Mother was not to keen on coming to Canada, and did
not like it there. They left from Cherbourg, France. They
only took a suitcase each, containing linen, a blanket,
and some towels.
They sailed into St. John, took a train to Montreal,
and then took another 5 day train trip to Edmonton. It
snowed the whole way and they felt like crying. Not many
Italians were making the trip to Canada at this time.
The Grey Nuns met them in Montreal and helped them
find an Italian grocery store so they could buy
provisions for the trip west.
The Consul met them in Winnipeg and helped them
transfer from the CP line to the CN line.
They were met in Edmonton by a lady instead of their
father because he was at the CP station waiting, and did
not know that the family had switched lines in Winnipeg.
They eventually met up with their father, and went
shopping for clothes.
Emilia got a job at a hotel in Cadomin. Emilia says
she made more money in a week in Canada, than she was
able to make in a month in Italy, and she got to be at
home with her family every night. Assunta went to work
for private families cleaning house during the day.
In one house she worked in, Assunta was actually
served lunch by the people she worked for. She could not
believe it!
They remember other Italian families like Luchinni,
Sartor, and Paron. They also knew Mr. Silvio Tona who
lived in Mountain Park at the time. They all used to get
together and play cards.
Emilia's husband was moved to the mines in the
Crowsnest Pass, so she moved there a few months later
with her newborn daughter. They lived in the small town
of Hillcrest. Most of the people who owned and operated
the mines at that time were English.
Because of World War ll, Italians kept a low profile.
They remember being fingerprinted and having to report
to the R.C.M.P. every month because they were considered
enemy aliens.
Assunta was in the hospital at this time for an
appendix problem, and the wife of the doctor brought the
sisters a bowl of ice cream each. They were afraid to
eat the ice cream because they thought it might be
poisoned!