Gilberto Fernandes

I am thrilled to announce that my new book Militants, Mobsters and Mavericks: The Men Who Built Modern Toronto in the 1960s–70s, published by Lorimer, is finally out and available in every major bookstore.

This is a gripping look at the underbelly of Toronto’s explosive postwar growth in the 1960s and 1970s, at a time when labour leaders, politicians, contractors and crime figures battled for control of the city’s booming construction industry.

Toronto’s highways, subways, and skyscrapers were built by immigrant workers under dangerous conditions, while they fought for fair wages and better safety measures. Militants, Mobsters and Mavericks recounts the story of fiery union leader Gerry Gallagher and his cerebral successor Giovanni Stefanini. Along with them comes a remarkable cast of Toronto figures of the era, including journalist-turned-politician Frank Drea, idealistic coroner Morton Shulman, and Hamilton Mafia boss Johnny Papalia. Bombings at job sites, workplace safety disasters claiming the lives of Italian and Portuguese workers, police battles with defiant union members — Gilberto Fernandes’s gripping and action-packed narrative captures the fierce struggles of the era.

This little-known history casts new light on the ongoing relations between provincial politicians and powerful construction unions, with their more than 75,000 Toronto-area members, today.

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Praise for Militants, Mobsters and Mavericks: The Men Who Built Modern Toronto in the 1960s–70s

What a tour de force! Through meticulous research and beautiful, readable prose, Gil Fernandes has brought to life the fascinating story of Toronto’s determined construction workers and their tough-minded leaders. A brilliant contribution to the history of Toronto’s social and economic development and to a deeper understanding of the Canadian working class more generally. A great read!

— Craig Heron, Professor of History, York University and author of Working Lives: Essays in Canadian Working-Class History

Featuring memorable militants, menacing wise guys, and momentous moments in the Italian immigrant rebellion that rocked Toronto’s postwar construction industry, and so much more, this is a pageturning history that ‘oughta’ be a movie!

— Franca Iacovetta, Professor Emerita of History, University of Toronto and co-author, with Susana Miranda, of Cleaning Up: Portuguese Women’s Fight for Labour Rights in Toronto

A truly eye-opening book. Gilberto Fernandes has given us a vital history of the people who quite literally built Toronto — and who too often lost their lives doing it. With all the drama of arson attacks, bombings and assassination plots, Militants, Mobsters and Mavericks reminds us that much of the multicultural Toronto of today was forged in the mud and dust and union halls of our city.

— Adam Bunch, creator of the Toronto Dream project, host of the Canadiana documentary series and author of The Toronto Book of the Dead

This is an exciting, colourful and timely book. If you care about Toronto (or despair at our problems), it’s eye-opening to learn (or remember) how much is better now than in the 1960s. If you want to make a lasting difference, it’s fascinating and inspiring to read about those, like my father Morton Shulman, who did. How did they do it? How did they help each other? And how did they survive the inevitable backlash? What a cast of characters!

— Dianne Saxe, Councillor, Ward 11, City of Toronto