Originally Published: 2002-12-22

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"You should write about my father rather than me. He is the one who had the courage to leave everything and come here. After all, I came here after he had already smoothed out all difficulties. It was a lot easier for me."
Why do you consider your father a courageous person?
"He came here in 1950. At those times Canada wasn't the country we are used to now. It wasn't a multicultural society, Italians were few and far between. Those who wanted to stay here had to sign a two-year contract that allowed them to work in the railway building in Manitoba. Those years were tough; people lived far from any form of civilization for very long periods of time and had to endure weather conditions they had never been used to. Just think about a farmer like my father, having to live in such conditions. He would work along the railway tracks during the day and become a barber in the evening, cutting his fellow workers' hair to make a little bit of extra money. No telephones were available in those days and we used to receive one letter a month from him. This is how my mother, my sister Antonietta and myself would keep in touch with him."
What did he do after his two-year contract expired?
"He moved to Toronto and started working in construction for 85 cents per hour. He would go up and down the scaffolding carrying concrete on his shoulders. One day he had an accident and was forced to spend six years in hospital. He never told us anything, because he didn't want us to be worried. When he was released from hospital, he found a job in a company where chickens were butchered, delivered to the stores and sold to the public. Finally he got a better job, his salary was not bad either, so he managed to build a house and in the spring of 1957 we all came over. 'We spend the summer together', he would say 'then next fall I'll sell the house and we all go back to Vinchiaturo' were his words."
How old were you at that time?
"I was 14, and before that I had never traveled outside my town. I was amazed by this city, its buildings and the people who lived here. Our house was small but comfortable. That summer the weather was beautiful, just like in Italy. To make the story short, in October we decided to postpone our return to Italy and stay in Canada to make enough money in order to open a store in Vinchiaturo. My father always liked the idea of having a business and he wanted me to help him. So I would go to school in the morning and work in a store in the afternoon to become familiar with the trade business. I worked for free, of course, but I learned something..."

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