977

The Financial Connection described how former contract killer Meyer Lansky invented a series of methods "laundering" the mob's dirty money and his Toronto associate John Pullman.

The French Connection described the notorious Marseilles-New York heroin pipeline and the unknown role played by Montreal French speaking gangs and the Corsican drug dealers. It included interviews with two French Connection drug dealers and also a telephone tape with a Montreal mobster and a New York customer.

The French-Canadian Connection contained interviews with Claude Dubois and rival gang member Pierre McSween challenging established Mafia organizations in Quebec while going about their business.

the Political Connection was presentation of Pasquale " Paddy" Calabrese's encounters with an MP.

The Five Dragons. The final hour was devoted to an exploration of the Five Dragons - corrupt Hong Kong policemen.

The Hong Kong police force was shown up to be among the world’s most corrupt police force, and a former police department officer in Hong Kong said he knew only two members of the force of 8000 or 9000 who were honest.

A Royal Commission had found that they were running most of the crime carried out in the nightlife of the city, through bibery and corruption.

The program revealed that the ‘Five Dragons’, reputedly the richest and most powerful of the corrupt members of the force had moved to the Vancouver area, and had substantial real estate holdings in Toronto as well as Vancouver.

Why and how had thee men been allowed to emigrate to Canada, and what was their connection with the Canadian police?

The program also included an interview with a man who had been one of the biggest drug exporters out of Thailand. He had refused to testify at a Vancouver drug trial because he believed the Vancouver RCMP was infiltrated as they had leaked information to drug traffickers and he felt they therefore could not offer him adequate protection.

How the investigative series was done

The Research stage

The exhaustive research stage (which took more than a year) was conducted by producer William Macadam, and James Dubro, working for Norfolk Communications, along with a further research team working for the company (see full numbers in list of credits below). Research was carried out throughout Canada and the United States. Initially the research team did not even know that organized crime really existed in Canada but they steadily uncovered its tentacles often reaching across the US/Canadian border. This was before the era of the internet. A complex cross file system ultimately amounting to 37,000 files was set-up back at Norfolk's nerve centre and all new names which came up daily during research were entered so that cross checks could be made. In this way they gradually were able to identify the tentacles of organized crime: and the police with their Provincial jurisdictions were often unaware of these connections.

The Filming stage

The filming stage was carried out the following year when it had been pre-arranged that Martyn Burke would join the production team for the purpose. The interviews were done by both of the coproducers William Macadam and Martyn Burke (who both then directed for each other). The research stage had identified the names of the people involved and what they looked like. However Burke and Macadam were fully aware that they would have to find new ways of filming (the equipment then available was still large and cumbersome) if they were to get their prey on camera while minimising the danger to themselves and their camera, sound and production team in the process. Macadam, Burke and Dubro worked out the form of the filming however the filming of criminals created a new research challenge as their whereabouts at any given moment had in itself to be researched.

The Editing stage

With a huge amount of film footage amounting to over 90 hours the editing into coherent sections became a daunting undertaking for Burke and Macadam. Richard Nielsen, a long time former Executive Producer of CBC's Weekend but by then a partner with Pat Ferns in Nielsen-Ferns, an independent pioneering production company like Norfolk Communications, was shown some of the footage and felt "What I saw was the most exciting television film I had ever seen" and..."after years ... producing current affairs programming ...you're sure you've seen it all ...". He suggested the easiest way to handle the mountain of footage was to divide it into individual crime connections. This soon became an obvious solution. He was immediately asked to act as the Executive Producer to be able to advise from a distance. The arrangment meant meant that Macadam and Burke could take on the editing and scripting the narration of sections without concern for overlap. It turned out to be a brilliant suggestion out of which the name Connections logically evolved.

The Legal stage

A team of CBC lawyers scrutinized every word of the narration and every inch of the footage. The team would not take "no" for an answer so if the narration created a legal problem Macadam, Burke and Nielsen would push the lawyers for wording that conveyed the same meaning but would not create a legal problem. James Dubro would produce from the files the legal documentation the prucducer and legal team required at any point in the lengthy vetting process. The legalities of such a massive project took many months. Sometimes when a source could not be put on the stand in a court to protect the source's life, the team would work with the lawyers on appropriate way around it to or modify the editing and narration.

Music and Sound

Bruce Nyznik was brought on by Norfolk to work the sound score at an early stage. The CBC management was surprised that Macadam had put aside a few thousand dollars for a sound score. The CBC usually paid no more than a hundred or two for 'Music' which was hardly needed, their accountants argued, for a documentary. Nyznik had suggested an individual sound for each character. The CBC and the rest of the team had screened rough cuts as they became ready and these had been re-edited for legal reasons where necessary. Nyznik's sound score was finally laid into one of these screenings and the effect was electric. The score heightened the effect of the footage and was felt to be an exceptional addition and ahead of its time in documentary production.