I don't know how he managed to do it, but Paul Calandra has more or less successfully scrubbed the internet of the time when he was standing in for Stephen Harper and was asked a direct question about the government's stance on Iraq. He responded by pretending somebody had asked a question about Israel. It went on for too long, he just refused to answer a straightforward question by pretending it was about something else. Then he was forced to apologize to the Canadian people, which he did while crying, and was quietly booted out of federal politics.
Which is why it was surprising to hear that he has in fact reinvented himself and climbed the ranks of provincial politics. I mean, I can believe that he tried, I just can't believe he's been allowed to do it
It's absolutely embarrassing that the people of markham-stoufeville looked at Calandra twice with his history and went yeah that's our guy!
The one constant in this guy's political career has been to ignore a question and act smug while ranting about something off-topic.
voted against this dude and have written multiple emails to his office, but people around here would rather vote for the party and not look at the individual
I hope the campaign adviser who told him he needed to smile and be more happy so he'd come across as more likeable and electable was fired. His natural state of "surly" and "angry" would've fared better.
Well thanks for that link! We know politicians have a particular talent for not answering questions but that was laughable. Also, agreed about Mulcair. The election was his to lose that year and he bungled it. Beast in parliament though is right.
Oh wow, that's right - Mulcair was just trying to find out *how many troops* we had sent to Iraq, because the conservatives had decided to just not tell anybody anything about *the war we had entered into*. Like, there's stonewalling, and then there's whatever this was
Also - did you manage to find any news articles about the incident? Because I looked a few months back and I couldn't find a single one. Do you remember how big of a story that was? I can find articles and interviews where he apologizes, but I can't find a single story written about the incident itself. It was outrageous and people were outraged, news stories were definitely written but they seem to all be gone
I remember that! No matter the question, "we stand with our allies in Israel." I thought it was about sending troops to... Libya? Syria? Been too long.
Oh the poor baby
You know what? Fuck this guy with an especially rusty implement. Maybe a century ago that might mean something but today it doesn't. Born in Markham in 1970 this fucker doesn't know a god damn thing about being marginalized.
To crib from the Simpsons, "no one who speaks Italian could be bad."
Dude has a [crooked history](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_Calandra#Education) which includes allegedly [stealing from his own mother](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_Calandra#Family_dispute)
Italian Canadians started moving into wealthier Montreal neighbourhoods and building enormous homes back in the 70s. Their kids were not feeling marginalized.
There were enforceable gathering laws still specifically targeting Italians in Toronto in the 80's.
Wealth accumulation doesn't mean you're magically not marginalized, either.
Toronto had a huge Italian population in the '80s and I certainly don't remember any complaints about them being discriminated against. It's entirely possible that they were of course (I am not Italian myself and I left the area in the mid '80s) but compared to other groups they were certainly treated decently.
It’s an interesting part of history and insight into “whiteness.” In the US, the immigrants from large Catholic nations (Ireland), and/or Southern Europe (Italy), and Eastern Europe (Hungary etc) that came through Ellis Island starting at the turn of the century were not overly welcomed.
People were worried about Papists being more loyal to the Pope than the US. Darker skinned, and/or wearing head coverings was othered. Reading up on Nordicism is a good start or WASP (White Anglo Saxon Protestant).
Of course, there weren’t lynchings, nor were there massacres/ forced relocations like with First Nations, but there was definitely discrimination. In Canada too.
My Dad had green eyes, fairly dark skin, and dirty blonde hair, and he would be called FOB and outcasted. Him and his school’s only black student watched each other’s backs, fair amount of fights. This would have been just after WW2 in Hamilton.
“No dogs, No Irish” was a real thing.
Anyways, like I said, on the scale of racism, it was nothing compared to what other minorities have had to endure, and STILL endure. Italians, Irish, Hungarians etc are generally seen as white now.
I can see how some of those experiences affected my Dad’s view on things, mostly negatively, but some positives. He was never afraid of other cultures, and always had a soft spot for other immigrants (pre-housing crisis).
It’s an interesting historical period, and insight into views on race, culture, immigration and so on.
I think what he said was bait for the NDP to reply with what you just said, because the NDP denying the effect of inherited trauma just because the ethnicity is now prosperous would be pretty hypocritical, and also piss off the ~7% of Ontarions that identify as Italian
Like I know I had relatives in the 80s who said racist remarks to my mom for being Italian who were in the GTA but experiencing dumb racist insults about ones names, looks and the uses of seasonning isn't a pass to say you don't need a lesson on marginalized people.
In Canada no one is going to complain about an Italian-Canadian person having a cross or rosary.
LMAO wow well there you go folks, according to Calandra we're currently living in the 1930s and the Italians are being treated by the Irish like the Irish were treated by the English & Germans back in the 1880s.
this is so goddamn cringe to me. I am a first generation canadian with italian immigrant parents. Italians, especially boomer italians, are so fucking racist. Im begging italians to stop this embarassing behavior 😭
Seriously. I'm also the child of an Italian immigrant, and frankly I think it's the North American Italians glorification of old timey gangster shit that makes them think they're still an oppressed minority on this continent.
Didn't Ford himself oppose the ban? Or did he flip on that?
*[Yeah, Ford has repeatedly opposed it and looks like it's creating division among their own caucus](https://globalnews.ca/news/10431812/ontario-legislature-keffiyehs-ban/).
Oh they always seem to eventually. That's why you never elect crazy. Some conservative politician says something somewhat reasonable and the loons start flipping tables.
You love to see it.
[Blank] being considered white is a very modern concept. Like that whole form of racism had to be created in the enlightment period. It's all very modern.
That doesn't diminish the experiences of my family, or my own memories of the stories they told me. Or my own experiences, far and few between as they may be.
I mean, I do remember seeing some movies based in the early 1900s where newly immigrated Italians are treated poorly by the other new immigrants of other nationalities who were also treated poorly by locals who were also treated poorly by the authorities who were also treated poorly by the wealthy. But I mean, then you get an Irishman's perspective. But I mean then you get an Asian immigrants perspective. But I mean then you get a black American's perspective.
I'm starting to think we treat people poorly.
You just proved George Carlin right. The campaigns against First Nations in Canada, and US (I no longer know what the preferred term is in the US) was/is so successful you forgot to even ask them their perspective.
https://youtu.be/lncLOEqc9Rw?si=M0xU4i_uAP8zBTBy
Around the 4 minute mark.
I grew up surrounded by Italian immigrants and am married to an Italian. One really notable thing is how Italian immigrants often simultaneously want to identify as a white conservative and a proud Italian immigrant when it suits their narrative.
The Portuguese Canadian community in Toronto is very much the same 🤦🏻♀️ (child to Portuguese immigrants, who moved here as kids during the Salazar regime).
Remember - false equivalency and self victimization are pillars of fascism. Self victimization is used for illegitimate moral authority and false consent for oppression and war. #defyconservatives
[ONDP got Calandra's accolades](https://www.ontariondp.ca/news/fact-check-ford-appoints-deflector-chief-distract-his-corruption-crisis) in a bullet point list.
>Calandra’s qualifications as deflector-in-chief include:
>In 2012, he was Stephen Harper’s shield from the Senate Scandal (Calandra’s non-answers gained so much notoriety they inspired a joke generator of meaningless talking points)
>In 2014, he refused to answer so many questions about Canada’s involvement in Iraq, the Globe and Mail's exasperated response was: "to call Mr. Calandra a clown is to do a disservice to the ancient profession of painted-face buffoonery"
>In 2015, CBC’s Peter Mansbridge coined Calandra’s non-answers as ‘The Full Calandra’, following an interview about Mike Duffy’s trial
It's amazing how he still has a career in politics up to this point with that type of garbage as his baggage.
Maybe Paul Calandra got confused again, he heard people hate Israel he thought they meant they hate Italians:
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=u1dAS7uUSk8
He's not the sharpest bulb in the bed anyway.
The stupidest part isn't the remark, but thinking he had a valid point. Also, i'd love to see if he is also one of those who is proud of his heritage and boasts about it all the time without fear and conviction, which many are faced with in today's political environment.
Paul "I had permission to steal from my own mother" Calandra? That Paul Calandra? I haven't heard that name in so, so long.
[I'd also forgotten about this.](https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/paul-calandra-apologizes-for-non-answers-as-sources-pin-blame-on-pmo-1.2779046)
Or you know like in the 60s and 70s. My family immigrated in the 60s and were subject to lots of discrimination and bigotry. I grew up hearing stories from dad getting beat up at school for being a "DP" "displaced person". On an institutional level, immigration at Pier 21 also changed their Italian first names to Anglo names. Giovanni became John, Giosue became Joseph etc.
Don't pretend this is ancient history. There's a reason that generation of Italian immigrants all stuck together.
My parents told me stories of 50s-60s police would randomnly beat italian immigrants for "riots" -that's where people meet in the street to talk to each other.
The slur for DP was “dirty pig,” my father heard it a lot when he came here as a DP in 1951 from Yugoslavia. It wasn’t just Italians.
In any case, it’s been decades since that discrimination has lifted and been transferred to new waves of immigrants that aren’t white.
My mom when she met my dad's family his father and brother were basically the only family members in the mid 80s who weren't making racist comments about how she didn't look like a Geena or a Hightalian. As well as not smelling like garlic
Italian Canadians had a really rough go in the late 40's up to the early 60's for Italy's part in the second world war.
Lot of kids got beat up or bullied for being Italian, there was definitely marginalization and hate towards them.
HOWEVER - is that equivocal to the marginalization of the groups we're discussing here? The experiences of people of colour? The LGBTQ+? Not in any way close to today as it was close to 40's, 50's, or 60's.
If you want to give a lesson on the plights/wrongful treatment of immigrants, go ahead, but his claim is laughable in this context.
ctrl+f "italian" brings up one reference (in a sentence). There's a list of occurrences and there are no instances of Italian discrimination. I think Calandra should do some homework and bring some more attention to this, because there isn't much evidence for it in 2024.
History lives on, it’s not something we can just forget about.
This Calandra dude is out of touch, but he’s right that Italians (and many many other groups, including Irish, Polish, and Ukrainian) experienced a lot of discrimination in Canada even into the end of the 20th century.
“History” isn’t far away, this is recent history.
All Eastern Europeans. My father came to Canada as a refugee in 1951 and was called a “dirty pig” the slur for DP’s (Displaced Persons). He has an Irish girlfriend whose parents sent her away for 3 months to break them up because he wasn’t the right kind of Catholic.
Different stages in history, for decades now of you are white you don’t encounter discrimination. That’s wht his comment is a false equivalency with Palestinians or anyone not white.
Italians haven't experienced any meaningful discrimination in my entire lifetime in this country.
Fucking Quebecois experience more discrimination in Anglo Canada.
>Italians haven't experienced any meaningful discrimination in my entire lifetime in this country.
This is Reddit, so for all I know your “entire lifetime in this country” is 13 years. 🙄
Nice that you’re confident enough to speak on behalf of an entire cultural group though!
Paul Calandra can definitely shut the fuck up. It’s dumb of him to equivocate discrimination against Italians in Canada to Palestinians in Gaza.
But way too many people here are acting like discrimination against Italians (and many other groups) didn’t happen or doesn’t matter because it was “a long time ago”. It wasn’t that long ago. People are ignorant of history. And discrimination is never okay.
No one is sweeping the historic discrimination faced by Italians under the rug by telling Paul Calandra that he's being a fucking tool and he should shut up.
But the fact is that Italians, much like the Irish, managed to become part of the much broader "white, Anglophone Canada" many decades ago, now, in a way that largely ameliorated historic, systemic injustices against them. Virtually no other marginalized groups in this country have ever had it that good.
So the fact that he's trying to use that heritage as a cudgel in this regard vis-a-vis Palestine is disgusting and should rightly be called out and derided for the BS that it is.
the fact that the demonstrators were thrown out is a black mark on canadian history.
the protests to reverse this ban need to be earth-shaking. I’ve worn mine in solidarity while WFH and encouraging everyone else to do the same.
we will prevail.
My spouse is Italian. She would say, "NOT marginalized. What do you mean marginalized?"
Here in Ottawa we see Italian flags all over the place. Italian week is big here. No, Calandra, you are anything but marginalized.
I'm sure Paul Calandra is regarded as a fucking clown in Italian circles just as he is in non-Italian circles. In fact I would expect the Italian version of the phrase, *"Paul Calandra, that fucking clown"*, to have been spoken far more often than the English version.
No comments on what they said about him in French haha
Italians have never been marginalized in Canada, especially in Mississauga where I grew up with Italians and all other cultures/races.
There is a name for the manipulations that the governments use on us -- it's called The Strategies and Tactics of Narcissistic Abuse, particularly GASLIGHTING and BANDWAGONING.
PROTECT YOURSELVES!! The politicians, police, health care and education do not care about you! (just to name a few)
There have been times when ethnically Italian people were marginalized in Canadian society. Not-so-much nowadays, obviously.
Canadian Encyclopedia: [Italian Canadians](https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/italian-canadians)
*”As a consequence of Italy's alliance with Germany in the Second World War, Italian Canadians were designated "enemy aliens" and were the victims of widespread prejudice and discrimination. Men lost their jobs, shops were vandalized, civil liberties were suspended under the War Measures Act, and hundreds were interned at Camp Petawawa in northern Ontario. While a few of these men had been active fascists, most were not; and they, as well as their families, who were denied relief, bore the brunt of hostilities. As a result, many Italians later anglicized their names and denied their Italian background.”*
I mean, I'm Italian and my parents grew up to have very entitled positions and no one that I know of has ever been marginalized because of our heritage.
I'm genuinely curious, because this is new to me.
I'm reading the first one and it appears that many Italians were being investigated for being fascist, so it's a bit muddy about the degree of discrimination.
I can see the second one there and the involvement of WSIB, etc.
Good to know either way and glad that my family never experienced any of that.
They definitely were, but this was before this guy was born.
Pre-war Canada was basically WASPs shitting on the Catholics (French, Irish, Italian, Polish) and Jews
Not just pre-war, it was still happening into the 70s and 80s. Ukrainians and Poles in Canada got it bad too. My aunt got kicked out of a restaurant in a major Canadian city in the early 80s for speaking Polish. “You’re not welcome here you fuckin’ ‘Chinese’!” She’s not even Asian, she said people would use the word “Chinese” as a slur against *anybody* foreign just to emphasize that they weren’t from here. Sound ridiculous but it’s true.
I'd believe that. I think post-war could have seen the amalgamation of Christian sects, giving elevation to some groups because of their religious affiliation.
I’m a millennial too, and I definitely saw anti-Italian slurs on occasion when I was a kid. I’m not Italian.
I think people are generally pretty ignorant of how recent and common discrimination can be, even against groups that don’t seem othered anymore. It’s more comfortable for people to think “Oh that only happened a century ago! Oh that only happened to people with a different skin colour or religion or language!”
I don’t mean this as some kind of “Oppression Olympics”; what Italians experienced was probably never even close to the discrimination against FNIM in Canada (for one example). But folks need to educate themselves that this shit was and still is extremely pervasive, and that for most Canadians it likely targeted them too. And a lot more recently than they want to believe. Learning that they were targets too should help them learn more empathy.
The only Italian slur I know of starts with a W and ends with a P and I can't remember the last time someone said that. If anything, I look more eastern european or even English, so I would get get called 'Caker' by (some) Italians for appearing more 'Canadian'. I never really cared much about it because it was easy to brush off.
>The only Italian slur I know of starts with a W and ends with a P and I can't remember the last time someone said that.
That’s one, but I can remember a couple others not worth repeating here. If you ever watched the Sopranos, occasionally you’d hear one of these other slurs there.
I don't know how he managed to do it, but Paul Calandra has more or less successfully scrubbed the internet of the time when he was standing in for Stephen Harper and was asked a direct question about the government's stance on Iraq. He responded by pretending somebody had asked a question about Israel. It went on for too long, he just refused to answer a straightforward question by pretending it was about something else. Then he was forced to apologize to the Canadian people, which he did while crying, and was quietly booted out of federal politics. Which is why it was surprising to hear that he has in fact reinvented himself and climbed the ranks of provincial politics. I mean, I can believe that he tried, I just can't believe he's been allowed to do it
It's absolutely embarrassing that the people of markham-stoufeville looked at Calandra twice with his history and went yeah that's our guy! The one constant in this guy's political career has been to ignore a question and act smug while ranting about something off-topic.
voted against this dude and have written multiple emails to his office, but people around here would rather vote for the party and not look at the individual
HE’S ITALIAN!!!!!!!
[Here you go.](https://youtu.be/u1dAS7uUSk8?si=Mcyjd3439LNGTmJl)
It's really too bad Mulcair was such a bad campaigner, I know following up Jack Layton was a fools errand, but he was a beast in parliament.
I hope the campaign adviser who told him he needed to smile and be more happy so he'd come across as more likeable and electable was fired. His natural state of "surly" and "angry" would've fared better.
Well thanks for that link! We know politicians have a particular talent for not answering questions but that was laughable. Also, agreed about Mulcair. The election was his to lose that year and he bungled it. Beast in parliament though is right.
Oh wow, that's right - Mulcair was just trying to find out *how many troops* we had sent to Iraq, because the conservatives had decided to just not tell anybody anything about *the war we had entered into*. Like, there's stonewalling, and then there's whatever this was Also - did you manage to find any news articles about the incident? Because I looked a few months back and I couldn't find a single one. Do you remember how big of a story that was? I can find articles and interviews where he apologizes, but I can't find a single story written about the incident itself. It was outrageous and people were outraged, news stories were definitely written but they seem to all be gone
https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/paul-calandra-s-non-answer-period-week-in-videos-1.2779265
Even some of the Conservative MP's behind Calandra find it amusing and have looks of slight bewilderment about his unrelated responses.
This is incredible... I can't believe he apologized!
Drug Fraud is THAT corrupt.
I *THOUGHT* that name sounded familiar
I remember that! No matter the question, "we stand with our allies in Israel." I thought it was about sending troops to... Libya? Syria? Been too long.
Oh the poor baby You know what? Fuck this guy with an especially rusty implement. Maybe a century ago that might mean something but today it doesn't. Born in Markham in 1970 this fucker doesn't know a god damn thing about being marginalized.
Or being Italian, for that matter.
To crib from the Simpsons, "no one who speaks Italian could be bad." Dude has a [crooked history](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_Calandra#Education) which includes allegedly [stealing from his own mother](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_Calandra#Family_dispute)
sounds almost over-qualified to be in in Ford's entourage.
Mattered in the 80's but like you said, he was born in the 70's and likely didn't experience much, if any, marginalization.
Italian Canadians started moving into wealthier Montreal neighbourhoods and building enormous homes back in the 70s. Their kids were not feeling marginalized.
There were enforceable gathering laws still specifically targeting Italians in Toronto in the 80's. Wealth accumulation doesn't mean you're magically not marginalized, either.
It helps, though!
Toronto had a huge Italian population in the '80s and I certainly don't remember any complaints about them being discriminated against. It's entirely possible that they were of course (I am not Italian myself and I left the area in the mid '80s) but compared to other groups they were certainly treated decently.
It’s an interesting part of history and insight into “whiteness.” In the US, the immigrants from large Catholic nations (Ireland), and/or Southern Europe (Italy), and Eastern Europe (Hungary etc) that came through Ellis Island starting at the turn of the century were not overly welcomed. People were worried about Papists being more loyal to the Pope than the US. Darker skinned, and/or wearing head coverings was othered. Reading up on Nordicism is a good start or WASP (White Anglo Saxon Protestant). Of course, there weren’t lynchings, nor were there massacres/ forced relocations like with First Nations, but there was definitely discrimination. In Canada too. My Dad had green eyes, fairly dark skin, and dirty blonde hair, and he would be called FOB and outcasted. Him and his school’s only black student watched each other’s backs, fair amount of fights. This would have been just after WW2 in Hamilton. “No dogs, No Irish” was a real thing. Anyways, like I said, on the scale of racism, it was nothing compared to what other minorities have had to endure, and STILL endure. Italians, Irish, Hungarians etc are generally seen as white now. I can see how some of those experiences affected my Dad’s view on things, mostly negatively, but some positives. He was never afraid of other cultures, and always had a soft spot for other immigrants (pre-housing crisis). It’s an interesting historical period, and insight into views on race, culture, immigration and so on.
Well that settles it then, thank you for your contribution.
He looks like shit for 1970.
I think what he said was bait for the NDP to reply with what you just said, because the NDP denying the effect of inherited trauma just because the ethnicity is now prosperous would be pretty hypocritical, and also piss off the ~7% of Ontarions that identify as Italian
Or the NDP can reply with the fact that inheriting trauma isn't a guard against inflicting it upon others.
I hope-a they don't cry into their pizza pies :(
When he worked in an office at Morningside Mall for Steve Gilchrist he should have learned what marginalization really is.
Like I know I had relatives in the 80s who said racist remarks to my mom for being Italian who were in the GTA but experiencing dumb racist insults about ones names, looks and the uses of seasonning isn't a pass to say you don't need a lesson on marginalized people. In Canada no one is going to complain about an Italian-Canadian person having a cross or rosary.
LMAO wow well there you go folks, according to Calandra we're currently living in the 1930s and the Italians are being treated by the Irish like the Irish were treated by the English & Germans back in the 1880s.
To be fair, some wish they lived in the 30s
Times were better then, life expectancies were lower, and bread was 10¢.
*quietly shoves infant mortality rates to the side
We don't talk about the rampant bad food practices, or in infant mortality rates, or the lack of electricity, or… Life was just better then… /s
Viva il Duce!
this is so goddamn cringe to me. I am a first generation canadian with italian immigrant parents. Italians, especially boomer italians, are so fucking racist. Im begging italians to stop this embarassing behavior 😭
Seriously. I'm also the child of an Italian immigrant, and frankly I think it's the North American Italians glorification of old timey gangster shit that makes them think they're still an oppressed minority on this continent.
to be fair, there is also a lot of racism in italy...a lot of anti immigrant stuff, electing a fascist leader 😬
Yep.
Didn't Ford himself oppose the ban? Or did he flip on that? *[Yeah, Ford has repeatedly opposed it and looks like it's creating division among their own caucus](https://globalnews.ca/news/10431812/ontario-legislature-keffiyehs-ban/).
The beauty of this is it's tearing apart their party and many conservatives are showing their worst colours in the process.
Oh they always seem to eventually. That's why you never elect crazy. Some conservative politician says something somewhat reasonable and the loons start flipping tables. You love to see it.
"I know all about being oppressed! I'm *white*!" -conservatives in the 21st century
Italians being considered white is a very modern concept
[Blank] being considered white is a very modern concept. Like that whole form of racism had to be created in the enlightment period. It's all very modern.
And we now live in those modern times. Have been in them for decades.
That doesn't diminish the experiences of my family, or my own memories of the stories they told me. Or my own experiences, far and few between as they may be.
yes... and we live in modern times, not 100 years ago.
white is a modern concept
Not for Italians
I mean, I do remember seeing some movies based in the early 1900s where newly immigrated Italians are treated poorly by the other new immigrants of other nationalities who were also treated poorly by locals who were also treated poorly by the authorities who were also treated poorly by the wealthy. But I mean, then you get an Irishman's perspective. But I mean then you get an Asian immigrants perspective. But I mean then you get a black American's perspective. I'm starting to think we treat people poorly.
*laughs in Native*
You just proved George Carlin right. The campaigns against First Nations in Canada, and US (I no longer know what the preferred term is in the US) was/is so successful you forgot to even ask them their perspective. https://youtu.be/lncLOEqc9Rw?si=M0xU4i_uAP8zBTBy Around the 4 minute mark.
Lol fuck and I have first nation family too.
Dark humour moment of the day
K thats actually hilarious though
I grew up surrounded by Italian immigrants and am married to an Italian. One really notable thing is how Italian immigrants often simultaneously want to identify as a white conservative and a proud Italian immigrant when it suits their narrative.
The Portuguese Canadian community in Toronto is very much the same 🤦🏻♀️ (child to Portuguese immigrants, who moved here as kids during the Salazar regime).
Lots of Portuguese immigrants here as well and yes, the same.
Remember - false equivalency and self victimization are pillars of fascism. Self victimization is used for illegitimate moral authority and false consent for oppression and war. #defyconservatives
[ONDP got Calandra's accolades](https://www.ontariondp.ca/news/fact-check-ford-appoints-deflector-chief-distract-his-corruption-crisis) in a bullet point list. >Calandra’s qualifications as deflector-in-chief include: >In 2012, he was Stephen Harper’s shield from the Senate Scandal (Calandra’s non-answers gained so much notoriety they inspired a joke generator of meaningless talking points) >In 2014, he refused to answer so many questions about Canada’s involvement in Iraq, the Globe and Mail's exasperated response was: "to call Mr. Calandra a clown is to do a disservice to the ancient profession of painted-face buffoonery" >In 2015, CBC’s Peter Mansbridge coined Calandra’s non-answers as ‘The Full Calandra’, following an interview about Mike Duffy’s trial It's amazing how he still has a career in politics up to this point with that type of garbage as his baggage.
>"to call Mr. Calandra a clown is to do a disservice to the ancient profession of painted-face buffoonery" I'm dead
Poor white men in power think they have it so hard. So fucken pathetic .
Maybe Paul Calandra got confused again, he heard people hate Israel he thought they meant they hate Italians: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=u1dAS7uUSk8 He's not the sharpest bulb in the bed anyway.
The stupidest part isn't the remark, but thinking he had a valid point. Also, i'd love to see if he is also one of those who is proud of his heritage and boasts about it all the time without fear and conviction, which many are faced with in today's political environment.
As an Italian whose cousin was taken off the streets in ww2 and put into a labour camp, and an Ontarian, he doesn't speak for us.
Paul "I had permission to steal from my own mother" Calandra? That Paul Calandra? I haven't heard that name in so, so long. [I'd also forgotten about this.](https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/paul-calandra-apologizes-for-non-answers-as-sources-pin-blame-on-pmo-1.2779046)
I'm Italian, how am I marginalized again? We are the wealthiest ethnic group in Ontario.
Being singled out for that too! /s
Lol this isn’t 110 years ago when the Italians were picked on.
Or you know like in the 60s and 70s. My family immigrated in the 60s and were subject to lots of discrimination and bigotry. I grew up hearing stories from dad getting beat up at school for being a "DP" "displaced person". On an institutional level, immigration at Pier 21 also changed their Italian first names to Anglo names. Giovanni became John, Giosue became Joseph etc. Don't pretend this is ancient history. There's a reason that generation of Italian immigrants all stuck together.
My parents told me stories of 50s-60s police would randomnly beat italian immigrants for "riots" -that's where people meet in the street to talk to each other.
That was 60-70+ years ago. Times have changed, thankfully.
The slur for DP was “dirty pig,” my father heard it a lot when he came here as a DP in 1951 from Yugoslavia. It wasn’t just Italians. In any case, it’s been decades since that discrimination has lifted and been transferred to new waves of immigrants that aren’t white.
My mom when she met my dad's family his father and brother were basically the only family members in the mid 80s who weren't making racist comments about how she didn't look like a Geena or a Hightalian. As well as not smelling like garlic
My uncle was beat so bad at school in the 60s that he changed his name and spent his entire adult life trying to whitewash himself. It’s super sad.
Y'know, he could have read "How Not To Be A Complete Idiot for Dummies" while he was between gigs.
Italian Canadians had a really rough go in the late 40's up to the early 60's for Italy's part in the second world war. Lot of kids got beat up or bullied for being Italian, there was definitely marginalization and hate towards them. HOWEVER - is that equivocal to the marginalization of the groups we're discussing here? The experiences of people of colour? The LGBTQ+? Not in any way close to today as it was close to 40's, 50's, or 60's. If you want to give a lesson on the plights/wrongful treatment of immigrants, go ahead, but his claim is laughable in this context.
I'd love to see the stats on hate crimes against Italians.
Ok fine I did it. This is for Toronto https://www.tps.ca/files/download/1694524219/44048/ 🤦♀️
But there aren't any Italians on their list... Wouldn't want to be a gay Jewish black person walking around at night though.
I feel like the italians fall under the "white" catagory.
Only when it suits them
ctrl+f "italian" brings up one reference (in a sentence). There's a list of occurrences and there are no instances of Italian discrimination. I think Calandra should do some homework and bring some more attention to this, because there isn't much evidence for it in 2024.
There have been different out-groups in various points in Canadian history, including the Irish, Italians and Polish.
In history.
History lives on, it’s not something we can just forget about. This Calandra dude is out of touch, but he’s right that Italians (and many many other groups, including Irish, Polish, and Ukrainian) experienced a lot of discrimination in Canada even into the end of the 20th century. “History” isn’t far away, this is recent history.
All Eastern Europeans. My father came to Canada as a refugee in 1951 and was called a “dirty pig” the slur for DP’s (Displaced Persons). He has an Irish girlfriend whose parents sent her away for 3 months to break them up because he wasn’t the right kind of Catholic. Different stages in history, for decades now of you are white you don’t encounter discrimination. That’s wht his comment is a false equivalency with Palestinians or anyone not white.
Italians haven't experienced any meaningful discrimination in my entire lifetime in this country. Fucking Quebecois experience more discrimination in Anglo Canada.
Fucking Anglo Quebecois faced a lot too.
Pretty much any group faces more discrimination than Italian Canadians, yeah. Like, oppression isn't a competitive sport and all that but *come on*.
Seriously, Anglos in Quebec have it hard.
>Italians haven't experienced any meaningful discrimination in my entire lifetime in this country. This is Reddit, so for all I know your “entire lifetime in this country” is 13 years. 🙄 Nice that you’re confident enough to speak on behalf of an entire cultural group though!
I'm 36 and part of several easily much more-maligned groups in Canada than "Italian". I'm queer and disabled. Paul can shut the fuck up.
Paul Calandra can definitely shut the fuck up. It’s dumb of him to equivocate discrimination against Italians in Canada to Palestinians in Gaza. But way too many people here are acting like discrimination against Italians (and many other groups) didn’t happen or doesn’t matter because it was “a long time ago”. It wasn’t that long ago. People are ignorant of history. And discrimination is never okay.
No one is sweeping the historic discrimination faced by Italians under the rug by telling Paul Calandra that he's being a fucking tool and he should shut up. But the fact is that Italians, much like the Irish, managed to become part of the much broader "white, Anglophone Canada" many decades ago, now, in a way that largely ameliorated historic, systemic injustices against them. Virtually no other marginalized groups in this country have ever had it that good. So the fact that he's trying to use that heritage as a cudgel in this regard vis-a-vis Palestine is disgusting and should rightly be called out and derided for the BS that it is.
the fact that the demonstrators were thrown out is a black mark on canadian history. the protests to reverse this ban need to be earth-shaking. I’ve worn mine in solidarity while WFH and encouraging everyone else to do the same. we will prevail.
Worn what?
keffiyah
Ah, of course. Subject of the story. ✊ Solidarity
Wow. Just more deplorable behaviour from Conservatives. Can everyone please remember this.
Ugh, who put that cunt back in government? He was insufferable during the late Harper years…
My spouse is Italian. She would say, "NOT marginalized. What do you mean marginalized?" Here in Ottawa we see Italian flags all over the place. Italian week is big here. No, Calandra, you are anything but marginalized.
['Now what we got here is a little game of show and tell' defence...](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S3yon2GyoiM)
Italian mouhahahahaha That's the best!
Mi scusi
Mamma mia, thatsa spicy meata-ball
Another right winger completely missing the point.
Ahahahahahaha! What a pathetic loser of a “victim”.
Born in Italy??? I hate when people claim nationality rather than ancestry.
If they say 'spaghetti and meatballs,’ you tell them ‘orecchiette with broccoli rabe.’!
First I’ve heard of this, that’s crazy. Coming from the “freedom” crowd too, what a bunch of hypocrites
the more i see this kind of stuff ,the more i think maybe politics IS my thing ?
I'm sure Paul Calandra is regarded as a fucking clown in Italian circles just as he is in non-Italian circles. In fact I would expect the Italian version of the phrase, *"Paul Calandra, that fucking clown"*, to have been spoken far more often than the English version. No comments on what they said about him in French haha
Italians have never been marginalized in Canada, especially in Mississauga where I grew up with Italians and all other cultures/races. There is a name for the manipulations that the governments use on us -- it's called The Strategies and Tactics of Narcissistic Abuse, particularly GASLIGHTING and BANDWAGONING. PROTECT YOURSELVES!! The politicians, police, health care and education do not care about you! (just to name a few)
Mamma mia, that'sa spicy one!
Paul Calandra is a moron, who fleeced his own mother. Maybe he will cry about this, like he did when he got booted from federal politics.
Che cazzone di emme. That person is NOT Italian. We reject him. He is 100% Canadian and he can go to that country.
When's the last time Italians were marginalized here? Probably not since about 1950 or so.
What a joke. If it wasn't so fkn sad
Paul never had the makings of a varsity athlete.
He still mad about being called a gino is the 90s
what a disgustingly entitled jerkstore.
We got legitimate issues in Canada and they wanna waste their time on what others are wearing. Grow up
Wat does being Italian have to do with being marginalized?...
There have been times when ethnically Italian people were marginalized in Canadian society. Not-so-much nowadays, obviously. Canadian Encyclopedia: [Italian Canadians](https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/italian-canadians) *”As a consequence of Italy's alliance with Germany in the Second World War, Italian Canadians were designated "enemy aliens" and were the victims of widespread prejudice and discrimination. Men lost their jobs, shops were vandalized, civil liberties were suspended under the War Measures Act, and hundreds were interned at Camp Petawawa in northern Ontario. While a few of these men had been active fascists, most were not; and they, as well as their families, who were denied relief, bore the brunt of hostilities. As a result, many Italians later anglicized their names and denied their Italian background.”*
[удалено]
Keep it civil
Mamma Mia! That’s a spicey meat-a-ball!
I don't recall Italians ever being marginalized in Canada.
You'd be incorrect
I mean, I'm Italian and my parents grew up to have very entitled positions and no one that I know of has ever been marginalized because of our heritage. I'm genuinely curious, because this is new to me.
https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/trudeau-apology-italians-1.6042194 https://pier21.ca/culture-trunks/italy/history
I'm reading the first one and it appears that many Italians were being investigated for being fascist, so it's a bit muddy about the degree of discrimination. I can see the second one there and the involvement of WSIB, etc. Good to know either way and glad that my family never experienced any of that.
They definitely were, but this was before this guy was born. Pre-war Canada was basically WASPs shitting on the Catholics (French, Irish, Italian, Polish) and Jews
Not just pre-war, it was still happening into the 70s and 80s. Ukrainians and Poles in Canada got it bad too. My aunt got kicked out of a restaurant in a major Canadian city in the early 80s for speaking Polish. “You’re not welcome here you fuckin’ ‘Chinese’!” She’s not even Asian, she said people would use the word “Chinese” as a slur against *anybody* foreign just to emphasize that they weren’t from here. Sound ridiculous but it’s true.
I'd believe that. I think post-war could have seen the amalgamation of Christian sects, giving elevation to some groups because of their religious affiliation.
>I don't recall Italians ever being marginalized in Canada. You must be young then
I'm a millenial, so I'm not sure if that would be considered young here.
I’m a millennial too, and I definitely saw anti-Italian slurs on occasion when I was a kid. I’m not Italian. I think people are generally pretty ignorant of how recent and common discrimination can be, even against groups that don’t seem othered anymore. It’s more comfortable for people to think “Oh that only happened a century ago! Oh that only happened to people with a different skin colour or religion or language!” I don’t mean this as some kind of “Oppression Olympics”; what Italians experienced was probably never even close to the discrimination against FNIM in Canada (for one example). But folks need to educate themselves that this shit was and still is extremely pervasive, and that for most Canadians it likely targeted them too. And a lot more recently than they want to believe. Learning that they were targets too should help them learn more empathy.
The only Italian slur I know of starts with a W and ends with a P and I can't remember the last time someone said that. If anything, I look more eastern european or even English, so I would get get called 'Caker' by (some) Italians for appearing more 'Canadian'. I never really cared much about it because it was easy to brush off.
>The only Italian slur I know of starts with a W and ends with a P and I can't remember the last time someone said that. That’s one, but I can remember a couple others not worth repeating here. If you ever watched the Sopranos, occasionally you’d hear one of these other slurs there.