Welcome to the Canadian National Multilingual News Group (CNMNG). This is a project made possible through funding by Canadian Heritage. CNMNG aims to gather news researched and written by a corps of Canadian-based journalists/writers from the country’s multilingual community groups. The overall goal is to inform, analyze and critique the issues of the day in a professional manner and to provide that to publishers and editors active in the ethnocultural-multilingual press and media whose experience provides them with a perspective that is sensitive to news relevant to their own language group.
TORONTO – La lotta agli incendi, che stanno mettendo in ginocchio British Columbia e Northwest Territories, non conosce pause. I vigili del fuoco continuano a combattere una serie di roghi significativi nel sud della British Columbia. Secondo il BC Wildfire Service sono 325 i pompieri dispiegati nell’incendio di Bush Creek East nella regione di Shuswap, mentre il fumo pesante nell’area continua a impedire l’uso di bombardieri ad ala fissa per combattere il rogo… Read More in Corriere Canadese >>>
TORONTO – Over the past twenty-four hours, the Greenbelt case has come back into the spotlight: first the resignation of Ryan Amato, chief of staff to the Ontario housing minister, then the decision of the OPP (the Provincial Police of Ontario) to send the file relating to the Greenbelt to the RCMP and, finally, the opening of an investigation by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) itself which will now “flea” the project relating to the management of the green belt (Greenbelt) of Ontario by the government led by Doug Ford whose intentions are to build new homes where until now it was impossible to do so due to the rules protecting certain green areas (those, in fact, included in the Greenbelt ). (more…)
TORONTO – When the Chinese President, Xi Jinping last visited Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow in March 2023, these two authoritarian strongmen reaffirmed their strategic alignment against the United States of America and touted their vision for a new world order no longer dominated by the West. Therefore, obviously the Chinese leader will bolster Beijing’s influence among developing and emerging nations in the ensuing BRICS (an economic alliance, comprising Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa) summit in Johannesburg’s financial district of Sandton, South Africa, since his ties with the United States remain deeply strained and economic troubles bubble up at home.
TORONTO – This is what the new Ontario Place will look like. The Austrian resort company ‘Therme’, which signed a long-term lease agreement with the Province of Ontario earlier this year ahead of the construction of the new ‘spa’, announced updated plans today, also to respond to public criticism of the company’s original plans. Updated projects that therefore incorporate the feedback received from public meetings and the various improvement proposals that have arrived in recent months from many quarters.
MONTREAL – The housing crisis seems to have no solution. Not even the most drastic of initiatives, such as the one undertaken by the Mayor of Montreal, Valérie Plante, has yielded results. (more…)
TORONTO – It is an oasis of serenity and meditation – a spiritual experience – where Sheppard Avenue meets Weston Rd. The pictures on this page and the video on our digital sites do not do the Shrine justice. If you do not go there now, you will miss an experience that may slip by forever.
TORONTO – Covid-19 infections could slowly start to rise again in Canada: this is what emerges from new data from the Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC): there are signs of continued fluctuations in some indicators of COVID-19 activity after a long period of gradual decline, the agency’s online epidemiological update reported on Tuesday. This could be an early sign of increased activity, an activity that is still low to moderate in the provinces and territories, the update specifies. But Dr. Allison McGeer, an infectious disease specialist at Mount Sinai Hospital in Toronto, points out that cases of Covid-19 are also on the rise in the United States and in other parts of the world, as other experts have already noted a few days ago.
TORONTO – Conservatives are asking the House of Commons Committee on Procedure and Home Affairs (PROC) to resume its probe into foreign election interference in Canada, which has been stalled since the House of Commons went on vacation for the summer. (more…)
TORONTO – Liberal MPs have been skittish lately. Polls, internal family issues at the top and Cabinet overhaul have left them distracted. Some of them are giving it one last try to secure a Cabinet or Parliamentary Secretary position while waiting for what will be another, inevitable, pre-election shuffle.
TORONTO – By all accounts, Richard Bilkszto was a good person: recognized for his dedication to the obligations of his profession as a teacher and as a principal. He was also a co-founding member of the local [Ontario] chapter of a North American Foundation Against Intolerance and Racism (FAIR).
TORONTO – With the number of immigrants increasing yearly, it would appear that Canada is in ever-increasing need to establish an ethic, an identity to which all newcomers can [eventually] define as their own. The task for integrating those new residents and future citizens is left largely to the provincial authorities and their creature jurisdictions – the local school boards. Catholic boards have an autonomous authority in the constitution although they too pay service to the Provincial authority over the secular curriculum.
TORONTO – Rumors galore about a cabinet shuffle: Backbenchers giddy with anticipation, Ministers trying hard to quell their personal tensions about being “dropped” (how can the country survive without them?). (more…)
Senator Loffreda is in Italy this month to take part in the Walk for Remembrance and Peace in honor of the 80th anniversary of Operation Husky. So far, the Walk has been quite successful, well-received throughout Sicily and generating much interest. The Senator wrote about his experience in this column.
TORONTO – What we have been smelling in recent weeks in Toronto is not just the “smell of smoke”. There is that acrid “aftertaste” of plastic and, unfortunately, it’s not just an impression: experts confirm it. (more…)
TORONTO – Panfilo Colonico, the 49-year-old chef born in Toronto, originally from Sulmona (L’Aquila, Italy) and kidnapped in Ecuador a week ago, has been freed. “I’m fine and the police are listening to me. It wasn’t a movie”, were the first words of “Benny the Italian”, well known in Ecuador where he had success with the restaurant “Il Sabore Mio” which opened some time ago in Guayaquil, in the Province of Guayas. (more…)
FREDERICTON – There is a tug of war in New Brunswick between some school districts (DEC: District Education Council) and the provincial (conservative) government which has introduced a ban on teachers and school staff from using the name and pronoun chosen by students under 16 who have doubts about their gender identity, unless their parents consent. (more…)
TORONTO – She is the great loser of these elections: Ana Bailão. It’s her, because she had all the credentials to win, from the first to the last, but maybe she didn’t manage to play them well, even though it is evident that she, personally, gave her all. But what were her aces up her sleeve? (more…)
TORONTO – Olivia Chow has been elected Mayor of Toronto, becoming the first woman to lead post-amalgamation Toronto.
TORONTO – The disappearance of Panfilo Colonico, the Italian-Canadian kidnapped on Friday afternoon by an alleged “commando” from his restaurant in Ecuador and disappeared into thin air is a real “whodunit”. The 49-year-old man was taken by two people, armed and dressed as policemen, with machine guns in hand and with two accomplices waiting for them outside the restaurant “Il Sabore Mio” in Guayaquil, in the Province of Guayas, in Ecuador. (more…)
TORONTO – It’s summer time: the call of barbecues (or, for the lucky ones, Caribbean beaches) is too strong and even “Chinese interference” can wait. Thus, on Wednesday, as if nothing had happened, all the parties (including those of the opposition, “hard and pure” until the day before yesterday) agreed to close the doors of the House of Commons starting next Wednesday: we’ll talk about it again in September. (more…)
TORONTO – Tourism to Canada is in crisis: this was declared by the head of the Tourism Industry Association of Canada, according to which – as reported by Global News – companies in the sector are struggling to stay afloat and not drown in a sea of debt caused by the shortage of foreign visitors. A concern confirmed by a survey conducted between April and May by Nanos – online, on a sample of 149 accountants of tourism companies – according to which about 45% of operators could close within three years, unless the government intervenes to adjust the terms of the loans.
TORONTO – Congratulations to CP-24 for convincing their viewers to hang around for two- and one-half hours of “debate”. They should fire the “experts” they claim to have used in structuring the debate format.
TORONTO – Almost noone wants them, practically all the candidates for mayor promise to wipe them out, but the City of Toronto continues to build new ones: we are talking about the bike lanes, which have “invaded” the city in recent years, throwing it into chaos and which, brace yourselves, will increase. (more…)
MILAN – Silvio Berlusconi’s coffin traveled the 33 kilometers that separate Villa San Martino in Arcore and Piazza Duomo in Milan between two wings of the crowd that welcomed the passage of “The Knight” as one does with cycling champions, with applause and placards. In the central square of Milan, there were at least ten thousand people waiting for him, half of those estimated due to the restrictions decided at the last moment for security reasons. (more…)
TORONTO – Hundreds of fires, many of them out of control, and smoke everywhere. Canada is in full emergency and the alarm does not spare the GTA, where air quality will not improve at least until tomorrow. (more…)
TORONTO – An unprecedented emergency. Canada could see a “record” level of burnt area this year: nine provinces and territories are already currently battling wildfires that have forced the evacuation of more than 100,000 people across the country since early May, government officials said today, showing wildfire risks are set to rise this month and remain “unusually high” throughout the summer in Canada. (more…)
TORONTO – The York Catholic District School Board (YCDSB) decision to uphold its longstanding policy regarding flags and procedures for changing Board policies, prompted a series of responses in the Golden Horseshoe and beyond.
TORONTO – The “political theater” on foreign interference continues on the stage of the Canadian House of Commons. Main interpreters, the leader of the NDP Jagmeet Singh and the special rapporteur David Johnston commissioned by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau (director) to evaluate whether or not it was the case to open a public inquiry into the pressure that China would have exerted on some Canadian politicians to influence the country’s politics.
TORONTO – The NDP leader Jagmeet Singh keeps two things going at the same time: on the one hand, he presents a motion to invite David Johnston (special rapporteur on foreign interference in Canada, appointed by Justin Trudeau) to step aside, and to ask for a public inquiry (denied first by Trudeau and then by Johnston himself); on the other, he reiterated his unconditional support for the minority government of the Liberals. “Before sending Canadians to the polls, their confidence in the electoral process must be restored”, is Singh’s justification. (more…)
TORONTO – There is a limit to it: Jagmeet Singh, leader of the NDP and “crutch” of the minority government led by Justin Trudeau, must have thought that when he decided to present a motion inviting the special rapporteur on Chinese interference, David Johnston, a trusted man of the Prime Minister, to “step aside” after the decision not to recommend the opening of a public inquiry into Beijing’s influence on Canadian politics. (more…)
TORONTO – The City wants to cash in: due to a budget deficit totaling nearly $1 billion, Toronto has in fact invited residents and businesses to urge the Canadian government to “pay back previous funding commitments for the City”. (more…)
Today, Corriere Canadese is publishing another interview on the contending candidates seeking election as Mayor of Toronto. 102 individuals have registered with the Elections Office at City Hall, and the Italian newspaper will not be able to give all of them the coverage they might like, so it proposes, but will not be limited to, interviewing interested candidates whom “the polls” suggest may garner at least 4% of the votes.
TORONTO – A smart city, with simple solutions for big problems. But, first of all, no Torontonians’ money anymore to the Province: “With me as a Mayor, the 2.2 billion dollars we give yearly to the Province will stay here, in Toronto. I’m not giving all that money to the Province anymore”.
TORONTO – Not true, really. No; I am not pouring salt on the wounds of Maple Leafs hockey fans. Like many pre-teen and teen-age boys my age, at the time, I lived at the local outdoor, city-run, ice hockey arena.
TORONTO – There is no doubt: Toronto voters will be spoiled for choice on June 26 when they’ll go to the polls to choose their city’s next mayor. The nominations for the extraordinary by-election to choose a new mayor, following the resignation of John Tory, officially closed at 2pm on Friday and according to the City’s website there are 102 registered candidates: current and former city councilors, former parliamentarians and deputies, civic activists, school administrators but also many ordinary people who probably just want to “see the effect” having their name on the ballot paper. A card that promises to be mileage, given the number of names it will contain. (more…)
Today, Corriere Canadese is publishing its second interview on the contending candidates seeking election as Mayor of Toronto. As yesterday, 80 individuals have registered with the Elections Office at City Hall. Qualified candidates needed to provide at a minimum: 1. Proof of Canadian citizenship 2. Proof of a residence or business in Toronto 3. Endorsement from at least 25 other fellow citizens 4. $200.00.
When the registration process closes on May 12, Corriere Canadese will publish a list of those who still allow their name to stand. In the meantime, the Italian newspaper proposes, but will not be limited to, interviewing interested candidates whom “the polls” suggest may garner at least 4% of the votes. In the last election, only 29% of eligible voters cast a ballot.
I admit to holding the concept that mankind (womankind, humankind, peoplekind) possesses two distinct characteristics: a body and soul – instinct and free will. The latter being the innate (if one is in a state of sound mental health) ability to make a deliberate choice when faced with an alternative, and to accept responsibility for it.
TORONTO – HATE is “le mot du jour”. The vocabulary of the woke tars those in disagreement with “practitioners” of that nebulous ideology as haters. A recent province-wide election concerning the governance structure of more than 57,000 lawyers and 10,000 paralegals practicing in Ontario produced some interesting results.
TORONTO – An average of 23,000 more dollars in the pockets of federal public employees by the end of the agreement (therefore by 2024) which ended the strike of over 155,000 workers in recent days: a clear victory for PSAC (Public Service Alliance of Canada), the union that cornered the federal government, wresting excellent contractual conditions from the Treasury Board and the Canada Revenue Agency for its members. (more…)
TORONTO – The Canadian federal government ignores Chinese threats and “stalls” so as not to compromise its – economic – interests with China. This, in summary, is the thought of Conservative MP Michael Chong, who denounced a Chinese campaign against him and his family in Hong Kong, urging the Canadian government to “take decisive action”, starting with the expulsion of the Chinese diplomat in Toronto who was allegedly involved in the plot. (more…)
TORONTO – The vast majority of PSAC federal civil servants have returned to work, but for some 35,000 unionized employees of the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA), the mobilization continues: even today, workers remained on pickets (in the pic above, from Twitter – @Pattycoates), having not yet reached an agreement to the contract. The strike is leading to delays in processing tax and benefit returns, especially those submitted in paper format, as well as increased wait times at contact centres. (more…)
TORONTO – May I, the start of Mental health month. Last week – it seems like yesterday – the minister for Education held a “back to basics” and “meritocracy” press conference to tout the Ontario government’s “new priorities”. The “old ones” that overlooked accountability, performance and teaching as a vocation have a litany of verifiable failures.
TORONTO – In many countries of the world, today – May 1st – was the Day of Workers. Not in Canada, where it falls on the first Monday in September (Labour Day). But, ironically, an agreement was reached just today between the Public Service Alliance of Canada (PSAC) – whose over 120,000 workers had been on strike since last April 19 – and the Treasury Board. However, the 35,000 employees of the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) remain on strike: unlike other federal civil servants, CRA’s workers have not yet reached an agreement with the government. (more…)
TORONTO – The strike action of the PSAC (Public Service Alliance of Canada), which mobilizes over 155,000 federal civil servants throughout the country, intensifies: today, the “feds” increased the presence of pickets, particularly in Ottawa, limiting access to federal buildings and temporarily halting traffic on an inter-provincial bridge. (more…)
TORONTO – More than 155,000 federal civil servants have returned to “picket lines” in various Canadian cities after weekend contract talks failed to produce a deal to end one of the largest strikes in Canadian history. (more…)
TORONTO – The weight of the hardships increases. The strike by federal civil servants – which shows no signs of ending – is disrupting services across the country, starting with the one relating to passports. “My best advice to Canadians is not to apply for the document at this time because it simply won’t be processed,” said Karina Gould, minister for families, children and social development. “So if you needed that document, they wouldn’t be able to provide it until after the strike action is over,” the minister said in an interview with Eric Sorensen on ‘The West Block Sunday’ broadcast on Global News. (more…)
TORONTO – Kuné means “Together” in Esperanto, the language created by the Warsaw-based ophthalmologist Ludwik Lejzer Zamenhof in 1887, who intended to create the universal language for international communication. So, what better word (and language) to name an orchestra made up of elements from every corner of the world?
TORONTO – Ordinary Canadians struggle to make ends meet, amid skyrocketing prices, impossible rents, inflation and interest rates at the highest levels. And what does the Prime Minister do? “Set an example”, spending about 160,000 public dollars – between security and costs of personnel who have to move in the event of a trip by a PM – for a week-long family vacation in Jamaica during the winter, in a luxurious estate (“Prospect Villas”) belonging to a wealthy family friend, Peter Green, who two years ago also made a substantial donation to the Pierre Elliott Trudeau Foundation. (more…)
TORONTO – Sunday, April 16, Orthodox [Eastern Rite] Christians celebrate Easter. Nominal Christian politicos who missed the Western Rite [i.e.., Catholic] Easter because the Easter Bunny and Egg Hunts kept them out of religious ceremonies were able to make a show of respect to communities that still hold true to their religious beliefs.
TORONTO – As an Endowment Fund, the Trudeau Foundation is pretty small potatoes compared to the Endowment funds established by universities to accomplish similar objectives. This is so even considering the $125 Million infusion by the Government of Canada, in perpetuity (more on this later).
OTTAWA – Testifying before the House Committee on Friday, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s chief of staff Katie Telford offered few new insights into the foreign interference issue, even as documents provided to lawmakers revealed the dates of high-ranking intelligence briefings provided to the Prime Minister on this matter between 2018 and 2023. (more…)
TORONTO – A “key” trustee in the wokist movement to eliminate Catholic schools from within, or to supplant the Catholic ethic with one of their own, finally appeared before a judge this week. She now has a criminal record and the title of “thief” that comes with it.
TORONTO – Things are not always as bad as they appear at first blush. Then, they become downright unsustainable and “nothing works”. So it would appear with the Trudeau Foundation and with those associated with it.
TORONTO – Time is running out on possible strikes by more than 155,000 federal public service workers. (more…)
TORONTO – It is sooo easy to see the bad side of other humans (as we overlook our own shortcomings) because vice and evil jar all our sensibilities. Thank heavens there are “standards” that remind us of aspirational goals and conduct.
AKWESASNE MOHAWK – The children, aged 1 and 2, both had Canadian passports and were baptized at the Romanian Orthodox Church of All Saints in Scarborough in June last year. The father, 28, worked in construction and cleaning and with his wife – the same age, both in Toronto since 2018 – frequented the parish community. But it wasn’t enough to stay in “welcoming” Canada, which expelled them. And they, in a desperate attempt to reach the United States to try to build a future for themselves, drowned in the St. Lawrence River.
TORONTO – Canadians divided over public spending: what should the federal government focus on in the coming years? On a balanced budget or on aid for families and the economy? The Angus Reid Institute has tried to answer these questions with a survey, starting from a fact: after unprecedented spending during the pandemic, Canada has entered a phase of general crisis that borders on recession, with families in difficulty due to the rising cost of living, so much so that the federal government no longer foresees – as in the past – a balanced budget by 2028, but a deficit of 14 billion dollars in that same year. (more…)
VATICAN CITY – “Today we ask for this grace: to know how to love Jesus forsaken and to know how to love Jesus in every one who is abandoned”. Strong words, with a clear reference to migrants, those pronounced today by Pope Francis in the homily of the Palm Sunday Mass in Vatican. A function that saw the Pope once again the protagonist, after the hospitalization that had worried the faithful from all over the world. (more…)
TORONTO – York Catholic District School Board (YCDSB) no longer believes in its own Constitutionally mandated obligation to defend and promote the catholicity of its schools. Both the Director (Domenic Scuglia) and the Chair (Frank Alexander) have ceded responsibility for that to the teachers’ union, OECTA and its local president, a certain Mike Totten.
TORONTO – There is chaos at the York Catholic District School Board, where a real tug of war is underway between parents who do not want their children – still at an early age – to be subjected, “under the guise of inclusiveness”, to pressure on sexual orientations and the Board itself which, with trustees and teaching staff, goes in the exact opposite direction and wants to support initiatives in favor of the LGBTQ+ community. In the meeting of 28 February, two parents, Carlo Ravenna and Sheree Di Vittorio, expressed their concerns on the matter (“our children have the right to their innocence”, they said) and a climate of tension was created which culminated with the arrival of the police. Another meeting is scheduled for tomorrow, with four speeches (two for each “party”): Sheree herself had asked to be able to speak but was denied this possibility. Corriere Canadese asked her to send to the editorial office the speech she would have read and it will be published in tomorrow’s printed edition of the Italian newspaper. Here below is the speech in its entirety.
TORONTO – About 1,200 people attended the installation ceremony of the new Archbishop of Toronto, Frank Leo, in Saint Michael’s Cathedral in the city center on Saturday, about six weeks after the formal appointment by Pope Francis: Leo succeeds thus officially to Cardinal Thomas Collins, who tendered his resignation on his 75th birthday in January 2022 in accordance with a rule stipulating that all bishops must resign when they reach that age.
Leo said his appointment as Archbishop of Toronto was “a surprise, but a welcome one. I look forward to giving the rest of my life as a spiritual leader here from a symbolic and spiritual perspective. When you become a Bishop, you receive a ring and it is a spousal relationship”, Leo told Omni News. The Archbishop himself then underlined, among other things, the importance of the role played by Catholic schools, which he defined as “a gift”.
During his speech, Leo spoke also in Italian, to thank “the members of my family present here, as well as to my family members, friends, parishioners and faithful of the Italian community of Montreal who came here and then to those who follow us through social media”. And then again, speaking of the times of his enrollment in the seminary in Montreal, he recalled – also in Italian – the words addressed to him by Father Luigi Testa who, complimenting him on his choice, said to him: “There is nothing more better than giving your youth to the Lord”. “I can still hear him saying those words in Italian” said a very moved Leo.
Leo also emphasized his italian roots when he mentioned that he is “the son of Italian immigrants from the old country where respect, sacrifice, hard work, family, faith, and taking care of one another were and remain vital”.
Born in Montreal in 1971 to Italian immigrant parents (Francesco Leo and Rosa Valente), Leo entered the Grand Seminary of Montreal in 1990 and was ordained a priest for service to the city’s archdiocese in 1996. Leo has held various parish assignments in Montréal until 2006 when he accepted the invitation to enroll in the Pontifical Ecclesiastical Academy in Rome and subsequently in the Diplomatic Service of the Holy See (2006-2012), serving in various Apostolic Nunciatures around the world. In January 2012 Pope Benedict XVI appointed him Chaplain of His Holiness giving him the title of Monsignor. Upon his return to Canada, Archbishop Leo joined the formation team of the Grand Séminaire de Montréal, teaching theology and philosophy and providing spiritual direction, formation and accompaniment to candidates for the priesthood. In the fall of 2015 he was appointed secretary general of the Canadian Episcopal Conference, a mandate which ended in the fall of 2021. Since 1 February 2022, Monsignor Leo has been appointed vicar general and moderator of the Curia of the Archdiocese of Montreal. On July 16, 2022, Pope Francis appointed him auxiliary bishop of the Archdiocese of Montreal. His consecration as bishop took place on September 12, 2022. He is now archbishop of Toronto.
His curriculum of studies is impressive: in addition to his in-depth university studies in Canon Law (Lateran University), Diplomacy and International Law, Archbishop Leo is also specialized in Systematic Theology, Mariology, Philosophy Classical Studies and Spiritual Direction. He has taught not only in Canada but also in Australia and the USA and speaks four languages: Italian, Spanish, English and French.
In the pics above: the new Archbishop of Toronto, Frank Leo, in Saint Michael’s Cathedral; in the pic below, Leo with Giordano Basilio (Publisher of the Italian newspaper “Cittadino Canadese”) and wife; at the bottom, the video of the ceremony
VANCOUVER – A noir story, set in Italy, written by a Canadian in love with the “Belpaese”: it’s called “Bernini’s Elephant” and it’s the debut novel by Jane Callen, a writer who lives in Vancouver but travels to Italy “every time the fate allows”. The beautiful country and its people are in fact often present in the writings of Jane, author so far of stories published in Grain Magazine, Montreal Writes, Spadina Literary Review, CV7 Short Fiction Anthology Series and White Wall Review, as well as essays published in Accenti Magazine (excerpts of her writings are at www.janecallen.ca). (more…)
TORONTO – Han Dong has thrown in the towel. The deputy of Chinese origin who fell into the storm of “interference” announced his resignation from the Liberals, today, in tears (in the pic above): he will therefore sit in the House of Commons as an independent deputy. “I will continue to serve the residents of Don Valley North (in Toronto, where he was elected, ed.) as an independent member of this House. I am taking these extraordinary steps because sitting on the government caucus is a privilege and my presence could be seen as a conflict” Dong said, adding that he will work to clear his name in the meantime.
TORONTO – The new ranking of the “best” universities in the world (we’ll explain the quotation marks later) has been released and McGill University’s primacy in Canada stands out over the University of Toronto: in fact, the Montreal-based university is in 31st place in the ranking world, Toronto at 34th.
TORONTO – The United States has conducted a covert investigation into national security threats posed by Chinese “operations” overseas, which has led to alarming conclusions about Canada, according to a new book written by a former RCMP and US government official military intelligence, Scott McGregor, together with investigative journalist Ina Mitchell, entitled “The Mosaic Effect: How the Chinese Communist Party Started a Hybrid War in America’s Backyard” (in the pic above, the cover of the book). (more…)
TORONTO – A double Master’s, one in Italy after a three-year degree in one of the most prestigious Italian universities and a second one in Canada. Then, a permanent job in Toronto. But that’s not enough. Also, she, like many other young Italians and Europeans, will have to return to Italy because it seems impossible to obtain a visa extension (not to mention the “mirage” better known by the name of Permanent Residence: the PR).
TORONTO – Una mostra per evidenziare il più possibile il fondamentale ruolo dell’Antartide, un continente del quale non si parla mai ma dal quale potrebbe dipendere il futuro dell’umanità, visto che nasconde risorse minerarie che potrebbero rivelarsi irresistibili in un mondo con crescita demografica sempre crescente ed è depositario di dati scientifici cruciali per le future politiche ambientali. L’exhibition inizierà oggi, con un opening previsto in orario 6.30-8pm, all’Architecture and Design Gallery, Daniels Building, 1 Spadina Crescent, in Toronto. Proseguirà poi fino a luglio, nei giorni feriali in orario 9am-5pm, con un Doors Open Weekend, il 27 e 28 maggio in orario 10am-5pm… Read More in Corriere Canadese >>>
TORONTO – The Liberal government’s inaction over (alleged) electoral meddling by China has some Canadian voters now wondering whether the results of the recent federal election can be trusted. That’s what Pierre Poilievre thinks: according to the leader of the Conservatives, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has “inspired many suspicions” due to his refusal to answer detailed questions about China’s role in the 2019 and 2021 electoral campaigns. (more…)
TORONTO – An exhibition to highlight as much as possible the fundamental role of Antarctica, a continent that is never talked about but on which the future of humanity could depend, given that it conceals mineral resources that might prove irresistible in a world with ever-increasing population growth and also scientific data crucial to inform future environmental policies. (more…)
VATICAN CITY – “On International Women’s Day, I think of all women: I thank them for their commitment to building a more humane society, through their ability to grasp reality with a creative gaze and a tender heart. This is only a privilege of women. A special blessing for all the women present in the square”. (more…)
TORONTO – Il servizio di spionaggio canadese avverte che il cambiamento climatico rappresenta una minaccia profonda e continua per la sicurezza e la prosperità nazionale, compresa la possibile perdita di parti della British Columbia e delle province atlantiche a causa dell’innalzamento del livello del mare… Read More in Corriere Canadese >>>
TORONTO – Canada’s Intelligence Service warns that climate change poses a profound and continuing threat to national security and prosperity, including the possible loss of parts of British Columbia and the Atlantic provinces to rising sea levels. (more…)
TORONTO – A team of top public officials said today that foreign attempts to interfere in the 2021 federal election did not affect the outcome. Thus, there would indeed have been foreign interference in Canadian federal elections. Whether they then had concrete effects in the results, it’s another matter. (more…)
TORONTO – He is isolated and goes on the attack: after everyone – political analysts, opposition figures and even allies like NDP leader Jagmeet Singh – advised him to open a commission of public inquiry into the (alleged) interference of the China on the Canadian federal elections, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau goes his own way and, in defending the liberal Chinese deputy who fell into the storm, accuses of racism those who support this hypothesis and spares no “picks” against the CSIS, the Canadian Security Intelligence Service, “guilty” of having warned the government of the possibility of Chinese infiltration in Canadian politics. (more…)
TORONTO – Inflation continues to decline, albeit slightly (from 6.3% in December 2022 to 5.9% in January 2023), but the bull market in food shows no signs of slowing down. It was already known – just go shopping to find out – but now the numbers of the latest report by Statistics Canada confirm it: in January, the prices of food products recorded a year-on-year increase of 11.4%, compared to 11% the previous month. And since last August, the food inflation rate has been over 10%. (more…)
TORONTO – Someone is, as they say, “on a mission”. It remains unclear what the end goal is. If you have children or grand children in a school system in Ontario these last three years have not been very rewarding from an academic and cultural perspective.
TORONTO – Congratulations and best wishes go out to newly-appointed Archbishop for the diocese of Toronto, his eminence Frank Leo. The Montreal-born prelate is possessed of well earned credential on the academic, theological, canonic and diplomatic front, having served the “diplomatic corps” of the Vatican for the last ten years.
TORONTO – In the end, they gave in. Canadian premiers have accepted Ottawa’s proposal, presented last week by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, to “inject” $46.2 billion in new funds to the provinces and territories over a decade to support an increasingly faltering health system. Crumbs, actually, if you divide the “cake” by the number of years and “beneficiaries”. (more…)
TORONTO – “Out of the blue”, Google and the tech giants are pushing back against Government initiatives to redress the imbalances created by the global digital empires among national and local communications enterprises.
TORONTO – The federal government is opening up the possibility of amending bail laws: “We will review amendments to the Penal Code,” Justice Minister and Attorney General David Lametti told CTV. “The Provinces have asked us to do it, the (provincial) ministers of Justice have asked us to do it and we are thinking about it”. (more…)
TORONTO – An exceptional guest will open the Media Day of the Canadian International AutoShow 2023: the absolute protagonist will be the Project Arrow electric vehicle, the result of the collaboration started between over fifty partners led by the Automotive Parts Manufacturers Association (APMA) with the goal of responding to the Canadian government’s “Net Zero by 2050” challenge.
TORONTO – I never go to casinos [to gamble]. Doug Ford (in the pic, from his Twitter profile / @fordnation) must, at least on occasion. He wins constantly and someone else provides the risk capital: the Opposition Parties at Queen’s Park. The man (hope I am not offending any gender idealogues) walks around with horseshoes to spare.
TORONTO – He refused to get vaccinated against Covid-19 and to undergo antigen testing for the virus and has been fired from his job in some hospitals in the GTA. Then he was also denied unemployment benefits, because he was “fired for misconduct”. It was useless for him to challenge this decision, because the Federal Court ruled against him, stating that the reason for his dismissal met the definition of “misconduct” of the EI (Employment Insurance) law.
TORONTO – Avoiding open heart surgery, which involves risks and complications for the patient and raising costs for the healthcare system, is now possible thanks to minimally-invasive cardiac surgery: with the advances in technology and medical techniques, surgeons can now practice small incisions to reach the heart between the ribs, all without cutting the sternum, thus avoiding major blood loss, reducing the risk of infection and post-operative pain and allowing for a faster recovery of patients who spend less time in hospital and can return to their normal activities more quickly.
TORONTO – Canada’s 13 premiers say they “expect” to get the federal government to raise its health care funding ratio to 35%: the joint statement came on Monday, a week before the meeting with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau scheduled for February 7th. The premiers were clear: they want the result of that meeting to be an increase in Canada Health Transfer of about $28 billion from the current $45.2 billion. (more…)
OTTAWA – The federal government failed to spend $38 billion, last fiscal year, intended for promised programs and services, including broadband Internet, new military equipment, affordable housing, veterans support and services to the Natives. The “excuse” is that of delays and interruptions due to the Covid-19 pandemic, but the reality is that unspent funds have played an important role in lowering the deficit: in the year ending March 31, 2022, in fact, Canada ran a deficit of $90.2 billion, $23.6 billion less than budgeted for. (more…)
A former colleague of mine, who is of Ukrainian origin, recently expressed his caution, verging on disappointment, regarding Canada’s stated leadership in opposition to the Russia military offensive into Ukraine and the measures “we” have been implementing to demonstrate that leadership.
TORONTO – The first details are emerging about the intentions of the federal government in view of the summit between Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and the provincial premiers who have been asking for more funds for health care for months. (more…)
TORONTO – In a third world country like the Philippines with so many poor people, rumour and gossip seem to be the national pastime. Texting (email) costs only one peso, a mere few cents Canadian. Even if this is the Philippines, poverty has not stopped citizens from engaging in online chats, Facebook and Twitter. And they feel important for they all have something to say, for after all they are a part of a larger social group.
HAMILTON – Prime Minister Justin Trudeau came face to face with some protesters Tuesday night in Hamilton, Ontario, when his massive security team escorted him across the street from the “Breda Bar” restaurant where he and members of his federal cabinet – meeting in “retreat” in the Ontario city – had gathered for dinner. (more…)
TORONTO – Prime Minister Justin Trudeau will meet with Canadian premiers in Ottawa on February 7 to conclude an agreement on health care financing: an announcement, made today by Trudeau himself, which comes after months and months of pressure from the premiers of all Canadian provinces and territories, which are facing serious difficulties in the management of public health facilities. (more…)
MONTREAL – 4,689 people entered Canada illegally through Roxham Road in Quebec last December, more than the number arrived at the “irregular border crossing” during the entirety of 2021. In fact, the number recorded in December 2022 it is the highest since August 2017, when 5,530 people entered. A total of 39,171 people entered the country illegally and then applied for asylum in 2022, more than double the 18,836 who entered via Roxham Road in 2017, the previous record year. (more…)
TORONTO – The first real “face to face” between Prime Minister Doug Ford and Ontario’s municipal leaders will begin tomorrow with his speech at the general assembly of ROMA, the Rural Ontario Municipal Association: with him, Sylvia Jones (Deputy Premier and Minister for Health), Lisa Thompson (Minister for Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs) and Steve Clark (Minister for Municipal Affairs and Housing). (more…)
TORONTO – Reforming Canada’s “bail policy” to keep hardened offenders in jail will not only fail to reduce crime, but will increase the risk of innocent people being jailed, criminologists and experts argue, criticizing the conservative leader’s stance Pierre Poilievre, author of the call to change the “bail policy” after the case of 25-year-old Randall McKenzie, accused of the murder of Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) officer Greg Pierzchala, killed in late December: McKenzie was free on bail and had failed to appear at the last court hearing where he was on trial for previous offences. (more…)
TORONTO – The majority of the world’s wealth is in the hands of 1% of the population. A disconcerting figure, what emerges from the latest report by Oxfam, published in conjunction with the start of the World Economic Forum in Davos in Switzerland, according to which in the last two years the 1% of the richest people have accumulated almost two thirds of all the new wealth created in the world. (more…)
NAPLES – She travels 1,600 kilometers a day by train to go to work and back home. Apparently it’s less expensive given the rental prices. These days, it is no exaggeration to define the worker Giuseppina Giuliano, a 29-year-old school worker, stoic: every day the Naples-Milan route (and back) is made by train because the city of the Madonnina, where she works as a janitor at the art school ” Boccioni” in piazzale Arduino, is too expensive and therefore, on balance, it is more advantageous to take the train and stay and live with her parents in Naples. (more…)
TORONTO – He was the champion of the rights of disabled people and throughout his life he fought against ableism, that is, that particular racism towards people with disabilities. With him therefore goes a bulwark of those rights: former television journalist and twenty-eighth deputy premier of Ontario from 2007 to 2014, David C. Onley (in the pic above, from his Facebook page), died at the age of 72. (more…)
TORONTO – The high profile case of Trustee Del Grande v the Toronto Catholic District School Board has occupied the minds of Catholic parents for three years.
TORONTO – Illegal immigration, protectionism, industry and commerce… there are many topics on the plate at the meeting between the so-called “Three Amigos”: Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, US President Joe Biden and Canadian President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador will meet during the next week for a trilateral summit in Mexico City and will discuss a series of hot topics, some burning ones such as the worsening of the migration crisis that Biden has to face on the border between the United States and Mexico and which, in some way, also involves Canada. (more…)
VATICAN CITY – They lined up from 5.30am, in the surreal atmosphere of St. Peter’s Square shrouded in thick fog and armored by the police, to attend the funeral of the Pope Emeritus. At 9.30am, the (Italian) time when Ratzinger’s funeral began, over 50,000 faithful were present to bid farewell to Joseph Ratzinger, together with delegations from various countries. (more…)
VATICAN CITY – Tomorrow is the day of last farewell to Benedetto XVI, Pope Emeritus Joseph Ratzinger, who passed away on December 31st: at 9.30am Italian time (3.30am in Ontario), the funeral will take place in St. Peter’s Square, presided over by Pope Francis who today, during the general audience, recalled Ratzinger as a “great teacher of catechesis” with “sharp and polite” thinking, then invoking his help to “rediscover in Christ the joy of believing and the hope of living”. Applause and choirs: ‘Benedetto santo subito’ (saint immediately), chanted some of the faithful present. (more…)
TORONTO – The battle is preparing for the expansion of MAID (Medical assistance in dying), the program for assisted suicide, to Canadians suffering from mental illness. Opposition parties and experts are calling for the expansion to be delayed, but the Liberals have given no indication that they will. And time is running out. (more…)
TORONTO – Public health is on its knees, but the federal government continues to look the other way despite the continuous “sos” from the provincial premiers: the latest, in chronological order, last Friday, when the governors of the Canadian provinces presented a joint appeal to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, asking him to meet “urgently” to “find a deal” on health care funding ahead of the spring federal budget. (more…)
TORONTO – York Memorial Collegiate Institute staff are afraid to go to school. It was already known, but now it’s all on the paper, in some documents which reveal the concerns of school workers due to a series of “violent incidents”, the highest number since 2000, i.e. since the TDSB began monitor this data in the schools of the district. (more…)
TORONTO – More than half of Toronto’s City Council has signed a letter urging Premier Doug Ford and Ontario Minister of Municipal Affairs Steve Clark to reconsider the “infamous” Bill 39 which gives John Tory “powers special” to speed up the construction of new housing: in particular, the “super-mayor” can govern with a third of the votes instead of a majority. A slap to democracy, according to the 15 councilors who signed the document. (more…)
TORONTO – About the waste of vaccines in Ontario denounced on Wednesday by the Auditor General, Prime Minister Doug Ford “wiggles”, but he still sent a loud and clear message to Bonnie Lysyk: “Stay in your lane”. (more…)
TORONTO – Unbelievable but true: Canada saw stronger-than-expected economic growth in the third quarter, though economists warn the numbers don’t paint such a positive picture. But let’s go in order. (more…)
TORONTO – The action, or non-action, of the school board has left him with no choice but to seek relief in the Court. Phil Horgan, legal counsel to trustee candidate Robert Pella, in Ward 1 of the Toronto Catholic District School Board (TCDSB) issued a Notice of Application in Ontario Superior Court, together with reasons, for an order to recount of the ballots cast in the election held October 24.
TORONTO – An absolute “first” for Super-Tory, today, in the City Council for the assembly that inaugurated the new mandate after the last municipal elections. John Tory once again occupies the Mayor’s seat, but this time with the new powers assigned to him by legislation wanted by the provincial government to speed up the construction of new houses. (more…)
TORONTO – Justin Trudeau’s behavior in the China case “either it’s not honest or it’s not very bright. Which one is it?”: the question come from the opposition parties who consider the prime minister’s response to alleged Chinese interference in the 2019 federal elections insufficient and late. Interferences that were the reason for the clash between Trudeau himself and the Chinese president Xi Jinping at the G20 in Bali (in the pic above) and on which, then, two days ago, the prime minister declared that he had never received any official information from the Canadian intelligence. (more…)
TORONTO – Great success for the tenth edition of the Pentola d’Oro Awards, the annual gala organized by the Italian Chamber of Commerce of Ontario (ICCO) which promotes food and wine excellence and rewards companies and individuals for their extraordinary contributions to the culinary industry in Ontario.
TORONTO – It seems that “experts” have entered the debate on the charade that has come to define “human rights” issues at the Halton District School Board (HDSB). Not to put too fine a point on it, the school board and its administration are either incompetent fools or they have drunk the proverbial Kool Aid.
TORONTO – Italian cuisine is the best in the world. There’s no need to be “politically correct”, in this case: it’s ascertained. The best, the healthiest, the most creative.
Clear this up now. Who can seek office and who is responsible for the integrity of the electoral process.
TORONTO – As expected, negotiations between the Ontario government and the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) are not the easiest.
TORONTO – In yesterday’s article, we wrote that during the month of September in Ontario the average waiting times for patients who arrive in the emergency room and need to be hospitalized reached 21.3 hours (data from Health Quality Ontario – HQO). If it seemed like a lot to you, when you read it, hold on tight: according to a report from Health Canada obtained by the liberal provincial parliamentarian Adil Shamji and released today, once patients are hospitalized, 90% of them have to wait another 45 hours to complete the visit. (more…)
TORONTO – Yet another negative record for Ontario hospitals: the average waiting times for patients arriving in the emergency room and needing to be hospitalized reached 21.3 hours in September according to data collected by Health Quality Ontario (HQO ): a considerable increase compared to the already very long average waiting times recorded in August (20.7 hours) and July (20.8 hours). (more…)
TORONTO – It may seem strange but Doug Ford seems to have laid down the hatchet. “We want an agreement that is fair to students, fair to parents, fair to taxpayers, and fair to workers, particularly low-income workers.” Abandoning the strong tones and swaggering attitude of a few days ago, an almost conciliatory Ford during today’s press conference said that when negotiations with the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) resume, the government will present “a better offer”. The Ontario premier declined to provide specific details about the government’s proposal, but said the offer is particularly good for workers with the lowest wages.”
TORONTO – The average price of a home in Toronto has remained virtually unchanged over the past two months: the market seemed to be on standby, due to a sharp drop in new listings. In fact, the latest data from the Toronto Region Real Estate Board (TRREB) shows that the average sale price across all property types was $ 1,089,428 in October, up from $ 1,086,762 in September. Prices remain down 5.7% from the same period last year, while October is the third consecutive month with little or no change in TRREB’s benchmark index. (more…)
TORONTO – While the government goes ahead to pass the Keeping Students in Schools Act as soon as possible, Education Minister Lecce uses an iron fist with the Canadian Union of Public Employees. Any counter-offer proposed to the government must include the cancellation of the strike scheduled for Friday. “Take the threat off the table and let’s talk about it – said Lecce at a press conference – we were very clear. We are ready to negotiate with those who wish to do so as long as Friday’s strike is called off. We will not accept a strike, neither this Friday nor on any other day.”
TORONTO – “Why do we allow Ontario’s Catholic school system to violate the Charter?” This incredible headline appeared October 28, 2022, in one of Canada’s premier print media. It seemed ready made to influence judges currently deliberating the now celebrated case of Del Grande v. the Toronto Catholic District School Board (TCDSB).
TORONTO – The municipalities of Ontario fear that the new housing legislation adopted by the Province could unload excessive burdens on the municipalities themselves and on taxpayers. The bill presented Tuesday by Ontario Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing, Steve Clark, would, in fact, reduce and / or exempt from taxes that builders would have to pay in order to build. (more…)
TORONTO – That Canada is the ‘promised land‘ for many people is well known but the latest population census shows that in 2021 immigrants made up almost a quarter of the entire population and are expected to represent a third of the people present in the country by 2041.
TORONTO – Said and done. Bank of Canada raised the interest rate by another 0.50, taking it from 3.25 to 3.75 percent. Since last March, the central bank has raised the reference rate six times, “with the aim of combating inflation and bringing it back to the 2% target”, as the central bank has always maintained. A goal that is far from being achieved, as the Bank of Canada admits in the statement published today on its website (here). (more…)
TORONTO – David Miller (in the pic above), former Toronto mayor until he was “shunned” out town before the public got the chance to “throw him out”, reappeared to sully the waters of Toronto once again.
TORONTO – “We know that they are there to talk about what their next political decisions will be, we also know that in the end a strike can be avoided by coming to the negotiating table with a real proposal that respects workers and that respects families.” This was stated by the president of the Ontario School Board Council of Unions (OSBCU) Laura Walton, present at the protest that was held Saturday in front of the Toronto Congress Centre where a general meeting of the Progressive Conservative of Ontario was underway.
York Catholic District School Board has had its internal difficulties. Recently, it came out at the wrong end of a Divisional Court decision regarding who can be a Catholic School trustee. More specifically, can non-Catholic students who apply for attendance at a Catholic school be student trustee. The basic issue is/was Board Policy 107 that says no they cannot.
TORONTO – In our mind, democratic exercises – elections – are a great opportunity to rid the system of the noxious as well as to bring in the re-invigorating. There is still plenty of room for individual differences and ambitions; nothing wrong with that. Some Municipal Councils and Boards function just fine. Others, not so much.
TORONTO – Hospitals are close to collapse. And for those who have the misfortune of needing them, this translates into endless waits to be visited, treated or hospitalized. (more…)
TORONTO – As the community of Innisfil clings to the families of Devon Northrup and Morgan Russell shot dead inside a house in the town, some details about the story begin to emerge.
TORONTO – Traffic reduction, fight against crime, aid to counter the increase in the cost of living. These are the pillars of the program platform presented by Danny De Santis (in the pic above), candidate for the office of Mayor of Vaughan in the next elections on October 24th. De Santis’ program starts from the assumption of a progressive “disconnection between politicians and the people”, and the consequent need to mend this relationship that has deteriorated in recent years in the city administration.
TORONTO – Elected city councillor of the City of Vaughan starting in 2003, Sandra Yeung Racco (in the pic above) threw down the gauntlet and ran for mayor, which was a natural thing for her.
ONTARIO – Typically, Autumn is synonymous with the harvest season and Fall fairs. The season brings about a sense of renewed optimism with the abundance of food gathered during the harvest. A chance to enjoy some of nature’s bounty.
TORONTO – Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and so-called “Freedom Convoy” protest organizer Tamara Lich are among those who will be called to testify later this week in an investigation that aims to shed light on the government’s invocation of the Emergencies Act.
TORONTO – Another step towards the strike. That’s what the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) has done, representing 55,000 Ontario education workers – including custodians, librarians and early childhood educators: since negotiations with the government fail to deliver anything, the union has requested the so-called “no board” report that could put them on a legal strike position in less than three weeks.
TORONTO – “Once a Madonna girl always a Madonna girl”. It would seem an obvious conclusion to draw, if the only students at the school are biological females – irrespective of race or ethnic origin.
TORONTO – If the federal elections were held today, the Conservative Party would get more seats than the Liberals: and Pierre Poilievre would become the new prime minister of Canada. (more…)
TORONTO – Two suspects arrested while the hunt for two others continues. Today during a press conference at its headquarters the Toronto Police updated the residents of the city on the ongoing investigation into the growing wave of violent car thefts. Sometimes, drivers are even thrown out of their car. “One can only imagine the trauma of people whose vehicles are stolen by violent individuals waiting for them in parking lots, at traffic lights, even in the driveway of their home, who ambush them – said Inspector Rich Harris – with their actions they cause a heavy psychological impact on the victims”.
TORONTO – The pandemic is far from over: Covid-19 is growing again also in Canada, as in other countries: Italy, for example. And that “shouldn’t come as a surprise,” as McGill University genomic evolutionary biologist Jesse Shapiro put it. ““Even just based on waning immunity, the time since the average person had their last infection or their last booster, a wave was expected,” Shapiro told various news agencies. (more…)
TORONTO – A finale shock: exiting the scene, the Covid-19 Science Advisory Table – set up to deal with the pandemic and dissolved in September – painted a gloomy picture of the state of health in Ontario. Unequal distribution of access to primary care throughout the province, lack of data and serious general communication problems, inability to contact family doctors, exhausted health personnel. A disaster, in short. (more…)
TORONTO – It’s true: the world has changed and that news “travels” online. But it is equally true that newspapers (those made of paper) resist. And the community ones, like our partner Corriere Canadese, manage to “hold out” as much as the mainstream ones. (more…)
TORONTO – Over 170,000 Ontario residents, during the first six months of the Covid pandemic, found themselves without a family doctor. This is what emerges from a study, conducted by Unity Health Toronto and the non-profit research institute ICES. The number of family doctors who stopped working doubled between March and September 2020 compared to the same period the previous year.
La ‘teoria del folle’ è il nome moderno per una tecnica di governo molto antica—adoperata da ogni monarca e despota che abbia mai coltivato ad arte la propria reputazione per gli eccessivi e pericolosi scatti di rabbia davanti ad ogni ostacolo alla sua volontà… Read More in Corriere Canadese >>>
TORONTO – The federal government has lifted all restrictions for Covid-19 at the borders, meaning that travelers will no longer have to provide proof of vaccination when entering Canada and will not be required to wear masks on planes and trains.
ROME – Her political history begins thirty years ago in a Roman section of the Fronte della Gioventù (the Youth Front of the far-right party MSI) where she arrives and, simply, knocks on the door. It is 1992 and she, Giorgia Meloni, is 15 years old and attends the linguistic school “Amerigo Vespucci”. She does not come from any “lineage” of the Roman right but, like so many of the ones who embraced political militancy in those years, she comes from a particular family situation: her mother, Anna, is separated, and also has another daughter (Arianna), and she does the most varied jobs to get by. All three live in a 45 square meter two-room apartment, a spartan home, without a sofa and with a single table where they can do their homework, eat and rest their elbows to watch TV. Giorgia and Arianna sleep on a mobile bed, “one for the head and one for the feet”, located in the corridor. (more…)
ROME – Everything as expected, or almost: even if as we write only exit polls are available, the crushing victory of Fratelli d’Italia, the first party, is already evident – according to the data of La7 – with a percentage included between 23 and 27%. (more…)
TORONTO – Almost four years after the legalization of cannabis in Canada, today the federal government announced that the revision of the Cannabis Act will start: very late, therefore, since it was supposed to take place almost twelve months ago. (more…)
TORONTO – According to the 2016 Census, York Region has the highest concentration of Canadians who self- identify as being of Italian origin, 38% in the city of Vaughan alone. Most of them send their children to the schools administered by the York Catholic District School Board (YCDSB). The Board currently is governed by ten trustees evenly split between five trustees of Italian background and five who are not (including a member of a visible minority).
TORONTO – The constitutional rights of public sector workers engaged in negotiation are not violated by Bill 124 which imposes a wage cap in Ontario.
TORONTO – Food skyrocketing, just when the inflation is cooling: + 10.8% for shopping at the supermarket in August compared with a year ago, an increase that hasn’t been seen since 1981. Therefore, if inflation is down at 7,0% is largely thanks to the drop in the price of gasoline and nothing more.
LONDON (UK) – After the death of Queen Elizabeth II, calls to start a process to cut the umbilical cord that binds Canada to the British Royal House are becoming increasingly insistent.
TORONTO – He didn’t make it. The international student seriously injured last Monday in the shooting at MK Auto Body Repairs has died.
TORONTO – “Last week, Canada lost the only sovereign that most of us have ever known”: these are the words Prime Minister Justin Trudeau (in the pic above) said, today, during the official commemoration of Queen Elizabeth II, who passed away last week, in the House of Commons which met extraordinarily for the occasion. (more…)
TORONTO – It might sound like bad news, but it’s actually good: most Canadians have contracted Covid-19 since Omicron and its highly contagious sub-variants first appeared. Virtually two out of three Canadians have caught the coronavirus. And the news is good because, according to experts, this, added to the massive vaccinations made, generates broad immunity or, in any case, greater protection against the more serious forms of Covid. (more…)
TORONTO – In the 1960s, frequently referred to as the golden age of popular music in Western societies, there was no shortage of songs whose lyrics aimed at having the listeners reflect of the ‘human condition’ and the wistful failure of ideologies to produce the Utopia they espoused. It was not all grim.
TORONTO – This is not his first attempt at elected office. The first time was preparation round, he says. Given the complexities associated with the Italian electoral system, especially as it pertains to becoming elected as a representative of the Italian Diaspora in the Italian Parliament, many random factors have to fall into place to secure election, not least of which is the position of the party whose colours in the electoral premises of the electorate in Italy.
TORONTO – Sometimes our educational, school board “planners” miss the obvious. Put aside the cultural, skills educational environment they are to establish and nurture, if one can – we are talking about children, after all. In the case of Pope Francis in Kleinburg, it is about four-year-olds (12 of them) who should be in a Junior Kindergarten class with their neighbours and friends. Unfortunately, it won’t be the case.
Blood and death in two Indian reservations in Saskatchewan. After the massacre that took place in the James Smith Cree Nation and Weldon where 10 people died and 18 were injured in a series of stabbings, a shooting took place in the Witchekan Lake First Nation. So far there are few details made known but the RCMP does not believe that this last fact of blood is connected to the carnage of the previous day.
TORONTO – Corriere Canadese and CNMNG News Agency publish everyday articles about Catholic Schools in Canada and these publications receive comments from readers and provoke debate. Here below is an article by Lou Iacobelli, published on https://everydayforlifecanada.blogspot.com/
TORONTO – Solidarity is one of the fixed ingredients of the “pinsa” by Gino Benevenga, owner of the Italian restaurant “Venga Cucina”, the only “pinseria” in Toronto (in Canada there are only two: read Corriere Canadese’s article here) and already protagonist of charity campaigns in the past with its special pizzas made in the manner of the authentic Roman “pinsa”.
TORONTO – How angry are you? For what? To ask the two “fatal” questions to Canadians was the research institute “Pollara Strategic Insights”, with an original survey entitled “Rage Index” and aimed at “measuring” the anger of the population in these difficult times. (more…)
TORONTO – Thursday August 25. TCDSB Full board meeting – the last before the new school year begins on September 2. The first in, well since… forever, when the trustees and Staff present did not wear a mask (metaphorically and materially). Coincidently, the Agenda and Addendum (197 pages) focused on Reports [of achievements and issues]. Here are some impressions on “the great reveal”.
TORONTO – In Italy, the political theatre, both in its serious and farcical moments, is dominated by careerists, “la casta”, whose almost exclusively self-serving, short term objectives obstruct national and regional goals.
TORONTO – 750 publications in more than 65 languages, which exceed 1,000 if one includes radio and television stations (covering 111 languages) set up a display booth at the Canadian National Exhibition: perhaps in no country in the world there is so much variety. And if it’s true that the official languages in Canada are English and French, it is equally true that those really spoken in everyday life is the only growing linguistic demographic among all Canadians. None excluded.
TORONTO – Where is it better to live? In Canada or the United States? Canadians have no doubts: in their own country. This is what emerges from a survey carried out by Abacus between 11 and 17 July on a sample of 1,500 adults. The result is overwhelming: only 1 in 10 Canadians think it would be better to live in the United States. For 91%, Canada is better. And this “feeling” is quite consistent in all the provinces of the country. (more…)
TORONTO – That Canada’s healthcare system is limping more and more is nothing new. In addition to the backlog of surgical interventions caused by the Covid-19 pandemic, waits in hospital emergency rooms now reach up to 14 hours and it also happens that many are temporarily closed for lack of doctors and nurses.
TORONTO – 750 publications in more than 65 languages: the ethnic press plays an important role in the Canadian society and the NEPMCC (National Ethnic Press and Media Council of Canada) unites it all across the Country, as well represented today at the CNE, the Canadian National Exhibition in Toronto. Publishers and journalist from every language media not in English or French gathered together to speak about the state of ethnic press in Canada and to promote their newspapers. During the event, Thomas S. Saras, President of NEPMCC, talked about the goals of the organization and the Honourable Joe Volpe, publisher of the Italian newspaper Corriere Canadese, underlined the force of the ethnic media in a Country where 23% of people speaks languages other than English and French.
After the speeches, officials cut the ceremonial ribbon to open the NEMCC booth at the CNE (in the pic below).
In the next edition of Corriere Canadese, more details about the event. Here below, some pics from the event (by Priscilla Pajdo and Marzio Pelù).
TORONTO – There must be a way “to qualify” candidates for political office or to disqualify those with a proven record of transgressing publicly accepted standards with inappropriate behaviour. For better or for worse, the bureaucracy of recognized political parties conduct a selection process for potential nominees for office. These are open to abuse and to the whim of the leadership and its entourage, but at least there are standards against which approval or criticism can galvanize.
Not so in the in the hurley burley wild west that we see in Municipal politics. The much- touted office of Integrity Commissioner has done little but develop an industry (lucrative for the practitioners) of “tut-tut ism”. Conflicts Commissioners (Ethics Commissioners in some circles) are as eunuchs in a harem.
John Tory, full-time employee of media giant, Rogers, can occupy the mayor’s chair, make decisions that suit his employer and still run for office. School board trustees can violate their oath of office and still offer themselves for election.
It seems endemic to our democratic system: do anything, no matter how egregious – lie, cheat, malign – if you can escape the public’s wrath.
It is a disease that afflicts even the boards of cultural institutions like the Art Gallery of Mississauga. A reading of the Agenda (and its Appendices) of the Annual General Meeting of the Gallery, held August 4, 2022, obtained by the Corriere Canadese would cause a reasonable person to shake their head in disbelief.
It is a “cleaning house” document approved by the assembly following a litany of disruptions, allegations of harassment, bullying, intimidation, questionable circumventions of rules and procedures, obfuscation, “people” sitting as arbitrators of complaints against them personally, falsification of financially sensitive documents etc. It is a wonder the AGM has survived the ordeal.
The Board of the AGM finally succeeded in liberating itself from the cause of all of this turbulence appears to be, its now former President of the Gallery’s Board of Directors, Leslie Silvestri. After an internal revolt structured to secure a legitimate meeting of the Board, it hired Scott and Associate (Scott) to conduct an investigation into the preceding allegations and to report – which it did on July 29, 2022.
Here is an excerpt from Scott’s Workplace Investigation Summary:
“…the allegations of bullying and harassment made against Ms. Silvestri are substantiated…Ms. Silvestri has engaged in, among other things, psychological harassment of others, as well as workplace violence as defined by Ontario’s Occupational Health and Safety Act, and that the complainant(s) fear reprisal, reputational harm from Ms. Silvestri. Scott concluded that [Silvestri’s] conduct contravened both the Occupational Health and Safety Act and the Human Rights Code…”
Armed with this background, Ms. Silvestri has registered as a candidate for Mississauga City Council.
Silvestri and complainants were notified of the findings. Corriere’s attempts to reach Ms. Silvestri went unresponded as of going to print.
TORONTO – Five trustees in the York Catholic District School Board (YCDSB) have had enough of the climate of discrimination being tolerated, if not nurtured, by some of their colleagues against Italians and Catholicism. Yes, you read that correctly, against Italians, in 2022.
They appear to be an easy target. There are so many of them in York Region. In fact, two Federal/Provincial ridings (King-Vaughan and Vaughan Woodbridge) are home to 110,000 people who self-identified as being of Italian origin in the 2016 Census. Including those from other areas of Vaughan (Maple, Concord), they comprise 38% of the population in that city. While not as dominant in the Eastern part of York Region, there are sizeable numbers in Newmarket, Aurora, Richmond Hill, Thornhill Stouffville and Markham.
They are predominantly Catholic. Without them, the York Catholic District School Board might well cease to exist. For some unexpressed reason that bothers people… not all, but some trustees resent the influence the impact of such numbers brings.
One trustee in particular, Theresa Mc Nicol, began a public social media “campaign” suggesting that there would be earth shattering revelations at the upcoming August 30, 2022, Board meeting and encouraging all her followers to attend in person. She sent a similar invitation to the Corriere Canadese, without particulars. Shortly after posting the message, McNicol sent the same message in Italian.
When asked why she was communicating in Italian, she apparently made the comment, “that’s the only way ‘they’ will understand…”. In fact, several email responses from McNicol were written in Italian. Corriere Canadese has asked for a copy of those emails, but, as of going to print, no one from the Board has responded.
Furthermore, evidently, through subsequent communication, she expressed [alleged] discomfort in the presence of her ‘Italian’ colleagues and a sense of insecurity for her personal safety, even in the sanctuary of the Board offices, implying a relationship with the American underworld. She emailed the Chair suggesting it might be prudent to engage security as a sign of an abundance of caution. This is 2022.
Four of the five trustees (Maria Iafrate, Maria Marchese, Domenic Mazzotta and Dino Giuliani) were born and raised in Canada, and Trustee Cantisano, who was born in Italy, immigrated to Canada at the age of three. All 5 Trustees are upstanding Canadian Citizens. Dino Giuliani has been a Trustee for the last 25 years. Domenic Mazzotta, also a previous Chair, has been a civic minded activist since very early in the 1980s.
All of them are motivated by a sense of civic duty. None of them deserved to be tarred by the besmirching of their heritage. Or to be treated as second-class citizens in their own home.
Regrettably, it seems an attitudinal problem at the YCDSB. When Cantisano and Iafrate attended their first Board meeting after the last election, the then Chair stated “oh great, two more Italians”. In a meeting with former Minister of Health, Christine Elliot, current Chair Crowe wistfully noted that the staff at the YCDSB was “predominantly Italian”. To her credit, Elliot asked, “What’s wrong with that?”.
But the request that the police be called to secure the safety of non-Italian trustees from the potential danger posed by the “Italians” was the proverbial last straw. The sting of discrimination directed at the ‘Italians’ was palpable and no longer ignorable. Its latest manifestation warranted action.
Dino Giuliani insisted that the police investigate McNicol’s not so subtle allegations. His colleagues agreed. As expected, the police found absolutely NOTHING; because there was nothing to investigate, nothing that would cause concern to even the most innocent of children.
They also called on the Ministry of Education to investigate and are exploring a Human Rights complaint. The Ministry responded with an offer to conduct a meeting in camera on August 16th. Such a meeting falls outside the parameters of permissible “private meetings” of any school board. Besides, the allegations made by Mc Nicol are already in the public domain. Their solutions should be aired publicly.
Trustees Cantisano, Giuliani, Iafrate, Marchese and Mazzotta have declined the offer to attend that private meeting and are considering absenting themselves from any subsequent ones until the matter is resolved to their satisfaction. Their absence would deprive the YCDSB of the required quorum to legitimize any meeting’s deliberations.
Corriere’s calls and emails to the Minister and the Ministry have so far gone unanswered. A last minute response by the YCDSB Chair and Director provided generic responses regarding courses of action that may not be applicable within the 90 days period preceding election day.
Ironically, the actions, utterances and postings of Mc Nicol and others would be reasons enough to disqualify them from seeking public office under a partisan party banner.
TORONTO – Hardly on the bus or in the subway you will hear people of the same origin speak in English: among them, Japanese people will always continue to speak in Japanese, Chinese people in Chinese, Italians in Italian and so on. To confirm what is already heard every day around the city, it comes a survey conducted by Leger for the Association for Canadian Studies, from which we see that the vast majority of Canadians report a strong attachment to the main language, the native one, much more than other indicators of identity, including the Country they call home: Canada. (more…)
TORONTO – Stronger mayors, with more powers: in the end the government led by Doug Ford really did it. After the rumors leaked in recent weeks, today came the official presentation of the new legislation entitled “Strong Mayors, Building Homes Act”, formally illustrated in Queen’s Park. (more…)
TORONTO – Airport chaos: Federal Minister of Transport, Omar Alghabra, called to testify before August 19 by the Transport Committee to explain airport delays and flight cancellations in the main Canadian airports in recent months. (more…)
TORONTO – Public education, health, transport, new powers for mayors. These are the major issues that will be addressed in Tuesday Speech from the Throne, when Deputy Governor Elizabeth Dowdeswell will outline the government’s agenda for this new provincial legislature.
TORONTO – Italian daily newspaper Corriere Canadese received a letter from Avi Abraham Benlolo (in the pic above), Founding Chairman and CEO of The Abraham Global Peace Initiative, addressed to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. Here below is the letter.
(The Day Briefing / Kahina Boudjidj) Houda, qui se cache derrière le compte Instagram « Jeune Bonoise », est photographe à ses heures perdues. À l’abris des regards, l’originaire de Skikda, qui habite à Annaba, au nord-est de l’Algérie, immortalise des rues, des moments, gens… Elle a accepté de nous en dire davantage sur cette mélancolie qui l’anime. Bienvenue dans son Houd… Read More in The Day Briefing >>>
TORONTO – The emergency continues. Emergency rooms closed on weekends, struggling wards, nurses and doctors working 16-hour shifts, are just a few flaws in the health system in Ontario as well as in other provinces of Canada. And Doug Ford once again points the finger at the federal government.
TORONTO – We are only 16 days away from knowing who will be on our ballot as we choose our city councillors and school trustees. Registrations close August 19. We at the Corriere will do our best to inform our readership regarding candidates and their platforms, if they have one.
MONTREAL – The sos launched in Montreal during the 24th International AIDS Summit 2022 did not fall on deaf ears: Federal Minister of Health, Jean-Yves Duclos, said the government will invest $ 17.9 million to increase the access to HIV testing in remote communities and among hard-to-reach populations. But activists involved in the fight against AIDS say the announcement “must be followed by more actions”. (more…)
MONTREAL – A group of activists and doctors at the AIDS 2022 conference, held at the weekend in Montreal at the Palais des Congres (tomorrow is the last day), urged to increase resources to manage the “monkeypox” outbreaks , to avoid repeating the mistakes made during the first response to HIV. (more…)
TORONTO – Tragedy in Mississauga: a 4-year-old girl was hit by a train and died. The drama unfolded in the Dundas Street and Cawthra Road area on Tuesday evening.
TORONTO – Emergency calls were not guaranteed during the Rogers “black out” two weeks ago. A very serious thing. An issue that the company, Rogers Communications Inc., is “trying to remedy” to ensure that emergency calls can always be made and that “no future disruption cancels cellular and internet services anymore”. (more…)
TORONTO – Alessandro Volpe, a 17 year-old Italian-Canadian baseball player, has been called up by the Italian Under 18 National Team to take part in the European Championships to be held in the Czech Republic from August 13 to the 20th. It’s a big deal.
TORONTO – I came away from last night’s Meeting of the Toronto Catholic District School Board with several impressions to share specifically with our 177,000 Toronto residents who self-identify ethnically as Italian; more generally with the roughly 1,000,000 Torontonians who are nominally Catholic, and finally with other Catholic District School Board Trustees in Ontario.
OTTAWA – Non solo l’Europa: anche il Canada è nella morsa del caldo e degli incendi… Read More in Corriere Canadese >>>
OTTAWA – Not only Europe: Canada is also in the grip of heat and fires. Environment Canada today issued hot warnings in four provinces: Ontario, Manitoba, Saskatchewan and Quebec. Temperatures could reach 30 ° C in parts of northwestern and northeastern Ontario, and similar conditions are also expected in southwestern and southeastern areas. “Heat warnings” remain in place in parts of northern Manitoba, where the fires have required additional air quality “sos” due to smoke (as well as in British Columbia). (more…)
TORONTO – Britain’s Conservative party leadership race is turning into a transphobic spectacle – CNN.
La ‘Pride Flag’ – nella sua forma primitiva conosciuta anche come la ‘bandiera arcobaleno’ – risale al 1978 quando fu creata dal designer e attivista gay americano Gilbert Baker per la celebrazione annuale del Gay Freedom Day a San Francisco. Doveva essere un simbolo positivo della diversità e ‘della speranza’ rispetto all’iconografia negativa allora in uso nella comunità gay della città: il triangolo rosa utilizzato nei campi di sterminio nazisti per identificare i ‘deviati’ sessuali… Read More in Corriere Canadese >>>
TORONTO – Partisan politics can be a brutal environment. Intra-party relationships, even at the best of times, rarely reflect friendship (although I am happy to say I can still refer to some former colleagues and staff as friends). Loyalty and trust are virtues found only in rarified circles. Adherence to national principles and goals… well, you can imagine.
OTTAWA – Here we go again. The Bank of Canada will raise its benchmark interest rate by 0.75% on Wednesday: a new increase, therefore, after the 0.50% increase on June 1, when the rate was raised to 1.50. %. From Wednesday, it will be at 2.25%. The reason, as always, is that of the “fight against inflation” which in recent weeks has reached its highest level in almost 40 years: 7.7 per cent.
TORONTO – It is the news that no one likes to hear the one released by the Ontario Science Advisory Table. The province has likely entered a new wave of pandemic led by the BA.5 subvariant. In messages posted on Twitter, the technical-scientific table cites the “exponential growth” in the count of cases in about 80% of public health units, as well as the increase in the number of hospitalizations and test positivity rates.
TORONTO – More than a new wave: it’s a tsunami. Omicron has attacked (also) Canada, making the infections from Covid-19 increase exponentially, despite – after the winter wave – the virus seemed to be in a downward phase. In fact, data from the Canadian task force reveal how quickly Omicron and its sub-variants spread across the country as early as the end of 2021 and early this year. The task force reported that as many as 17 million Canadians were infected in just five months, between December 2021 and May 2022. This means that the daily average of new infections was over 100,000. A record, enough to push the members of the task force themselves to define the wave “Omicron tsunami”. (more…)
TORONTO – There is already who talks about the fourth dose, when there are still hundreds of thousands of people who still have to get the third one. Omicron 5 and its infectivity are scary and “in a hurry”, but the scientific director of the Ontario Science Table, Dr. Fahad Razak, invites to keep feet on the ground. “Although much of the conversation right now is about the fourth dose, for me scientifically the clearest opportunity, the thing we should do – and it’s not a question about availability, the vaccine is available to us – is the third dose” , he told CP24 on Monday.
TORONTO – Covid-19 cases are again on the rise in Canada as well, “thanks” to the two fast-spreading Omicron sub-variants, otherwise known as BA.4 and BA.5. The latter, in particular, renamed Omicron 5, would represent almost 70% of Canadian cases. (more…)
TORONTO – Bloody weekend on the roads of Ontario. From Mississauga to Brampton, from Toronto to Brock Township, 6 people lost their lives while 14 are injured. A war bulletin, after all, the numbers speak for themselves.
TORONTO – With the permission of the author, we publish an article by Charles Lugosi, Attorney and Counsellor to the Supreme Court of the United States, published on LifeSiteNews.
TORONTO – By definition, in the political spectrum the center is the political space best equipped for conflict resolution. When the tensions that come from the right or the left become too pressing, it is in the center that the neutralization of the imbalance takes place: center understood as compromise, as a synthesis of theses and antitheses, as an exaltation of pragmatism that cripples the too ideologized extremities. Having made this premise, in the last thirty years in Canada, as in Italy and in the rest of the world, the hunt for the electorate of the center, the moderate one, considered hunting booty capable of undermining the balance of power between the parties, has begun.
TORONTO – Canada managed the first two years of the Covid-19 pandemic and resisted the upheaval that followed better than many other nations with similar health and economic infrastructures: this is what emerges from a research, published today in the Canadian Medical Association Journal, which attributes Canada’s good performance to persistent and restrictive public health measures, as well as a successful vaccination campaign. (more…)
TORONTO – As on so many issues, the USA is once again influencing the political discourse in Canada. The American Supreme Court’s (USSC) decision to roll back “rights to abortion” was immediately attacked here in Canada by our political representatives and others.
TORONTO – Ontario Premier Doug Ford presented his cabinet to Ontario’s 43rd Parliament. Few news, many reconfirmations. The new cabinet includes seven women – down from nine in the previous one – out of a total of over 30 appointed (including attorneys general). Ford has also given a role to his nephew Michael (in the pic), a rookie MPP. Lisa MacLeod and Ross Romano are out.
TORONTO – The Conservative Leadership race seems to be taking an un-anticipated turn. Liberal senati (experienced wise persons) are taking an active interest in supporting and promoting one Conservative candidate, Scott Aitchison, MP for Parry Sound Muskoka in Ontario.
TORONTO – The tragic death of Edward Lake, father of the three children killed in an accident by Marco Muzzo in 2015, has awakened grief and anger throughout the community. On the one hand there are those who want the surname of the Muzzo family to be removed from the hospitals that have received millionaire donations from it – there are two petitions on change.org – on the other there are those who return to ask for harsher penalties for those who get behind the wheel drunk and sow death.
TORONTO – Inflation at 7.7%, skyrocketing prices and Bank of Canada which continues to increase the “key” rate of interest – now at 1.5% – to stem the problem by creating, in fact, another one: the increase in mortgage payments and loans for Canadian families. In short, a “perfect storm”. The question is: when will the clear sky return? (more…)
TORONTO – Talking about a new (nth) wave of Covid-19 is perhaps premature, but the signs are all there: in recent weeks we had witnessed a rising of hospitalizations but the small number of swabs performed (reserved only for “at risk” categories) “) had not allowed an exhaustive tracing of the infections. However, there is one fact from which there is no escape: the presence of the virus in wastewater. (more…)
TORONTO – The Ontario Human Rights Commission (OHRC) made a call about “monkeypox”, asking to protect and uphold human rights during the outbreak. In a statement, OHRC writes that “as the world grapples with the ongoing “monkeypox” outbreak, several very concerning human rights issues have been exposed”.
TORONTO – Can Force One: here is the party. On the airbus of the Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF), used for official trips of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, Governor General and other Canadian authorities (in addition to the Queen of England), wine and beer flow steady. Like a river. (more…)
TORONTO – The virus does not give up. Today, in Ontario, another 8 deaths related to Covid-19, bringing the total in the province, since the beginning of the pandemic, to 13,351. Even the number of hospitalizations, like yesterday, is not very comforting: there are still 506 patients with the virus in Ontario hospitals, so the drop is slight (yesterday they were 512, a week ago 522) compared to two weeks ago when hospitalizations had dropped by 34.9%, from 808 to 526. Now it remains around 500, a sign that the descent has slowed down. (more…)
TORONTO – You cannot reap what you do not sow. If only the Senate in the Canadian Parliament were nurtured to function according to the legislative needs of the Parliamentary system.
TORONTO – Despite the favorable Covid indicators in Ontario and the relaxation of the obligation to wear masks, we must not be taken by easy enthusiasm.
TORONTO – The Italian daily newspaper Corriere Canadese received a letter from a reader, Michelina (last name with held). We publish it entirely.
TORONTO – “Intentional infliction of mental anguish”: it is one of the many accusations that the 600 plaintiffs bring against the federal government in the Statement of Claim (SoC) filed in the Federal Court last May 30. Throught it, the same complainants ask, each, $ 650,000 (for a total of nearly $ 400 million) as compensation for “damage from anti-Covid measures” to Prime Minister Trudeau, Ministers Freeland, Alghabra, Mendicino, Health Director Theresa Tam and other executive officials. (more…)
TORONTO – “There is no, and there has not been, a ‘Covid-19 pandemic’ beyond and/or exceeding the consequences of the fall-out of the pre-Covid annual flu”. It is one of the considerations contained in the Statement of Claim (SoC) filed in Federal Court on May 30, by 600 plaintiffs who ask, each, $ 650,000 (for a total of nearly $ 400 million) in “damages from anti-Covid measures “. The defendants are the federal government of Canada, Prime Minister Trudeau, the Ministries Freeland, Alghabra, Mendicino, the medical director Theresa Tam and other members of the federal government. (more…)
TORONTO – More and more, it seems that there is an undercurrent of reaction against the incursions of the wokist ideology seeping its way into the society we had come to know. No-one can point to any specific, tangible document outlining its credo much less any accrued benefits previously unavailable before advocates of wokism emerged as the self-proclaimed conscience of contemporary society.
TORONTO – According to Court documents registered in Federal Court, May 30, 2022, and obtained by the Italian daily newspaper Corriere Canadese, the controversies related to and emerging from the federal government’s handling of Covid-19 issues have moved from “street talk” to “legal accountability”.
TORONTO – The month of June has so far offered up an almost surreal political menu. On June 1, the Mayor of Vaughan closed off a self-indulgent birthday party, under the guise of a “spirit of generosity” event, to tell the City and all present that he had had enough of them all and was not going to seek re-election as Mayor.
TORONTO – The results were barely tabulated and a horde of “political scientists”, commentators and Party lobbyists emerged from nowhere to advance their interpretation of the outcome of Election Ontario, 2022.There was a sense of revisionism in their analyses, an attempt to “interpret for the great unwashed” what their votes for the PC really meant.
TORONTO – Second majority government for Doug Ford and the Conservative Party in the Ontario provincial elections: the outgoing premier and his party won the majority with 83 seats, followed by Andrew Horwath’s NDP (31) who was however re-elected and by the Liberals of Steven Del Duca (8) who, instead, was defeated in his seat. The leader of the Greens, Mike Schreiner, was elected in the Guelph riding. The premier’s nephew, Michael Ford, managed to get himself elected by storming the Liberal-Ndp stronghold of York South – Weston.
TORONTO – What students and teachers at the George Harvey Collegiate Institute are preparing to do is not a repatriation like so many others. On Saturday, from noon to 7 pm, they will celebrate the 70th anniversary of the school.
TORONTO – The cancel culture mob has taken over the Halton Catholic District School Board. View the video of the two-part special board meeting of May 24 (you can watch the video clicking here) and judge for yourself. You may come to the same conclusion: they are self-righteous haters by any definition and their target is anything Catholic.
TORONTO – Countdown to the election in Ontario. Once the possibility of early voting has ended – the deadline was set for 28 May – voters will have the opportunity to express their preference on Thursday 2 June, from 9 am to 9 pm. Frenetic, as was to be expected, the last weekend of the election campaign for the leaders of the main parties, who have traveled the length and breadth of the province to try to convince the undecided that they still represent a substantial slice of the Ontario electorate.
TORONTO – Maulana Naseem Mahdi, pillar of the Ahmadi community and a great supporter of integration, in Woodbridge and beyond, passed away. Last Friday, in the Bai`tul Islam Mosque (in the pic above) in Jane, on Teston Road, the public funeral took place in the presence of many people, including Corriere Canadese’s publisher Joe Volpe. (more…)
TORONTO – The tragic toll of deaths related to Covid-19 in Ontario still rises: over the weekend 30 people died (2 today, 13 Saturday and 15 Friday) which are added to 20 on Thursday and bring the total to the province, from the beginning of the pandemic, to 13,225. One of two deaths today was an elderly person in a long-term care facility. (more…)
TORONTO – Galen Weston, Chairman & President of Loblaw, in a letter to national brand supplier partners, talks about reducing the negative impact of plastic packaging on our environment.
TORONTO – The Columbus Centre will continue to be called the Columbus Centre. That’s right. After having averted, with a mobilization that lasted more than a year its demolition, the community rejected the renaming of the community center wanted and created by the Italian-Canadians.
Election day (June 2) is one week away. This past month, party leaders have been criss-crossing the province sharing their platforms with the aim of building support for their political party. Meanwhile, candidates representing each political party have been doing much of the same within their local communities and constituencies.
TORONTO – The Hon. Joe Volpe, Publisher of the Corriere Canadese, has been appointed to the National Advisory Board of The Abraham Global Peace Initiative (AGPI). It is an honour that our Publisher has accepted with modesty in recognition of the impact of the Corriere and its team’s value to the Italian Diaspora and to the Canadian mainstream in which it operates.
TORONTO – Hospitalizations due to or with Covid-19 still below a thousand in Ontario: today the number of inpatients went from 809 patients on Sunday to 890, thus remaining well under 1,000 while intensive care remained almost unchanged: 157 against 152 on Sunday. These figures are comforting, given that they also include the holiday Monday (Victoria Day) for which the numbers had not been disclosed.
TORONTO – The Provincial elections has been “sleep-inducing”, except for the momentary turbulence created by Stephen Lecce’s association with Sigma Chi, the University fraternity club noted for its induction ceremonies requiring drunkenness, drug abuse, assault, sexual assault and rape, regardless of gender (activities that have led to the dissolution of some of its chapters).
The electoral district of Humber River-Black Creek was created in 2018, but the area has a long history. Formerly known as York West, the district spans an area of 30 square km and is situated along the City of Toronto’s northern limits with Hwy 400 running down the middle. The constituency is comprised of several neighbourhoods including Jane and Finch, Humber Summit, Village at York University and Black Creek.
TORONTO – Carpenters’ strike in the ICI sector will be continuing into its third week as of Tuesday May 24th, 2022.
TORONTO – Jason Kenney (in the pic) throws in the towel. Alberta’s premier and leader of the United Conservative Party has decided to resign as head of the party after the vote on the review of his leadership split the Canadian right, worn out by months of internal feuds, accusations, poisons and controversy until the dramatic epilogue on Wednesday evening.
TORONTO – Over the last three years, what has been happening to Ontario’s education system, and more specifically its Catholic component, is nothing short of a travesty. Yesterday it culminated in the undignified letter of resignation submitted by Principles Integrity, the Integrity Commissioner (IC), as the guardian of civility and probity at the TCDSB. They walked away from their “relationship” in a snit.
TORONTO – Another 16 deaths related to Covid-19, today, in Ontario: the number of victims in the province since the beginning of the pandemic rises to 13,099. In recent weeks, the number of deaths has been particularly high: 108 in the past seven days and 467 in the past thirty days. (more…)
Principles Integrity, a firm that has been providing the TCDSB with legal advice relative to Trustees’ Code of Conduct issues (the Integrity Commissioner, IC), today provided the TCDSB with written notice that it will no longer provide services to the school board.
TORONTO – Monday’s special (otherwise known as urgent) meeting of the Toronto Catholic District School Board (TCDSB), convened to deliberate and make a determination on a Report by the Integrity Commissioner (IC), as required by law, did not turn out as planned.
Created in 1999, Eglinton-Lawrence in situated in the heart of central Toronto. The district is bordered by roads like Highway 401, Yonge Street and Eglinton Avenue West. The residents are predominately middle class, and many small businesses are integral to the area’s local economy.
TORONTO – As this article unfolds, you will ask yourself whether you should laugh or cry. Choose the latter because you can at least begin to understand how exposed to ill will our socio-cultural assets are, especially when those to whom we entrust the care of our children is concerned.
BRAMPTON – Brampton’s cherry blossoms are in bloom. The City’s cherry blossoms are located at Joyce Archdekin Park along Main Street South, with an additional tree at the entrance to Gage Park. Cherry blossoms typically bloom in late April and in to May.
The City of Brampton was gifted cherry blossoms as part of the Sakura Project, which was initiated in the year 2000. The Sakura Project granted trees to a number of public locations in Ontario as a symbol of goodwill and friendship between Japan and Ontario. The City’s Parks and Forestry department planted the community’s trees in 2002 and 2003.
Brampton has approximately 70 cherry blossom trees. The City continues to maintain these trees with regular care and pruning.
The City of Brampton invites everyone to be respectful and: allow space for everyone to take photos and enjoy the scenery; do not litter; do not touch or pick the flowers, or climb the trees, as it is harmful to the trees.
VATICAN CITY – He had repeatedly expressed his desire to go to Canada where the Church is engaged in an important process of reconciliation with the indigenous people. And this morning the official announcement arrived: Pope Francis will go to Canada, from 24 to 29 July (when we will leave to come back to Rome), and will stop in Alberta, Quebec and Nunavut, “accepting the invitation of the civil authorities, ecclesiastical and indigenous communities” as the director of the Vatican Press Office, Matteo Bruni, said. This is the Pope’s 38th apostolic journey, which will touch the cities of Edmonton, Québec and Iqaluit. (more…)
TORONTO – This summer in the parks and beaches by Lake Toronto, citizens will most likely be able to consume alcohol. The pilot project, similar to the one proposed by Councillor Josh Matlow last spring during a bad wave of Covid, was discussed today by the city council.
TORONTO – Lecce, MPP for King-Vaughan and Minister of Education, had some of his unsavory past exposed to the embarrassment of all those associated with him, directly and indirectly. While at University, as a member of a fraternity for children of indulgent parents, he relished participating in games like “slave auction”. People were put up for sale and to do the bidding of the buyer for a determined period of time. We are in the twenty first century.
TORONTO – Slight drop in hospitalizations today in Ontario, but still many deaths: 14, bringing the total number of victims related to Covid-19, from the beginning of the pandemic, in Ontario, to 13,034.
TORONTO – The revelation that Stephen Lecce participated in numerous “slave auction” events when he was a member of the Sigma Chi International Fraternity, exploded like a bomb.
The electoral district of Aurora-Oak Ridges-Richmond Hill is situated in the Regional Municipality of York between Martkam-Stouffville in the east and King-Vaughan in the west. Created in 2015, it is a relatively new district that encompasses the southern part of Aurora and the northern portion of the Town of Richmond Hill.
Created in 2012, Markham-Stouffville is a provincial electoral district that is part of the Regional Municipality of York. The riding encompasses the town of Whitchurch-Stouffville and the eastern portion of the Town of Markham, one of the most diverse communities in Canada.
TORONTO – Covid-19 continues to claim victims in Ontario: after the 63 deaths recorded between Wednesday and Thursday, another 17 deaths are added to the the sad list on Friday, Saturday 24 and today 10. The total since the beginning of the pandemic is now at 12,972. (more…)
The political landscape in Richmond Hill is gearing up for a showdown between the PCs and the Liberals. The constituency is situated in the 905-region, about 40 km north of Toronto. It is considered by some to be part of the Ford Nation core base. (more…)
Whitby, a provincial electoral district, is situated along the north shore of Lake Ontario in the Regional Municipality of Durham. It is a relatively new district created in 2015 when it previously included sections of Oshawa and Ajax. Now, the riding encompasses the Town of Whitby, roughly 60 km east of downtown Toronto.
TORONTO – The total number of deaths related to Covid-19 since the beginning of the pandemic in Ontario is approaching 13 thousand: today, 31 registered deaths (the highest number added to the provincial tally in more than a month), in addition to 16 just 24 hours earlier. The total is now 12,889.
TORONTO – Election campaign kicks off in Ontario. With the dissolution of the provincial assembly, requested today by outgoing Prime Minister Doug Ford during his meeting with Deputy Governor Elizabeth Dowdeswell, the countdown has officially started in view of the appointment at the polls on June 2nd. Of course, the start set for today is a purely formal element. In fact, both the majority party – the Progressive Conservative – and the opposition forces began their election campaign as early as last month. Just think that only last week Steven Del Duca’s Liberal Party and Andra Horwath’s NDP presented the entire programmatic platform for the next provincial elections.
As the provincial election campaign gets underway, changes in the political landscape are brewing in some ridings. The outcome following the June 2 vote may turn out new leaders in some GTA districts. One area to watch is Mississauga-Lakeshore (formally Mississauga South prior to 2015).
OTTAWA – Every year, Europeans worldwide celebrate Europe Day on 9 May, in recognition of a significant moment in Europe’s history. In his 9 May 1950 address, known as the Schuman Declaration, French Foreign Minister Robert Schuman called on European nations to unite in the wake of the devastation of Second World War.
Created in 2003, Mississauga–Streetsville is situated in the Regional Municipality of Peel. It encompasses the north-west portion of the City of Mississauga and includes the communities of Meadowvale and Streetsville. Mississauga–Streetsville is one of five electoral districts in Mississauga where a tough competition could develop between the PC and the Liberals.
TORONTO – Today, Ontario did not report new deaths from Covid-19 for the first time in almost a month: the last day the province had reported no fatalities was last April 4. Since then, Ontario has recorded 370 deaths. The total since the beginning of the pandemic is 12,842. (more…)
TORONTO – They must have waited until the last minute to secure maximum effect… biggest bang for the event’s buck, so to speak. In part, it worked. An estimated 400 people turned out for the announcement and for Steven Del Duca’s kick-off speech.
Created in 1999, the constituency of York-Simcoe is situated on the south shore of Lake Simcoe. It covers part of the Regional Municipality of York and encompasses the towns of Georgina, Bradford West Gwillimbury, East Gwillimbury and part of the Township of King. The riding also includes part of the County of Simcoe and the Indigenous community of the Chippewas of Georgina Island First Nations Indian Reserve.
TORONTO – Europe cannot do without Russian energy products, gas first and foremost. If we do not start from this assumption, then we cannot fully understand the development of the conflict in Ukraine and the sometimes ambivalent attitude of some European states towards the Russian invasion. Just go through the official data provided by the Agency for the Cooperation of National Energy Regulators (ACER) to realize how Moscow in all these years has in fact put a noose around the neck of the EU, ready for convenience to tighten it, as is happening in the last 24 hours with the stop to gas supplies to Poland and Bulgaria.
The electoral district of Barrie-Innisfil could be considered a gateway between Southern and Northern Ontario. It is situated along the south-west shore of Lake Simcoe, one of the largest inland lakes in Ontario, outside of the Great Lakes system.
TORONTO – Long-term care is the workhorse of the Conservatives, Liberals and NDP. Now, at the time of the promises in view of the June elections in Ontario, the three parties promise to heal the sector whose flaws have been laid bare by the Covid pandemic. Pandora’s box has been discovered: mistreatment, negligence and until today as many as 4,329 elderly people died in LTC.
‘As journalism goes, so does democracy’ is the motto of Canadian Journalism Foundation (CJF), founded in 1990 precisely to celebrate and facilitate excellence in journalism. Consequently, the justifiable reference of CJF is as a new proposed media bill contradicts labour law in Bangladesh, which has been conveyed by the Newspaper Owners’ Association of Bangladesh (NOAB).
