A north Toronto office used by GFL Environmental Inc. was shot at overnight on Thursday, continuing a series of violent attacks targeting the waste management company.
On social media, Toronto Police Services said the shooting on Weston Road near Finch Avenue happened around 5 a.m. and resulted in “broken windows and damage.”
GFL has been providing garbage pickup in the city’s west end since 2012, when then-mayor Rob Ford privatized the service.
The firm has been in the headlines since shots were fired outside two of its executives’ Toronto homes in late September, including the Rosedale home of CEO Patrick Dovigi, who was not staying there at the time.
Toronto police are still investigating these incidents, which they believe to be targeted.
The force confirmed to TorontoToday on Friday that it also believes the earlier shootings are linked to this week’s office shooting.
“I can confirm that investigators believe the firearm discharge incidents from September 29, 30, and the most recent incident are connected, and we are working closely with other police services on this case,” a Toronto Police Services spokesperson said.
Last month, the Globe and Mail reported GFL and sister company Green Infrastructure Partners' equipment was also hit by three separate arson attacks over a nine-day period this summer. One incident took place in Windsor in late June, alighting six trucks in flames and causing $1 million in damage. The others followed in early July in Vaughan, the GTA suburb where GFL is headquartered.
York Regional Police released footage of one of the suspected acts of arson in Vaughan, where a person can be seen pouring flammable liquid around several dump trucks before setting them on fire. York police did not identify the trucks as property of GFL or GIP at the time, nor did the Windsor police.
The Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) is investigating the third incident, per the Globe, which took place at a construction site in Vaughan on July 5.
It is unclear from the TPS statement whether these are the other police forces it is now “working closely with” in its investigation into the three shooting incidents.
GFL’s waste management contract with the city has been extended several times. In September, a committee voted to award the company a further $289-million deal to provide garbage pickup to the west end until at least 2031, plus two years of optional extensions.
However, city staff are studying whether it is feasible to return garbage collection back to public management, a move directed by Mayor Olivia Chow. A report is expected next year. The city still handles household waste pickup in the east end and commercial garbage pickup citywide.
GFL is currently valued at over $20 billion; it is traded on the TSX and New York Stock Exchange. The company did not respond to a request for comment before publication.
