Trudeau to deliver apology to Italian-Canadians for internment during Second World War

CTVNews – Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is set to deliver a formal apology in the House of Commons today for the internment of Canadians of Italian descent during the Second World War. In a news release earlier this month, Trudeau said the Italian Canadian community has carried the weight of the unjust policy of internment during the war. After Italy declared war against Canada in 1940, Canada interned more than 600 people of Italian heritage and declared about 31,000 of them as “enemy aliens.”

Opinion: Trudeau’s apology to Italian-Canadians must be viewed in context

NationalPost – Honesty demands we view WWII internments not through the myopic lens of racial discrimination, but through an understanding of the myriad complexities inherent to the time.

“The Italian-Canadian Community dedicates this memorial to the more than 93,000 Canadians who took part in the Italian Campaign of World War II. We admire them, we are grateful for them, we honour them.”

These eloquent and moving words are inscribed on a beautiful memorial, unveiled in 2016 in Toronto’s Nathan Phillips Square, that pays tribute to the tens of thousands of Canadians who fought Hitler’s National Socialist (Nazi) and Mussolini’s Fascist armies in Italy between July 1943 and May 1945.

Trudeau apology to Italian Canadians: It’s never too late to do the right thing

Toronto Star – More than 70 years after the Canadian government forced 31,000 Italian Canadians to register as enemy aliens and interned 600 of them without charges during the Second World War, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau will formally apologize on behalf of Canada on Thursday in the House of Commons.

Reaction in the Italian community, of course, is mixed, a reflection of the community itself. We are not a cultural or social monolith, we are like so many other citizens who trace their heritage to a faraway land, part of a diverse Canadian mosaic who have interesting relationships with the ties that bind.

During the 1940s — like the 1900s when my great grandfather Leonardo first settled in Toronto — Italians were a growing part of the emerging story of this British colonial experience that was Canada. Or was that the French colonial experience? Either way, it was an experience that was adding multiple cultures under those umbrellas, but right on top of the traditional land of Indigenous people, who were then also muted from its narrative.

The post Trudeau government set to apologize to Italian Canadians for war internment first appeared on Panoram Italia.

“I’m proud to stand up and say that our government will right these wrongs with a formal apology in the month of May,” Prime Minister Justin Trudeau told the House of Commons yesterday in reply to a question from Liberal MP Angelo Iacono, while noting that Canadians of Italian heritage “deal with ongoing discrimination related to mistakes made by our governments of the past that that continue to this day.” 

A 2017 CBC Doc Project documentary told the story of one of those detainees, Francesco Scappatura, who was taken from his home in North Bay, Ont. in 1940 to an internment camp in Petawawa. Ont., where he was held there with his brother Vincenzo, his brother-in-law Carmine and over 500 other men. The documentary was made by Francesco Scappatura’s granddaughter Angela.

Italian-Canadians to get formal apology for treatment during Second World War

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau will issue a formal apology next month for the treatment of Italian-Canadians during the Second World War. The government said in a news release that 600 Italian-Canadian men were interned in camps in Canada after Italy allied with Germany and joined the war in 1940. Some 31,000 other Italian-Canadians were declared enemy aliens.

Trudeau to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau holds a press conference during the COVID-19 pandemic in Ottawa on April 13, 2021. POLITICS Italian-Canadians to get formal apology for treatment during Second World War formal apology for treatment of Italian-Canadians during Second World War

Toronto Star – Trudeau to apologize to Italians mistreated in Canada during WWII. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says the federal government will issue a formal apology to Italians mistreated in Canada during the Second World War. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau will issue a formal apology next month for the treatment of Italian-Canadians during the Second World War. The government said in a news release that 600 Italian-Canadian men were interned in camps in Canada after Italy allied with Germany and joined the war in 1940. Some 31,000 other Italian-Canadians were declared enemy aliens. Trudeau told the House of Commons Wednesday that his government “will right these wrongs” by issuing a formal apology in May. In 1988, Canada formally apologized and offered $300 million in compensation to Japanese-Canadians, 22,000 of whom were interned in camps during the Second World War. 

The post Italian-Canadian community will receive a formal apology in May for WW2 wrongs first appeared on Panoram Italia.