The Ben Mulroney Show - What one GTA municipality is doing about aggressive panhandling

Episode Date: July 2, 2025

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on your first five orders. Shop now at noFrills.ca. Welcome back to the Ben Mulrooney Show and it's always emboldening. It's always a positive thing when we get to tell the story, share the story of someone within their community, who for whatever reasons, but primarily because their community matters to them, they take action and that action leads the powers that be,

city council or the police or on another level of government, to move on that action, move the needle and change the status quo. And clear across this country, we as everyday citizens feel like crime has gotten out of control. Like our lives are affected by everything from major crime to public nuisances. And we also feel like we can't really do anything about it except, I don't know, voice our issues on social media

or complain in a big microphone like this. But Joe Formusa is a resident of York Region. And for a while now, he's run a social media account called Not On Joe's Watch, all one word. And he has been highlighting issues of crime and nuisance in his in his community. But he really sort of exploded onto the scene a few months ago, and everyone has seen this, when there was a video of panhandlers, people presenting as panhandlers, getting out of a luxury vehicle in a parking lot, changing into some haggard clothing,

and then going to beg for change and ask for cash. And that video precipitated the mayor of Vaughan, Stephen Del Duca, to acknowledge that this was a problem and say they were going to change the bylaw. Let's listen to the words of the mayor. Following that video, I brought forward a motion to Vaughan Council asking for our staff to report back to us on what we could do to help make sure that people who were trying to fraudulently ask for help

would be able to be stopped. I'm really happy to announce that earlier this week, Vaughan Council supported a report back from our staff that will strengthen what's called our nuisance bylaw and give our staff at the city more enforcement powers to be able to crack down. All right I like that. I like that. So let's let's talk to the guy who was sort of the origin story of all of this. We've got him right now Joe Formusoff, crime prevention advocate in York region and the founder of the social media

handle not on Joe's watch. Joe, welcome to the show and congratulations to you. Good morning, Ben. How are you? Well, I'm good. I'm good. This has got to feel good. It's got to feel good that the mayor listened to you and action is being taken. Yeah, actions truly speak louder than words and they acted quick. The mayor's doing a great job with this. And they've got a new system in place with this bylaw that's been updated. So talk to us about that. What are the updates? What's it going to mean for the police?

What's it going to mean for the people of the region? So the city of Vaughan bylaw will be enforcing it. There's a number that was provided. And citizens of Vaughan call this number and by law will enforce this new update. Yeah. And you know, to me, as someone with a heart and a mind who's been walking around on this earth for nearly 50 years, when I see panhandlers, my instinct is to want to give. And I have to believe that the very first panhandler

was not a scammer. The very first panhandler was the sign of a system that was broken, right? That person fell through the cracks. And so we wanna help those who have fallen through the cracks. But your social media is making it very evident that this is not these.

It's somebody taking advantage of the worst possible scenario and trying to take advantage of our empathy and our willingness to want to do good. And I'm very glad to see, this is a really bad kind of scam, isn't it? Yeah, and it's not just happening in Vaughan, it's happening all over the GTA. And there's something else I'd like to tell everybody. If you want to help, why don't you just donate

to your local food bank? Yeah. Yeah. No, you're, you're, you're, you're absolutely right. But some people look, so I've, I'm stopped on the street, you know, when I'm driving and there's kids, someone at an intersection, if I have a toony on me, I'm going to flip it to the guy. Uh, that way, honestly, but it's also for self-preservation. That way, if I don't have any money, I don't feel bad about waving them away. Right. Okay. So that's one scam. So the police, if they encounter somebody who is panhandling, what are they going to be able to do now that they weren't able to do a few weeks ago? So the bylaw officers are the ones who are enforcing this city of bond bylaw,

and they can find them and ask them to move along. And they weren't able to do that before? Apparently not. This has been an update to the nuisance bylaw. There is something called the Ontario Safe Streets Act that's been around for years. Yeah. However, there were sections of that that were struck down recently. That's why they had to do it this way. How long have you been this kind of advocate? How long have you run your social media channels? How long have you said to yourself, this is my responsibility? So in 2019, I started a neighborhood watch group in Vaughan. It quickly grew to one of the largest in Canada. Then I had other communities asking me,

hey, can we join your neighborhood watch group on WhatsApp? And I said, well, you really can, it's for this community only. That's when I decided to start the Instagram and become a neighborhood watch group for everybody. Yeah, yeah, well, look, you got the Vaughn Civic Hero Award in 2023. And that's nice.

That's nice. I'd acknowledge one of your work. But the fact that the city then took the next step and put the rubber met the road and changed the bylaw, I got to assume that if you are weighing those things against each other, one is worth more than the other. Hey, I never did this for awards. I just want to do this to help people. In 2015, I was diagnosed with sarcoma. And I'm grateful to be here and thankful to my medical

team. And I decided what can I do to give back? And here we are. And now I'm noticing on social media that we're seeing more and more of a disturbing trend of people who are living their lives and just trying to go about being law abiding citizens parked at an intersection and scammers throwing themselves on the roofs of the car in the hopes of, I don't know what, an insurance scam? Yeah. So I've seen the videos and I highly recommend that everybody has a front and rear facing dash cam. Not just for this scam, but if you get hit, it can change the world for you with

your insurance company. Well, correct me if I'm wrong. In Teslas, anytime anything gets close to the car, the cameras are triggered, right? So you're automatically covered. And a lot of people do have them. I have to imagine that as these insurance scams become more and more prevalent, the insurance companies are going to sort of suggest to you that you get one or your premiums will go up. But I could see a world where dash cams become standard in every car at some point,

just like seat belts became standard. I totally agree. Yeah, yeah. Or they'll be or they'll be mandated by the insurance company. Yeah, no, exactly. And it's a shame that we've gotten to that point. But what do you attribute this this rise in grifters to? That's a good question. I can answer that better when it comes to general crime, but specifically to grifters. That's a good question. I can answer that better when it comes to general crime, but specifically to grifters, that's a good one. But

Well, go ahead. General criminals. Yeah. A lot of the crime. Listen, the police, I think police across Canada are doing an incredible job. I work closely with York Regional Police. They're amazing. They're making arrests every day.

They're doing their job. Yeah. amazing. They're making arrests every day. They're doing their job. Unfortunately, the broken system with Bill C 75 with this catch and release bail, these criminals, some of them have been arrested over 100 times. Yeah. Yeah. So if there's, if there's no, if there's no fear of incarceration and you get to go, you're out immediately and you just keep doing it. Why wouldn't you stop? and you get to go, you're out immediately and you just keep doing it again. Why wouldn't you stop? If it ain't broke, don't fix it.

Here's another one. You heard about this gun buyback program? Yeah. Well, it's not a gun buyback, it's a gun confiscation. See, law abiding Canadians never bought their guns from the government. So I don't know why they're calling it a gun buyback. That's a good point.

It's a gun confiscation. That's a good point. It's a gun confiscation. That's a very good point. This only targets law-abiding Canadians. Of course. Well, we saw the story of the three youth, technically youth, 15, 16, 17, last week with the 73 gun charges. And some of them had like, if they weren't fully

automatic weapons, they could be turned into fully automatic weapons. And they're out on bail and because of the Youth Criminal Justice Act we are we're not allowed to know who they are. So listen the system has the society has gotten it's less safe for sure for the everyday Canadian but people like you are doing your very best and we're very pleased to be able to highlight the good work that you've done. So Joe, thank you very much. And keep it up. Thank you. This podcast is sponsored by better help. If you've been following the news like really following it, you know how exhausting it can be politics, conflict, uncertainty. It's a lot to carry. And for many men, there's this expectation to stay calm, stay in control, and not talk

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the Ben Mulrooney show. And we want to talk about what we were talking about previously scammers on the streets of our cities, public nuisances pretending to be pretending to be panhandlers or the new one, which we're seeing pop up on social media. Cars parked at a red light at a big intersection and somebody just throwing themselves on the car and pretending that they got hit. And there's many, many more like that. You know, there, we know the story. Thanks to Joe Formusa, our previous guest of the women who were in an SUV. They dressed up to look poor. They faked a

disability. They fake a limp to get money. There is the violin guy. The OPP are called on him every week. He taps people's car with his violin wand. He parks his SUV at a Chuck E. Cheese. And then there's another group at Vaughan Mills. This is my favorite one, where they offer a scanner, like a tap to pay, so that people can tap and give them money. Like this is, this stuff is, these people are too dumb that it shouldn't work. But I think our empathy blinds us sometimes to critical thinking in those moments. You know, if somebody offered me a tap to pay,

just give them money and they say they're down on their luck. I'm sorry. Like, that is a non-starter. I always think to myself, I always find it really interesting when I see a homeless person with a cell phone. I get it. You know, some of them are not that expensive. And so they spend some of their money on a cell phone, but that always there's cognitive dissonance in a moment like that. And so I want to hear from you, do you have any experience with scammers and with panhandlers or this new trend that I think may lead us to a mandate for cars to have dash cams all the time?

And I got to wonder, by the way, I got to wonder if, you know, we've got car, we've got cameras in all of our cars. I've got an Audi, I've got an Audi, and it's got cameras all over the place. Cars have hard drives. We're always told that they are a computer on wheels. And maybe a simple over-the-air software patch by a car company like Audi could make it so that those cameras that are supposed to help us navigate parking lots could also be turned on any time a person throws themselves in a car company like Audi could make it so that those cameras that are supposed to help us navigate parking lots could also be turned on anytime a person throws themselves in front of the car. I don't know, just a suggestion I'm throwing out there. I'm sure somebody smarter than me could tell me why we can't do it. Let's start to open up the lines for 16870 6400 or one triple 8 2 2 5 talk. Let's say hi to Tony.

Tony, welcome to the Ben Mulroney Show. Hey, Ben. Long time listener and love your show, man. Thank you very much. So do you have any experience with a scammer? Yes. A few years back, I was doing some shopping and in a local mall.

And somebody just threw themselves right in my back area as I was backing out. And I go, there's no way that could exist. I was here. I didn't have a camera that time in that car. Yeah. And I was talking out. And I go there's no way that this guy was here. I didn't have a camera at the time in that car. Yeah. And I was talking to the person and then three or four people that were passing by there said, no, no, you threw yourself at that car. He didn't hit you. But luckily for people standing up.

Yeah. Or who knows what this guy would have wanted. Yeah. To get the whole thing cleared up. And so what happened in that moment? Did he stick around? Did you call the cops? Oh, man, he goes, you hit me. No, I was debating what to do. Call the cops, pay them out or whatever.

But these people came up and said, no, no, you threw yourself on that car. We saw you throw yourself. And so what did he do after that when he realized that the jig was up? He just backed down. He said to them, like, why are you guys getting involved and basically walked away?

Oh, he walked away. Oh, really? So for somebody for whom he had been injured so severely by a car, you would think he would have the courage of his convictions. I'm in the parking spot. I'm backing out. So I'm not even going a kilometer an hour. Yeah, no, of course. And not for nothing, in a parking lot, a parking lot is for cars, right? And in my opinion, the pedestrians in those moments need to be governing themselves accordingly. So regardless, I would have taken issue with anybody

saying I'd hit them. But now you've got cameras everywhere. I got the camera in the back camera, yeah. Hey, Tony, thanks for sharing. And I'm glad it worked out well for you. Let's say hi to Frank. Frank, thanks for calling in to the Ben in the back camera. Yeah. Hey Tony, thanks for sharing and I'm glad it worked out well for you. Let's say hi to Frank. Frank, thanks for calling in the Ben Mulroney show. Hey cameras could go either way.

I mean the police are still going to charge you and let the court sort it out. That's how it goes down. They're not going to decide on the spot. Is that true? I mean, but given the fact that we already have a glut of cases that are clogging up the courts, you don't think that they're going to, if they send every single complaint into the system, they're not going to hear from the powers that be at the next step saying, stop sending us garbage cases.

These are scammers. Do your work and investigate before you charge. The lawyers love them, cops love them. I don't. I don't. I mean, you don't charge on a complaint. You investigate a complaint and then you charge. Like, I would take issue with...

I'm not saying a lot of these scammers don't get their day in court. I'm challenging your belief that a scammer who complains automatically, it's a knee-jerk reaction. I think you're not giving enough credit to the cops. They are duty-bound to investigate. No, they're not. Yes, they are. No, they have a agenda.

Of course they are. No, no, no, no. No, Frank, if I take what you say as gospel, then we actually have no need for the cops to be called. That all the scammer has to do is go directly to the courts to get their day in court. That is not true. I challenge it. I reject it. But thank you very much, Frank. Thank you for the call. Who do we have? Diana, thank you for calling in. Good morning. Good morning. Yes. Beautiful sunny day after Canada Day. Yes, indeed. Yes. My daughter drives in the city. She works a lot. And she says that,

and it's true, look at the people's feet that are panhandling. If they have good shoes, good, expensive shoes, they don't need the money. Yeah, also their shoes need to look like they live on the streets, right? Exactly. Like they gotta have to be really worn, just because they could easily scuff up some shoes. But if they don't look like, you're right, I've looked as well. And the story of that person is told with each step that they take and the puddles that they take and you know the puddles

that they've stood in and the the salt and the grit that resides in the fibers of that that shoe and just putting a little dirt on it that's the difference between my kids shoes and and a true panhandler shoes it's a very good tip and I appreciate that thank you very much very hard to fake fake the shoes and like I said dirty shoes do not make a panhandler. Really, what? We've got to teach these children that are in kindergarten to be able to work, help out, and that they're not entitled to extracurricular. It's a bonus. But they've got to learn

or curricular. Yeah, it's a bonus. But they've got to learn at a very young age prior to school. Yeah. Life is not a silver spoon. Yeah, no, I get it. Hey, Diana, thank you very much. We got time for one last call. Let's hide it. Tim, Tim, welcome to the show. Hey, how you doing? I'm good. Thanks. Love your show, Ben. Thank you very much. Just telling the screener, you know, I was going to the gym and I see this guy at the corner of Dixie and Dundas every single day and he's got full body tats, that's 30 grand. He's wearing Masio camouflage suit and backpack. I'm an outdoorsman.

I know how much that stuff costs. He's got his Nike running shoes on. And so one day I just decided to watch him. I parked across the street and I followed him. He went behind one of the Popeye chickens, grabbed his laptop out of his knapsack and decided to do his emails while he's on the cell phone. And I confronted him and I said,

hey buddy, I thought you were down and you're out. Down and out. And he said, look at, you know, F you, F this, F that. Like, you know, then I thought, well, this guy got to do something to me. I would have loved to have been able to do something to him, but obviously I was raised right. Yeah. But you know, I was telling the screener we were raised relatively poor, eight kids. My dad would never have fought to do anything

like that. And he would never have promoted that. He wouldn't come out of his grave right now. It's flattening silly. Well, listen, I, and listen, I think, I think you, I think you, you're, you're, you're, your instincts were right. Look, the tattoos don't, don't necessarily mean anything to me because he could have gotten the tattoos when life was good. And then now he found himself down on his luck. The computer on the other hand, that's a bit much. Like I said, there are cheap cell phones out there, so I can appreciate that. You know, you want to stay in touch with people in your lives, but we got to go. Thank you to everybody for calling. to give you to get you out of that house. This one has to stay. This one has to go or we go. What do you think of the house?

I hate it. Okay, so I have a little bit of work to do. Design expert Paige Turner joins David as they ask homeowners the all important question. Are you gonna love it? Or are you going to list it? You wanna tell them? Love it or list it.

All new Sunday at nine. On Home Network. Stream on STAC TV and the Global TV app.