Gasparro, a message of thanks aiming high
TORONTO – The invitation promised a leisurely evening with the host, his friends and the Italian Ambassador, Alessandro Cattaneo. Vince Gasparro, the host, is the newly elected Member of Parliament for Eglinton-Lawrence.
The invitees, a select few in number, given the constraints of space, ran the full gamut of “leaders” – or considered as such by many residents of Canadian Italian lineage – in most sectors of Canadian society.
Vince delivered, as promised. Guests mixed and mingled easily exchanging niceties and recalling each others “contributions” to the evolution of the community in the past and potential for the future, one without limits, in my opinion, as attested by the expertise and experience among those present and reflected in the pictures on this page.
How could they not be? The list of invitees included all the “institutions” from business, professions, social-cultural entities, finance, pension funds, academia, research, innovation, manufacturing, international trade, infrastructure, law, communications, entertainment, housing, and former and current legislators.
The list could go on; I did not ask for anyone’s Curriculum Vitae. I think the Prime Minister might have been interested in being there. After all, people present seemed a great fit to execute on the country’s new-found, transatlantic focus.
Vince must have thought as much. In his brief, enthusiastic introduction of the Ambassador, he came as close as one could come to suggesting that the time may have come for the community to “flex its muscles (experience and expertise)” in a more activist role to promote the country’s interests outside our borders.
Ambassador Cattaneo rose to the occasion, as only a skilled diplomat could, suggesting that Italy’s policies on the international stage (political commercial and cultural) are also now more oriented to trans-oceanic relationships like Canada’s. Certainly, people present convey an auspicious outcome for the expansion of both a Made in Italy promotion and the extension of Canadian interests beyond North America.
The event was an excellent close to the summer and a prelude to the resumption of Parliament; it offered great “food for thought”. It is a rare moment when “messaging” does not overburden the conviviality of the gathering. Vince accomplished that balance. His father, Albert, noticed, and he will have been justifiably pleased.
Here below is a photogallery from the event (pics by Corriere Canadese and CIBPA)
