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Oct. 5 - Oct. 12, 2003 |
Fewer Italian-Canadian Candidates
A total of 29 hopefuls of Italo origin are running in upcoming provincial elections
By Angelo Persichilli
Originally Published: 2003-09-21
In the coming Provincial election, which will be held on October 2, the Italian-Canadian platoon is quite large; however, there is a downward trend in numbers, especially within the NDP.
Twenty-nine Italian-Canadian candidates will run in the October election, out of a total of 436. The lion's share runs for the Liberals (15), then come the Tories (seven) and NDP (two). Five more run for minor parties. The 29 candidates include Liberal MP Tony Ruprecht, whose mother came from Italy, and Cesar Martello, who was born in Argentina but had a grandparent of Italian origin.
Far seems the time when NDP dominated the Italian-Canadian field in Ontario.
The peak came in 1975, when NDP brought to Queen's Park the so-called "three musketeers": Odoardo Di Santo, Tony Lupusella, and Tony Grande. They got re-elected in 1977, and in order to find an Italian-Canadian in the Liberal caucus one had to wait until 1981, when Michele Spensieri became an MPP.
The first surprise came in 1985, when the charismatic leader of Italian-Canadian New Democrats, Di Santo, was defeated by Joe Cordiano.
Seven Italian-Canadian Grits won seats in Queen's Park in that election, versus only two running with NDP.
In 1987, David Peterson's Liberals won a "shutout" and got 11 Italian-Canadians elected. The New Democrats responded in 1990, electing six MPPs while the Liberals got cut in half.
In 1995, under Mike Harris, the first Italian-Canadian Tories entered Queen's Park. The small group, four MPPs, was led by the late Al Palladini. These four grew to six in 1999, while the Liberals elected nine of their own. The NDP only managed to elect Rosario Marchese.
The highest number of Italian-Canadian candidates was recorded in the 1995 election: 49, 20 of which in the Liberal Party alone.
The decrease in this year's election is mostly due to the reduction in the number of candidates running for minor parties. Both in 1995 and 1999 these parties lined up 15 candidates of Italian origin. This year there are only five. They include Giuseppe Gori, the energetic president of the Family Coalition Party of Ontario, running in Halton; this party also includes another Italian-Canadian, Antonio Ieraci, running in Scarborough-Agincourt.
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