Angelo Persichilli is an Italian journalist and newspaper editor who emigrated from Italy to Canada in 1975. He was announced in August 2011 as the new director of communications

Director of Communications

Director of communications is a position in both the private and public sectors. A director of communications is responsible for managing and directing an organization's internal and external communications...

 in the Prime Minister's Office.

Prior to joining the PMO, Persichilli worked as a columnist for The Toronto Star, and as an editor of the Italian language

Italian language

Italian is a Romance language spoken mainly in Europe: Italy, Switzerland, San Marino, Vatican City, by minorities in Malta, Monaco, Croatia, Slovenia, France, Libya, Eritrea, and Somalia, and by immigrant communities in the Americas and Australia...

 newspaper Corriere Canadese

Corriere Canadese

Corriere Canadese is an Italian-language daily newspaper published in Toronto, Canada. Founded in 1954 by Dan Iannuzzi, it is now owned by Multimedia Nova Corporation and published by Italmedia srl. Its target audience is the Italian Canadians...

. He was previously also a producer of multilingual newscasts on OMNI Television

OMNI Television

Omni Television, corporately styled as OMNI Television, is a Canadian television system owned and operated by Rogers Communications. It consists of the company's conventional television stations in Ontario, British Columbia and Alberta which are licensed as multicultural stations...

.

Perscichilli was known in 2010 for his multiple Toronto Star columns denigrating Quebec and all Canadian french speaking population in general. He also called for a reduction of french speaking personnel in the public services. He is the first director of communications to not speak both French and English, Canada's official languages, which prompted an official complaint with the Canadian Human Rights Commission

Canadian Human Rights Commission

The Canadian Human Rights Commission is a quasi-judicial body that was established in 1977 by the government of Canada. It is empowered under the Canadian Human Rights Act to investigate and try to settle complaints of discrimination in employment and in the provision of services within federal...

.