Sicilian Culture: The News & Views: Anna Mancuso, President, Quebec Region National Congress of Italian Canadians (NCIC)

Sicilian Culture

The People, The History, The Culture

The News & Views
Anna Mancuso, President,
Quebec Region National Congress of Italian Canadians (NCIC)
[You have already may have read a Summary,and the News Reports of the Gaglliano "AGBI". "Automatically Guilty Because Italian" Farce/Adversity.
It has really justifiably stirred up our paesani North of the Border. Below is a cogent Press Release by the National Congress of Italian Canadians.]
March 3, 2001 - - And What If Mr. Gagliano's Name Were Tremblay? Once again the image of the Italian community in Montreal takes a beating. Once again, the Montreal media charge ahead through the most simplistic of shortcuts. Mr. Gagliano is a Member of Parliament for Saint-Leonard and federal minister of Public Works and Government Services. He has served the residents of his riding with integrity and honesty since 1984, regardless of their origins. As minister for Quebec, he always defended issues of interest to all Quebecers.
But Mr. Gagliano¹s name is Italian. And Mr. Gagliano is MP in a riding that has a large Italian-speaking population. And Mr. Gagliano has been working within the Montreal Italian community for over twenty years.
Now, in the media reports, being Italian means being somewhat dubious, it means being suspect. With one stroke of a pen, the whole community is stigmatized. We¹re guilty by association. Here's a nasty little story. Let's go for it with gusto.
An Italian woman comes to Mr. Gagliano's riding office to get information about an immigration file. If we go by the media reports, Mr. Gagliano must know her, because she¹s Italian. Her husband is Italian, too, so Mr. Gagliano must know him as well. This husband is wanted by the European police. Mr. Gagliano must know this, too. This despite the fact that there are 250,000 Quebecers of Italian origin. The tone of the report leaves no room for doubt. Every protagonist in the story is Italian, so free associations are made even though there is no evidence of even the most tenuous of links. He was the president of such-and-such an Italian association. That¹s suspicious.
In short, Mr. Gagliano is Italian, so he's guilty. They're a little more prudent than that in the written press, of course. Journalists never write things in black and white. They take the more insidious route, just hinting and suggesting. That¹s even worse.
It's important for us to show how proud the Italian community is of Mr. Gagliano. From his earliest days in politics, he always stood up for the interests of our community and for all the citizens of his riding.
Our community objects to the fact that the media casts doubt on the integrity of a man who is in his third term as a federal minister and who has been subject, like all ministers, to in-depth background checks by the RCMP.
The community also objects to the fact that people of Italian origin always have to face doubts and suspicions about their links with organized crime. Being born in Siculia, Sicily, does not make a person a mafioso anymore than being born in Sorel makes a person a Hell¹s Angel.
In terms of ethical journalism, the question that the media should answer is this: Would an MP named Tremblay have been the subject of such a sensational lead story under the same circumstances? As members of the Italian community, we¹re sorry to say that after reading and seeing the media reports, we don¹t believe a Tremblay would have suffered such a fate.
Anna Mancuso, President, Quebec Region National Congress of Italian Canadians
Posted at www.canadese.org

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