Fraternal Societies Labour Activism Fascism Internment Discrimination

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The Society, whose "main object is the colonizing of Italians in the forming districts of Venice and the neighborhood, extends free guidance to desirable homesteads to newcomers and helps them otherwise.  It is extending its scope by furnishing its members with free medical aid and pecuniary assistance in case of sickness.  The presidents are F.A. Billas [Biollo] and A. Piemonte and the directors are Messers. A. Guerra, L. Rizzoli, E. Manca, T. Piemonte and P. Bonifacio.

According to Antonella Fanella, there was an active Fascist party in Calgary from the 1920s, which seems to have existed outside of the Giovanni Caboto Loggia. She confirms what Mr. Bonifacio notes that it was a social club. Fanella writes:

At a convention in Calgary in 1926, the Fascisti outlined their objectives: among other goals, they sought to improve the well-being of Italian immigrants in Canada and to promote a better understanding of Italo-Canadian culture. Claims that it was a subversive organization are doubtful since Italians are apolitical by nature. In fact, at the convention members pledged to "love, serve, obey and exalt the Dominion of Canada and to teach the obedience to and respect for its constitutions and laws." ¹

While I would agree with much of what she says, her assertion that Italians are "apolitical" is unlikely. The range of political nuances in Italy is evidence that Italians take their politics seriously and want a very close "fit" with their own views of not only political issues but also party politics.

With respect to information derived from oral histories, error does arise, frequently the result of old age and memory being fallible. Mr. Butti, in an oral history interview conducted in August/September, 1983, talked about the Fascists in Edmonton. He mentions Pietro Colbertaldo, a watchmaker on Jasper Avenue, who sent to Italy for a watchmaker and Vittorio Losa came out. According to Mr. Butti, Mr. Colbertaldo wanted to start a consular agency and went to Italy for training, likely in 1937; and he put Mr. Losa in charge of watch repair. In fact, Mr. Losa had been in Canada a long time, as his own oral history conducted at the same time mentions. He came to Edmonton in 1920 where he worked in a jewelry store and ultimately became the owner. According to his oral history interview, he was the Italian Honorary Consul in Edmonton in the 1920s and the 1930s. Mr. Colbertaldo had a Venice connection, according to Tony Bonifacio.  He had arranged to have his sister and brother-in-law, Giovanni and Teresa Favero, to come to the region.  The couple settled on a homestead in what is now Wandering River and he returned to Italy in 1948.

It was Colbertaldo, Losa and Rebaudengo in Calgary, who were the consular agents and, thus, had direct connections with Italy and could serve as spokesperson's for the Italian government in Canada. On his return from Italy, Colbertaldo became Vice-Consul in Winnipeg for western Canada and was one of the people arrested in 1940 according to Stanislao Carbone, Winnipeg Italian community historian. When Mr. Losa was interviewed by Giancarlo Grelli and Sabatino Roncucci, he was at pains to say how much he loved Canada and that he had not been to Italy for many years. As an old man, he was clearly sensitive to his association with Fascism and the "un-Canadian" light in which this cast him. This had all been forgotten by the last decades of the 20th century and the City of Edmonton named a district after him, Terra Losa.

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