Italian Heritage Month, MP Baber meets Corriere Canadese
TORONTO – MP Roman Baber came by our office on Monday, June 22. “Buongiorno. I wanted to come by and express my regards and congratulations for this recognition of Italian Heritage Month in Canada, in person.”
MP Baber represents the riding of York Center in Toronto. Until the previous two census (2016, 2021) the constituency still claimed one of the largest concentrations of citizens who self-identified as Italian. Today, the number is significantly reduced to about 5,200 who still proudly announce Italian as their mother tongue and a further c. 3,000 who claim Italian ancestry.
In the last federal election, 2025, he defeated former Liberal Cabinet Minister Ya’ra Saks – rather handily – so the visit may have been an indication of astute political necessity. He is a youngish man, married to Annunziata of Southern Italian origin. “She is a great influence on my life”, he admits unabashedly.
Baber is “no shrinking violet”. When he was a provincial MPP, he clashed with the Premier, objected to the official “Covid lockdown”, produced a scathing report on the government’s handling and roll-out of its Autism Strategy and, after being ushered from the provincial caucus, challenged for the Leadership of the Federal Conservative party, eventually won by Pierre Poilievre.
So, the visit was more of “getting to know” the landscape, a promising political exercise. The interview, such as it developed was not issue specific. He seemed genuinely interested in learning about our readership and what motivates the Corriere’s political stance on the broad range of matters he and we face on a daily basis. There are talking points and press releases galore, sometimes on an hourly basis, to filter lest they become unadulterated partisan tripe.
One suspects that he does not fit that mold. We look forward to serious discussions on matters of national interest or more local concern going forward. We accepted the congratulations on the occasion of the month’s festivities celebrating the 80th anniversary of the Italian Republic.
In the pics below, some moments of MP Roman Baber’s visit to Corriere Canadese, with Rabea Allos and the Honourable Joe Volpe, Publisher of Corriere Canadese
