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Feb 23 - March 2,2003 |
An Italian-Canadian Family Affair
Giuseppe Villani and his two daughters rewrite Pension Act through years of fighting
By Nancy MacLeod
Originally Published: 2003-02-09
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Giuseppe Villani, Sandra and Marisa
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Giuseppe Villani did not know what he would accomplish for all Canadians in his quest for disability payments. Persisting against roadblocks, indignities and injustices, he and his family railed against the system over a period of years. What resulted has become known as the "Villani Decision", which has precipitated important changes in the Pension Act, taking an applicant's age, experience and education into account.
Villani came to Toronto at the age of 16 from the Abruzzo region of Italy in 1955. He found work immediately, at first with some terrible low-paying jobs but steadily found better work. He and his wife Maria, also from Abruzzo, raised a family of five children. During this time he also became active in politics, campaigning so vigorously for the local Liberal candidate during the 1963 federal election that Lester Pearson asked to meet him, shaking his hand at a speech the future PM made at Maple Leaf Gardens. Pearson even made mention of Villani's efforts of placing Liberal signs on almost all of the yards on his street in downtown Toronto, joking that "It is not necessary to live on Palmerston Avenue to be a Liberal."
In 1963 he was hired by Rothman's, where he rose from labourer to operator to finally machine adjuster, where he remained until the company's closure in December 1986. "That was a difficult day for me," Villani remembers.
He suffered a workplace injury in 1969 and further damage to his knee that resulted in a series of operations in 1974-75. After Rothman's closure he finally got some workman's compensation (which does not automatically entitle one to CPP disability) but still looked for other employment.
In 1991 Villani saw Dr. Joseph McKenna, who upon examining him said he should no longer be working. In addition to the knee problem, Villani also suffered from a cervical spine problem, had blurred vision and was hard of hearing. Still wanting to work, however, he obtained his Ontario Real Estate Licence. It, however, proved too physically demanding. To do it well "it's not a lazy job," Villani explains, and it was extremely hard on his knee, shoulders, and eyes.
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