Basilio Giordano
Encyclopedia
Basilio Giordano is an Italian
and Canadian
politician and journalist. He was a councillor in the Montreal
suburb of Saint-Leonard from 1982 to 1990 and has served in the Italian Senate
since 2008, representing Italian voters in North and Central America as a member of Silvio Berlusconi
's People of Freedom
party.
, Calabria
. While living in Italy, he studied languages and literature at the Sapienza University of Rome and worked in the Vatican
's Congregazione di Propaganda Fide
. After moving to North America in 1975, he earned a Bachelor of Arts
degree in languages from the Université de Montréal
(1980). Giordano's biography indicates that he is fluent in Italian, English, French, and Spanish.
Giordano was a political aide to Saint-Leonard mayor Michel Bissonnet
from 1978 to 1980 and continued to work for Bissonnet after the latter's election to the National Assembly of Quebec
in the 1981
.
's Équipe du renouveau de la cité de Saint-Léonard
. This party dissolved after di Ciocco's death in 1984, and Giordano became a founding member of the successor Ralliement de Saint-Léonard
(RdSL) party led by new mayor Raymond Renaud
. He was re-elected under the new party's banner in 1986
. After an internal party crisis in 1988, he was one of only two councillors to remain aligned with Renaud; the other eight RdSL representatives resigned to sit as independents.
, a community journal for Montreal's Italian community, in 1986.
In 1997, Il Cittadino Canadese accused Carlo Selvaggi, the Italian consul-general in Montreal, of threatening to end the Italian government's financial support for the paper. Il Cittadino Canadese had previously featured an article that accused the consulate of inaccessibility and inefficiency. Selvaggi subsequently met Giordano for a private conversation about the article, and Giordano recorded their conversation. At one stage, Selvaggi said, "If you wish to continue receiving a financial grant, you must stop publishing articles against the consulate." This was perceived by some as a threat, though Selvaggi later denied this and clarified that only the Italian government could make a decision to cancel funding.
, Basilio criticized an open letter written by fourteen prominent Italian Montrealers in 1996 on the grounds that allowed for the possibility of Quebec separatism. He wanted to seek the Liberal Party of Canada
nomination for Anjou—Rivière-des-Prairies
in the 1997 federal election
, but ultimately chose not to stand against party favourite Yvon Charbonneau
. In 2007, he ran for the Liberal nomination in Papineau
and finished third against Justin Trudeau
.
In 2010, former Member of the National Assembly (MNA) William Cusano
was awarded $25,000 in a defamation suit against Giordano and Il Cittadino Canadese. The paper had printed an anonymous letter during the 2007 federal nomination contest that alleged Cusano supported a "non-Italian" (Trudeau) in return for the promise of a patronage job. The letter also made the false suggestion that Cusano had "a tendency toward alcohol." Quebec Superior Court
judge Pierre Journet
ruled that the letter was "false and defamatory" and that Giordano had become a co-author by changing its content before publication.
Giordano ran as a Vision Montreal
candidate for the amalgamated Montreal city council
in the 2001 municipal election
. He finished fifth in Saint-Leonard's three-member borough.
, representing Italian voters in North America and Central America. A supporter of Silvio Berlusconi
's government, he serves on the foreign affairs committee and the committee for Italians living abroad.
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
and Canadian
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
politician and journalist. He was a councillor in the Montreal
Montreal
Montreal is a city in Canada. It is the largest city in the province of Quebec, the second-largest city in Canada and the seventh largest in North America...
suburb of Saint-Leonard from 1982 to 1990 and has served in the Italian Senate
Italian Senate
The Senate of the Republic is the upper house of the Italian Parliament. It was established in its current form on 8 May 1948, but previously existed during the Kingdom of Italy as Senato del Regno , itself a continuation of the Senato Subalpino of Sardinia-Piedmont established on 8 May 1848...
since 2008, representing Italian voters in North and Central America as a member of Silvio Berlusconi
Silvio Berlusconi
Silvio Berlusconi , also known as Il Cavaliere – from knighthood to the Order of Merit for Labour which he received in 1977 – is an Italian politician and businessman who served three terms as Prime Minister of Italy, from 1994 to 1995, 2001 to 2006, and 2008 to 2011. Berlusconi is also the...
's People of Freedom
The People of Freedom
The People of Freedom is a centre-right political party in Italy. With the Democratic Party, it is one of the two major parties of the current Italian party system....
party.
Early life and career
Giordano was born in FrascinetoFrascineto
Frascinetto is a town and comune in the province of Cosenza in the Calabria region of southern Italy.It is home to an Arbëresh minority.- External links :* * on http://www.telecosenza.it...
, Calabria
Calabria
Calabria , in antiquity known as Bruttium, is a region in southern Italy, south of Naples, located at the "toe" of the Italian Peninsula. The capital city of Calabria is Catanzaro....
. While living in Italy, he studied languages and literature at the Sapienza University of Rome and worked in the Vatican
Vatican City
Vatican City , or Vatican City State, in Italian officially Stato della Città del Vaticano , which translates literally as State of the City of the Vatican, is a landlocked sovereign city-state whose territory consists of a walled enclave within the city of Rome, Italy. It has an area of...
's Congregazione di Propaganda Fide
Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples
The Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples in Rome is the congregation of the Roman Curia responsible for missionary work and related activities...
. After moving to North America in 1975, he earned a Bachelor of Arts
Bachelor of Arts
A Bachelor of Arts , from the Latin artium baccalaureus, is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate course or program in either the liberal arts, the sciences, or both...
degree in languages from the Université de Montréal
Université de Montréal
The Université de Montréal is a public francophone research university in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. It comprises thirteen faculties, more than sixty departments and two affiliated schools: the École Polytechnique and HEC Montréal...
(1980). Giordano's biography indicates that he is fluent in Italian, English, French, and Spanish.
Giordano was a political aide to Saint-Leonard mayor Michel Bissonnet
Michel Bissonnet
Michel Bissonnet, MNA is a Canadian politician who served as Liberal member and President of the National Assembly of Quebec.-Background:...
from 1978 to 1980 and continued to work for Bissonnet after the latter's election to the National Assembly of Quebec
National Assembly of Quebec
The National Assembly of Quebec is the legislative body of the Province of Quebec. The Lieutenant Governor and the National Assembly compose the Parliament of Quebec, which operates in a fashion similar to those of other British-style parliamentary systems.The National Assembly was formerly the...
in the 1981
Quebec general election, 1981
The Quebec general election of 1981 was held on April 13, 1981, to elect members of the National Assembly of the Province of Quebec, Canada. The incumbent Parti Québécois, led by René Lévesque, won re-election, defeating the Quebec Liberal Party, led by Claude Ryan.The PQ won re-election despite...
.
City councillor
Giordano was elected to the Saint-Leonard city council in 1982 as a member of mayor Antonio di CioccoAntonio di Ciocco
Antonio di Ciocco was a politician in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. He served as mayor of the suburban community of Saint-Leonard from 1981 to 1984....
's Équipe du renouveau de la cité de Saint-Léonard
Équipe du renouveau de la cité de Saint-Léonard
The Équipe du renouveau de la cité de Saint-Léonard was a political party based in the suburban community of Saint-Leonard in Montreal, Quebec, Canada...
. This party dissolved after di Ciocco's death in 1984, and Giordano became a founding member of the successor Ralliement de Saint-Léonard
Ralliement de Saint-Léonard
The Ralliement de Saint-Léonard is a former political party in Saint-Leonard, Quebec, Canada. The RdSL existed prior to Saint-Leonard's amalgamation into Montreal and dominated the city's political life in the mid-1980s.-Rise to political dominance:...
(RdSL) party led by new mayor Raymond Renaud
Raymond Renaud
Raymond Renaud was a politician in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. He was mayor of the suburban community of Saint-Leonard from 1984 to 1990, leading the municipal Ralliement de Saint-Léonard party.-Councillor:...
. He was re-elected under the new party's banner in 1986
Montreal municipal election, 1986
The 1986 Montreal municipal election took place on November 9, 1978, to elect a mayor and city councillors in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Longtime mayor Jean Drapeau did not seek re-election, and Jean Doré from the opposition Montreal Citizens' Movement was elected to the position by a significant...
. After an internal party crisis in 1988, he was one of only two councillors to remain aligned with Renaud; the other eight RdSL representatives resigned to sit as independents.
Journalist
Giordano become the editor of Il Cittadino CanadeseIl Cittadino Canadese
Il Cittadino Canadese is a newspaper based in Montreal, Quebec. Founded in 1941, it is the oldest Italian language newspaper of Quebec and Canada.This weekly tabloid has a circulation of 18,000. It is published in Montréal and covers Greater Montreal....
, a community journal for Montreal's Italian community, in 1986.
In 1997, Il Cittadino Canadese accused Carlo Selvaggi, the Italian consul-general in Montreal, of threatening to end the Italian government's financial support for the paper. Il Cittadino Canadese had previously featured an article that accused the consulate of inaccessibility and inefficiency. Selvaggi subsequently met Giordano for a private conversation about the article, and Giordano recorded their conversation. At one stage, Selvaggi said, "If you wish to continue receiving a financial grant, you must stop publishing articles against the consulate." This was perceived by some as a threat, though Selvaggi later denied this and clarified that only the Italian government could make a decision to cancel funding.
Later political career in Canada
A vocal supporter of Canadian federalismCanadian federalism
Canada is a federation with two distinct jurisdictions of political authority: the country-wide federal government and the ten regionally-based provincial governments. It also has three territorial governments in the far north, though these are subject to the federal government...
, Basilio criticized an open letter written by fourteen prominent Italian Montrealers in 1996 on the grounds that allowed for the possibility of Quebec separatism. He wanted to seek the Liberal Party of Canada
Liberal Party of Canada
The Liberal Party of Canada , colloquially known as the Grits, is the oldest federally registered party in Canada. In the conventional political spectrum, the party sits between the centre and the centre-left. Historically the Liberal Party has positioned itself to the left of the Conservative...
nomination for Anjou—Rivière-des-Prairies
Honoré-Mercier (electoral district)
Honoré-Mercier is a federal electoral district in Quebec, Canada, that has been represented in the Canadian House of Commons since 1988. Its population in 2006 was 106,196.-Geography:...
in the 1997 federal election
Canadian federal election, 1997
The Canadian federal election of 1997 was held on June 2, 1997, to elect members of the Canadian House of Commons of the 36th Parliament of Canada. Prime Minister Jean Chrétien's Liberal Party of Canada won a second majority government...
, but ultimately chose not to stand against party favourite Yvon Charbonneau
Yvon Charbonneau
Yvon Charbonneau, PC is a Canadian politician.Charbonneau was a member of the Liberal Party of Canada in the Canadian House of Commons, representing the constituency of Anjou—Rivière-des-Prairies from 1997 to 2004. He is a former administrator, consultant, professor, and unionist...
. In 2007, he ran for the Liberal nomination in Papineau
Papineau (electoral district)
Papineau is a federal electoral district in Quebec, Canada, that has been represented in the Canadian House of Commons from 1948 to 1988 and since 2004. Its population in 2006 was 101,019....
and finished third against Justin Trudeau
Justin Trudeau
Justin Pierre James Trudeau, MP is a Canadian politician. He has represented the Montreal electoral division of Papineau in the Canadian House of Commons since 2008 as a member of the Liberal Party and currently serves as the party's critic for youth, post-secondary education, and amateur...
.
In 2010, former Member of the National Assembly (MNA) William Cusano
William Cusano
William Cusano is an Italian-born former politician in Quebec, Canada. He was a member of the National Assembly of Quebec from 1981 to 2007.Born in Italy, Cusano and his family moved to Canada in 1952...
was awarded $25,000 in a defamation suit against Giordano and Il Cittadino Canadese. The paper had printed an anonymous letter during the 2007 federal nomination contest that alleged Cusano supported a "non-Italian" (Trudeau) in return for the promise of a patronage job. The letter also made the false suggestion that Cusano had "a tendency toward alcohol." Quebec Superior Court
Quebec Superior Court
Quebec Superior Court is the highest trial Court in the Province of Quebec, Canada. It consists of 144 judges who are appointed by the federal government.Chief Justices : [partial listing]* Edward Bowen...
judge Pierre Journet
Pierre Journet
Pierre Journet is a justice of the Quebec Superior Court. He was appointed for the Laval district on 9 May 1995 by an order of Canadian attorney-general Allan Rock.-Notable decisions:...
ruled that the letter was "false and defamatory" and that Giordano had become a co-author by changing its content before publication.
Giordano ran as a Vision Montreal
Vision Montreal
Vision Montreal is a municipal political party in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. It has been in existence since 1994 and presently forms the Official opposition on Montreal City Council under leader Louise Harel.-Origins:...
candidate for the amalgamated Montreal city council
Montreal City Council
The Montreal City Council is the governing body of Montreal, Quebec. The head of the city government in Montreal is the mayor, who is first among equals in the City Council. The mayor is Gérald Tremblay, who is a member of the Union des citoyens et des citoyennes de l'Île de Montréal...
in the 2001 municipal election
Montreal municipal election, 2001
The 2001 Montreal municipal election took place on November 4, 2001, to elect a mayor and city councillors in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Gérald Tremblay defeated incumbent Pierre Bourque to become mayor of the newly amalgamated city....
. He finished fifth in Saint-Leonard's three-member borough.
Italian politician
Giordano was elected to the Italian Senate in the 2008 general electionItalian general election, 2008
A snap general election was held in Italy on 13 April and 14 April 2008. The election came after President Giorgio Napolitano dissolved parliament on 6 February 2008 following the defeat of the government of Prime Minister Romano Prodi in a January 2008 Senate vote, and the unsuccessful tentative...
, representing Italian voters in North America and Central America. A supporter of Silvio Berlusconi
Silvio Berlusconi
Silvio Berlusconi , also known as Il Cavaliere – from knighthood to the Order of Merit for Labour which he received in 1977 – is an Italian politician and businessman who served three terms as Prime Minister of Italy, from 1994 to 1995, 2001 to 2006, and 2008 to 2011. Berlusconi is also the...
's government, he serves on the foreign affairs committee and the committee for Italians living abroad.
Electoral record
External links
- Senate biography (in Italian)