From March 10 to 12, the Ambassador of Italy to Canada, Alessandro Cattaneo, paid an official visit to the Atlantic Province of Nova Scotia. The mission took place in conjunction with the passage of the Italian Navy frigate Alpino through the port of Halifax, home to Canada’s Atlantic Fleet.
During the visit, Ambassador Cattaneo, accompanied by the Commercial Consul in Montreal Fortunato Mangiola, the Naval Attaché Pasquale Perrotta, and the Commanding Officer of ITS Alpino, Commander Sara Vinci, was received by the Lieutenant Governor, the Hon. Mike Savage, with whom he discussed the strong and growing economic, academic, social and cultural relations between Italy and Nova Scotia.
Ambassador Cattaneo also held a fruitful meeting with the Premier of the Province, the Hon. Tim Houston, the Deputy Premier and Provincial Minister responsible for Military Relations, the Hon. Barbara Adams, and the Mayor of Halifax, Andy Fillmore.
Ambassador Cattaneo also opened the scientific conference “The Evolution of Communication from Guglielmo Marconi to Agentic Artificial Intelligence”, organized by the Scientific Office of the Embassy of Italy in Ottawa at Dalhousie University in Halifax, as part of the celebrations marking the 125th anniversary of Marconi’s transatlantic experiment. Among the participants was the President of the Guglielmo Marconi Foundation, Dr. Giulia Fortunato.
The conference was followed by an official reception on board the frigate Alpino, attended by numerous Canadian institutional and parliamentary representatives, including the Lieutenant Governor, the Hon. Mike Savage, as well as several members of the federal and provincial Parliaments and representatives of the Government of Nova Scotia and of the local academic, social and cultural communities. During the reception on board, Ambassador Cattaneo recalled Marconi’s experiments and established a radio connection with the Command of the Italian Navy in Rome.
The mission was further enriched by social and cultural engagements, including a visit to the renowned Canadian Museum of Immigration “Pier 21” in Halifax and a meeting with the Italian community at the Italian Canadian Cultural Association of Nova Scotia (ICCA).
