Paul Manning: Ontario has become one of the most corrupt jurisdictions in the developed world

Paul Manning is a former soldier and police officer turned author and self-described lamplighter. He draws on his experiences detailed in the bestselling memoir 'Ten Seventy Eight' to expose entrenched corruption and misconduct in Ontario's policing institutions. His posts frequently recount specific, firsthand allegations of sexual impropriety, grooming, and institutional cover-ups among officers, sparking widespread engagement on themes of accountability.

Lesser-known details reveal a culture where loyalty prioritizes protecting colleagues' misdeeds over public safety, often leaving whistleblowers isolated.

At his X handle @mobinfiltrator, here's Paul Manning recent comment on corruption and organized crime in Ontario: 

Ontario has become one of the most corrupt jurisdictions in the developed world. That is a conclusion formed through direct experience, not opinion.

I arrived in Ontario in 2005 and went straight into undercover operations targeting organized crime, including the Mafia and the Hells Angels. What I found was not just organized crime operating in isolation, but a system where corruption, influence, and institutional protection were far more deeply embedded than the public would ever believe, at that time.

Now I think the public can see wrongdoing, but sadly have just come to accept that’s the way it is. Corruption in developed jurisdictions is more sophisticated. It’s Conflicts of Interest; It’s decisions not to pursue investigations; Its files quietly closed or forgotten; It’s crimes reclassified as “policy violations” instead of criminal conduct; Its politicians redesignating protected public lands for builder friends; It’s senior officials protecting institutions instead of protecting the public. 

I’ve worked in and alongside police agencies in countries widely described as “third world,” where corruption was overt and visible. The difference there was honesty about its existence. In Ontario, corruption often hides behind bureaucracy, procedure, and public relations. The system maintains the appearance of integrity while quietly neutralizing threats to itself. The most disturbing reality is this: the people responsible for accountability are often structurally dependent on the same institutions they are supposed to oversee. 

For example: since the revelations of Toronto officers being charged with offences ranging from selling intelligence to conspiring to murder, Doug Ford, after announcing a province-wide enquiry has gone on a whistle stop tour of almost every police department, shaking hands with police chiefs, posting pictures online, offering support. I’ve said before, if we believe the inquiry is fake, we’ll also believe the results to be fake. When leadership controls careers, promotions, and internal investigations, true accountability becomes rare. Unfortunately, this is especially true in policing. 

This is not a criticism of frontline officers. Most serve honourably, and I can attest, it’s a hard job. This is about institutional culture, leadership, and governance failures that allow misconduct, conflicts, and abuses of power to persist without consequence. Public trust is not destroyed by speaking about corruption. It is destroyed by corruption itself, and by systems that protect it. Ontario has every advantage. The fact corruption persists here is not due to lack of capability. It is due to lack of accountability at the highest levels. 

Until the law applies equally to those in power, corruption will not disappear. It will simply remain hidden behind the badge, the politician or the institution.