P.E.I. takes aim at outlaw motorcycle gangs setting up in province
Police say they have seen an increased presence in Atlantic Canada of gangs such as the Hells Angels.

thestar.com
By Peter Edwards
Jan. 19, 2017

The P.E.I. government says it is moving to block outlaw motorcycle clubs like the Hells Angels from setting up on the Island.

The announcement comes as some local bikers have begun wearing patches with “Woodbridge” on them, announcing their connection to the Hells Angels chapter from Woodbridge, Ont.

“We certainly don’t want to see them in our neck of the woods, trying to set up shop,” RCMP Cpl. Andy Cook said in an interview.

Members of the new “hangaround” chapter who are sporting the patches that say “Woodbridge” aren’t full-fledged Hells Angels, but police are concerned they may grow into a full chapter of the international club.

Only bikers who have been voted into the club are allowed to wear the club’s distinctive winged skull patch.

Last summer, police said that Hells Angels from Woodbridge hosted a party in Charlottetown in honour of the new support club.

“This chapter is all made up of Prince Edward Island residents and they’re attached to the Woodbridge parent chapter,” Cook said.

Cook said the island province now has two chapters of the Bacchus Motorcycle Clubs, and four smaller clubs.

Premier Wade MacLauchlan, who is also the province’s justice minister, told a news conference in Charlottetown on Thursday that he is looking at ways to ban gang colours in bars, block the construction of fortified buildings and regulate the sale of body armour.

The government moves come as an increased number of Quebec Hells Angels are seen in the Maritimes.

For the past seven years, a large number of Hells Angels members have been behind bars or under strict court-imposed recognizance after a police sweep in Quebec and New Brunswick.

Now they’re back on the streets and flexing their muscles, police say.

“They’re out and they’re making sure everybody knows they’re out,” Cook said.

“Here in Prince Edward Island we have an opportunity to perhaps nip it in the bud,” he added.

The Hells Angels no longer have an East Coast spokesperson and their West Coast spokesperson declined to comment.

“This is the first I’ve heard of it,” Rick Ciarnello said from Vancouver. “I have nothing to say about it. I’d be speaking in a vacuum.”

The Bacchus Motorcycle Club and Outlaws Motorcycle Club also declined to comment.