Generally, the position of "soldier" in a Mafia family is used to describe people who carry out the orders of "made men."
So-called made men have full acceptance in the Mafia, whereas soldiers are considered underlings.
Gagliano's lawyer, Pierre Fournier, issued a statement saying "if Frank Lino identified him, it can only be by error, as he has certainly never participated in such a meal, neither in Montreal nor anywhere else. He is now trying to find out more than what is contained in the New York Daily article in order to rebut this information; without a precise date for this alleged dinner, it is extremely difficult for him to state precisely what he was doing at that time.
"As soon as he has more information, he intends to present as many of the facts as he will be able to. But he repeats, he has never attended a Bonanno family dinner, he has never been involved with this family, about which all he knows is what every one can read from time to time in the newspapers."
Thursday's allegations against Gagliano came four years after RCMP Commissioner Giuliano Zaccardelli publicly warned that organized crime groups were using bribery and corruption to undermine and threaten Canada's parliamentary system.
In the Commons on Thursday, Harper pressed the prime minister for answers about the allegations of underworld connections levelled at Gagliano.
"The allegations are in the New York Daily News. According to FBI documents, they linked former Liberal cabinet minister and ambassador Alfonso Gagliano to organized crime. The report claims that in the 1990s he was a made member of the Brooklyn-based Bonanno crime family," he said.
"My question is simple. Since Mr. Gagliano was in cabinet and an ambassador during this period, was the government aware of this information and when did it become aware of these allegations?," the Tory leader asked.
A subdued Martin replied he had "not seen the report" and added he knew nothing about such information "until this morning, in fact."
"Let me simply say that these are very serious allegations and everyone should be very careful about accepting or in fact repeating such allegations in a premature way," the prime minister told the House.
"We should wait to have the facts."
National Post and Montreal Gazette with files from Hubert Bauch and Elizabeth Thompson (Montreal Gazette) and Tim Naumetz (CanWest News Service)
? National Post and CanWest News Service 2004
So-called made men have full acceptance in the Mafia, whereas soldiers are considered underlings.
Gagliano's lawyer, Pierre Fournier, issued a statement saying "if Frank Lino identified him, it can only be by error, as he has certainly never participated in such a meal, neither in Montreal nor anywhere else. He is now trying to find out more than what is contained in the New York Daily article in order to rebut this information; without a precise date for this alleged dinner, it is extremely difficult for him to state precisely what he was doing at that time.
"As soon as he has more information, he intends to present as many of the facts as he will be able to. But he repeats, he has never attended a Bonanno family dinner, he has never been involved with this family, about which all he knows is what every one can read from time to time in the newspapers."
Thursday's allegations against Gagliano came four years after RCMP Commissioner Giuliano Zaccardelli publicly warned that organized crime groups were using bribery and corruption to undermine and threaten Canada's parliamentary system.
In the Commons on Thursday, Harper pressed the prime minister for answers about the allegations of underworld connections levelled at Gagliano.
"The allegations are in the New York Daily News. According to FBI documents, they linked former Liberal cabinet minister and ambassador Alfonso Gagliano to organized crime. The report claims that in the 1990s he was a made member of the Brooklyn-based Bonanno crime family," he said.
"My question is simple. Since Mr. Gagliano was in cabinet and an ambassador during this period, was the government aware of this information and when did it become aware of these allegations?," the Tory leader asked.
A subdued Martin replied he had "not seen the report" and added he knew nothing about such information "until this morning, in fact."
"Let me simply say that these are very serious allegations and everyone should be very careful about accepting or in fact repeating such allegations in a premature way," the prime minister told the House.
"We should wait to have the facts."
National Post and Montreal Gazette with files from Hubert Bauch and Elizabeth Thompson (Montreal Gazette) and Tim Naumetz (CanWest News Service)
? National Post and CanWest News Service 2004
