Fond farewells and genuinely sincere thanks
TORONTO – Diplomatic postings for career civil servants dedicated to representing their countries do not, as a norm, envisage much beyond care and attention to the country of origin beyond professional attention to detail and, wherever possible, promotion of the sending country’s interests. Without prejudice or offence, occasionally, especially in “hot spots’’, they may be required to provide “urgent” consular services to protect the civil rights of members of the Diaspora. Had Luca Zelioli, the “retiring” Consul General responsible for Ontario (except Ottawa), Manitoba and the Northwest Territories, restricted himself to simply those duties, he would have achieved the max.
Instead, to his credit and to the Diaspora’s benefit, he opted to go ‘beyond the call of duty”. A testament to that value is the farewell dinner arranged at Speducci. The dinner was co-hosted by four institutions in the community and one more recent entity – ItaliaLinguaCultura, dedicated to the promotion, as the name suggests, to all things Italian. The Corriere Canadese was a guest, as were notables such as former Chief Justice of the Supreme Court Frank Iacobucci, the newly appointed Justice to the Federal Court Giuseppina D’Agostino, and Roberta Iannacito-Provenzano recently appointed President of Toronto Metropolitan University. There were others of course.
It was not difficult to understand why Consul General Zelioli enjoys the esteem of those present among many others.
In his brief address to guests he commented on the obvious talent resident in each of the associations: entrepreneurial, professional, social, cultural, academic and political – many were in the same room. He quipped half-jokingly that this may have been among the few times that they shared a meal together, wondering aloud what would happen to their current level of influence in Canadian society if they were to make these encounters more frequent. Believe it or not, that went over very well.
Mr. Zelioli’s allure lies in “practicing what he preaches”. Over these last four years, he has hosted the Italian communities from the Greater Greater Toronto Area and beyond to celebrate together events and occasions that distinguish us as contributing Canadian citizens committed to the growth of the nation that not only reflects us but acknowledges the values we infuse in its culture and polity. The Corriere has accompanied him, in person, to places from Niagara Falls, through Hamilton, Brantford, Guelph, Vaughan, Maple, Oshawa, iconic places in Toronto, and elsewhere, attesting to the Italian immigrants’ contributions to their new homeland.
Whether through theatrical productions, displays of fine arts, musical concerts keeping alive the best of Italian innovation, research or the best of the culinary arts, he seemed eager to locate those who manifested a love of the finest in Italian creativity and were ready to make it their own. As a going away present, he gifted the Italian community with Italy’s blessing and shared partnership consisting of ItaliaLinguaCultura in the York Catholic District School Board linked in business partnership with other private sector contributors the CIBPA and Heritage Calabria.
Consul General Zelioli, you will be missed. Mrs Zelioli, thank you for sharing his talent with the Italian Diaspora in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
Here below is a photogallery from the event with a video (photos and video: Corriere Canadese)
