On January 29, Chargé d’affaires a.i. Nicola Lener and Emigration and Social Affairs Counsellor Giovanni De Vita attended the opening ceremony of the Italian-Canadian Historical Centre. The Centre is a project of the Ottawa Chapter of the National Congress of Italian Canadians, completed thanks to the tireless efforts of its President Josephine Palumbo, and with significant funding from the federal government, within the framework of the Community Historical Recognition Program, the provincial government, and the City of Ottawa.
The Centre will collect, catalogue and exhibit documents on the painful chapter of the internment of Italian-Canadians in Petawawa during the Second World War, as well as documents pertaining to the history and evolution of the Italian-Canadian community of Ottawa.
Also in attendance were the Minister for Citizenship, Immigration, and Multiculturalism, Jason Kenney, the Minister for Infrastructure and Transportation of Ontario, Bob Chiarelli, and the Mayor of Ottawa, Jim Watson.
