Fair play among the candidates

Italian election debate showcases Italian-Canadians

Three questions, and sixty seconds to answer them: the candidates running in Italy's general election faced off last week for a round-table debate held at the offices of Corriere Canadese/Tandem.
Almost all of them attended. Gino Bucchino arrived early with a few assistants; shortly thereafter, the other two centre-left candidates for Canada - Rocco Di Trolio and Giovanni Rapanà - joined him. Greetings, handshakes, and the smell of freshly-made espresso filled the air. Vittorio Coco and Paolo Canciani - running for UDC - arrived escorted by Paolo Catuzzi, who co-ordinates their campaigns. Carlo Consiglio, who runs for a Senate seat for Lista Tremaglia, was smiling; Paolo Ariemma, representing Forza Italia, less so. Two more candidates (Guido Renzi for Lega Nord and Anna Colarusso for Lista Tremaglia) were linked from Montréal over the phone.

Loyal to the Party or to the Community?
Angelo Persichilli, political editor of Corriere Canadese, explained the rules. The first question was for Giovanni Rapanà: how would you behave if your parliamentary group were to take decisions running against the interests of North-American Italians?
The candidate of Unione did not hesitate. "The first objective is to protect our constituency, always trying to mediate. It should also be said," added Rapanà, "that we have fought for equality with the other MPs. It will be hard to stray from our communities, but it would be wrong to close up among ourselves."
Gino Bucchino, also running for Unione, corrected Rapanà. "Actually, we did not have to fight to be recognized as equal," he remarked. "Our status is guaranteed by the Constitution. I am opposed to creating a 'foreign caucus'. I'd rather have whomever gets elected to advocate our issues within his or her own party."
"We are not a Native reserve," agreed Di Trolio. "We cannot afford to remain isolated."
From the opposite side, Consiglio said the opposite. "I hope that MPs and senators representing Italians who live abroad will not disperse. Until now, the Parliament passed laws about us without solving our problems. We must stay together and present a united front, not just with MPs and senators from our riding, but with all those elected abroad."
Two diametrically opposed positions that other candidates tried to reconcile.
"Undoubtedly, our constituents will be our priority," said Ariemma. "We must be their strong and clear voice. The voters will have to choose those who can best play this role."
Vittorio Coco appealed to cohesion among MPs elected abroad. "We must act a s a strong lobby. While remaining within our respective parties, we can find agreements on specific issues." Paolo Canciani said, "a candidate has one duty: defending the community, the reality of those who live outside Italy." Anna Colarusso and Guido Renzi followed suit, declaring the supremacy of the community on party lines.

What is being proposed for the economy?
"The UDC program includes trade. This is an issue that concerns both North and South America, and we have the solution." Vittorio Coco claimed to have clear ideas on this, yet his reply dodged the second question: how can Italy-Canada trade be improved? Which sectors should be at the forefront?
"It's a delicate sector that must be adequately supported," argued Bucchino. "There is a strong network of Italian entrepreneurs and institutions; we intend to give it an effective co-ordination. This should be our task: making Italy realize the rich patrimony lying outside its borders." For Rocco Di Trolio, "this task will have to invest the Regions, the Italian Trade Commission offices and the Chambers of Commerce, with particular regard for technology, young entrepreneurs and DOC products."
Canciani tabled the issue of tourism. "Tourism must be boosted through significant marketing initiatives," said the UDC candidate. "It is Italy's greatest patrimony. However, the Italian institutions in this sector should be pruned and made more effective. For instance, why not put our youth to work on it?"
Guido Renzi jumped in over the phone. "We must do everything possible to enhance the initiatives of exporters and importers. But the key of all this is the diffusion of our culture. I see it every day, people are madly in love with Italy, we should take advantage of this."
Paolo Ariemma took a different tack. "I wonder whether I'm facing the same people of ten minutes ago. You've said that you would do everything for your community, but then nobody mentioned Canada when discussing economic issues. We must open a channel between Italy and Canada, favouring our companies on the European market. Otherwise, our proclamations will remain words on paper."
According to Giovanni Rapanà, Italy should invest more on youth, research and innovation. "Right now, Italy is unable to keep its brightest youth, to stem the brain drain. We might facilitate business by cutting down on risks: we know these territories, and could make it easier to reach the North American market."
For Anna Colarusso, information technology will play a fundamental role.

Family, Civil Unions and Marriage
The issue of PACS (civil unions) has fanned the flames of the Italian campaign. The same happened during the debate at Corriere Canadese. The two coalitions, with some internal shades, saw the Unione in favour and the centre-right against them.
"As a Catholic," said Rapanà, "I'm all for the traditional marriage. Family is only the union between a man and a woman. But the fact remains that there are many different situations, and the Parliament should make laws about them."
Ariemma agreed with Rapanà. "I'm in favour of family, clearly, but de facto couples must also be protected. There is nothing to be gained from marginalizing them." Di Trolio and Bucchino praised their opponent. "We are all in favour of families," said the former, "but all over the civilized world things have changed. Everybody should enjoy the same civil rights, married people as well as unmarried couples."
"I am a citizen of a secular state," added Bucchino. "Italy must protect everybody equally. This does not mean that we are ready for same-sex marriages. Far from it; maybe it will take us another century."
Carlo Consiglio broke with the line of fair play and declared himself openly against same-sex marriages.
"Those who say they are in favour of family cannot be in favour of anything else," he claimed. "Any recognition of anything else jeopardizes the family. Italian law already includes protections for de facto couples; changing the Constitution would be a huge mistake."
UDC candidates nodded and tried to highlight the diversity of opinions within the Unione. "I come from a Catholic family," remarked Coco. "I respect gays but family is something else."

The Final Appeal
The discussion on civil unions would have continued but time was running short. The final appeal was a handful of seconds to convince voters to do the right thing. The atmosphere was tense but friendly enough, everything considered. TV cameras recorded the closing words of the debate.
The final note saw the Italian-Canadian candidates once again united, across party lines. "Let's send Rome someone smart and able: that's the only way to protect the interests of our community."


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The rules of the debate

The debate among the candidates running in Italy's election, held last week at Corriere Canadese, received attention even from English-language national media. The Toronto Star ran a story by Christian Cotroneo, who had attended the debate. Global TV's Darrwl Konynenbelt covered the round table in that station's evening newscast, and CBC journalist Peter Wall prepared a special that went on air a few days later.
The debate featured nine participants. Gino Bucchino, Giovanni Rapanà and Rocco Di Trolio (all three running with the Unione: the first two for the Chamber of Deputies, the third for the Senate); Vittorio Coco and Paolo Canciani (UDC: the former for the Senate, the latter for the Chamber); Paolo Ariemma, running for Forza Italia. Carlo Consiglio, candidate senator for Lista Tremaglia; by phone, from Montreal, Guido Renzi (Lega Nord) and Anna Colarusso (candidate MP for Lista Tremaglia).
The event was hosted by Angelo Persichilli, political editor of Corriere Canadese. In his opening remarks, Persichilli explained the rules of the debate.
Three questions were posed to the candidates, each of whom was allowed a one-minute reply. The order of reply was decided by random draw and reversed with every question. Following every round of replies, the candidates were given 15 minutes to debate freely. Here are the three questions, in the order followed by Angelo Persichilli.
Once elected, you will be part of a parliamentary party group. How will you behave in case of a divergence between the interests of your parliamentary group and those of this community?
Reading interviews about your electoral programs, we noticed many promises about social issues, e.g. pensions, and the development of cultural initiatives. We noticed few programs concerning Italy-Canada trade, a sector of great interest for our youth.
One of the issues that highlighted the difference between centre-right and centre-left is the so-called "PACS", the pacts of civil solidarity. This is a legislative formula regulating de facto unions - including between people of the same sex - already adopted by several European countries. What do you think about this?

Publication Date: 2006-04-02
Story Location: http://tandemnews.com/viewstory.php?storyid=6125