Introduction Beginnings     Family Unification and Settlement     Fascist Era     Post World War II Immigration    Cultural  Life

 
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Finally, the Congress took the stance of opposing Italian government efforts to allow community members to reclaim their citizenship and vote in Italian elections. These policies, expressed through several major immigration conferences that brought people of Italian ancestry to Rome (the last in November/December, 1988), have resulted in the establishment of consular-run committees, the ComItEs (Committee of Italians Abroad). Ironically, this notion of "Italians abroad" is linked to Mussolini and Fascism. As Harney points out, the Fascist government in 1927 replaced the Commissioner of Emigration with a Director General of Italians Abroad: "Italo-Canadians were to be considered overseas Italian subjects and not emigrants lost to the mother Country." There has been a little friction within some Italian communities in Canada with at the establishment of consular communities but the National Congress of Italian-Canadians has withdrawn its opposition.  It will be interesting to see how this plays out once Italian elections are held and individuals who have reclaimed citizenship are able to vote.

As a result of a number of oral history projects and academic research, many Italian community members are being sensitized to the need to document their immigration experience. Heritage institutions, such as museums, have played a role in this but very few Italian organizations have created their own museums and archives. This remains a rich area for development and for sharing with the community at large. After  the experiences of internment during World War II, Italians rejected or sublimated their Italian identity. Today, Italian identity, in all of its aspects embracing culture and lifeways, is something to be proud of and celebrated. Communities that have "Little Italies" (including Montreal, Toronto, Thunder Bay, Winnipeg, Edmonton and Vancouver) have realized that they are means of attracting visitors to inner-city areas and vehicles for economic redevelopment.  While the upwardly mobile Italian immigrants and their descendants have largely moved out of these areas, because of the concentration of Italian businesses, restaurants and, often, festivals, they remain a draw.  

In the next few years, we will see more publications and, after the posting of the Celebrating Alberta's Italian Community website by the Edmonton-based Heritage Community Foundation, we will, no doubt, see more significant content developed for the web. As the curriculum of studies changes in the different provinces to acknowledge Canadian pluralism, we will also see the development of both conventional and web-based curriculum resources. The Celebrating Alberta's Italian Community has been designed to be such a resource.  Three generations of oral histories can be accessed through the People section of the website.

Related Il Congresso Articles

• Multiculturalism and Ethnic Writers The Work of Italian-Canadian Writers
  The phenomenon of Italian-Canadian writers never ceases to amaze the readers who have only recently discovered it.
   

• Celebrata a Toronto la Settiman a della Calabria in Canada
  This article covers Celebration of the Calabria Week in Toronto with the purpose to show the many aspects of the Calabrese reality (culture, art, tourism).
   

• Prestigiosa Degustazione Dei Vini Italiani
  This article is about an important presentation of Italian wines organized by ICE of Montreal which is responsible for the promotion of Italian wines in Canada.

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