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DAN IANNUZZI
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PAUL MARTIN
Prime Minister of Canada
It is with sadness that I learned of the
passing of Daniel Andrew Iannuzzi, a giant in the field of Canadian
media.
Mr. Iannuzzi was the founder of the world's first multilingual
television station. He was also a founder of the Ethnic Press
Association of Ontario and of Canada's foremost Italian language
newspaper, Corriere Canadese. As President and Chief Executive
Officer of Multimedia Nova Corporation, he was a pioneer in
multicultural communications and a significant contributor to
Toronto's Italian community.
Mr. Iannuzzi’s courage and vision allowed this third-generation
immigrant to lead millions of Canadians in the celebration of their
cultural heritage through the founding of a distinct media outlet
for their voices. He was the embodiment of Canadian
multiculturalism.
On behalf of all Canadians, I extend my deepest sympathies to his
family.
DALTON McGUINTY
Premier
of Ontario
I was saddened to learn of the passing
of Daniel Andrèa Iannuzzi. He was a man of courage and vision, and
he led millions of Canadians in the celebration of their cultural
heritage.
Mr. Iannuzzi embodied the motto of
Corriere Canadese: "Fiercely Canadian and proudly Italian."
Mr. Iannuzzi was greatly respected by
Toronto's Italian community and helped shape multiculturalism as we
know it. He gave voice to Canadians of every cultural heritage when
he launched CFMT-TV — the world's first multilingual television
station. He was a founder of the Ethnic Press Association of Ontario
and of Canada's leading Italian-language newspaper.
On behalf of all Ontarians, I want to
express my sympathy to his family. Our thoughts are with them.
Ontario has lost one of its leading citizens but it will forever
benefit from the Iannuzzi legacy — a legacy of pride, purpose and
tremendous public service.
STEPHEN HARPER
Leader of Conservative Party of Canada
On behalf of the Conservative Party of Canada, I pay tribute today
to Daniel Andrew Iannuzzi, who passed away at the age of 70.
Mr. Iannuzzi was a proud and passionate Canadian. As the founder of
the world's first multilingual television station, the Ethnic Press
Association of Ontario and of the pan-Canadian Italian language
newspaper, Corriere Canadese, he earned the highest respect and
admiration in the Canadian media community.
His entrepreneurial spirit was an inspiration to all Canadians, and
especially to those who came from abroad to make Canada their new
home. As an effective promoter and champion of causes to new
Canadians, Mr. Iannuzzi always led by example.
Our thoughts and prayers are with his family.
JACK
LAYTON
Leader of New Democratic Party of Canada
It is with deep sorrow to learn of the recent passing of Daniel
Iannuzzi, the consummate "Fiercely Canadian and Proudly Italian" who
suddenly passed away in Rome at the age of 70.
Mr.
Iannuzzi made a profound contribution to multiculturalism in Canada.
He dedicated his life to the enrichment of our multi-ethnic heritage
throughout his career. Not only was he a pioneer in international
and multicultural media, he founded the world's first multilingual
broadcasting station as well as Corriere Canadese, the extremely
popular Italian-Canadian newspaper.
While it is impossible to properly sum up all that Mr. Iannuzzi
accomplished, the many awards and citations he has received over the
years reflect our great admiration. The best way we can pay respect
to Mr. Iannuzzi's achievements is to continue building on his
successes.
On
behalf of Canada's New Democratic Party, I extend my deepest
sympathies to his family.
GREG SORBARA
Ontario
Minister of Finance
Canada has
lost one of its outstanding media pioneers. But Dan Iannuzzi's
impact on this country, and its cultural mosaic, will endure for
years to come.
Fifty years ago when he launched Corriere Canadese he set the
standard for third language journalism in his native country. In
1979 when he created multilingual television he gave a powerful new
voice to Canadians of every cultural heritage.
The ideals and vision that inspired his life helped to define the
Canadian agenda for half a century. Surely that is the mark of great
citizenship.
Canadians of Italian heritage share, in a special way, the impact he
has had on his country. He showed us the way to a stronger society
for all Canadians.
Joe Cordiano
Ontario Economic Development and Trade Minister
Mr. Iannuzzi personified the Corriere Canadese motto, "Fiercely
Canadian and proudly Italian".
I had the pleasure of knowing Daniel for many years. He was an
inspired and creative leader. In creating CFMT-TV, Mr. Iannuzzi
helped Toronto build its reputation as one of the most dynamic
multicultural cities in the world. His passion and accomplishments,
including his founding of the Ethnic Press Association, has given
voice and an important platform for discussion to those from all
cultural heritages. I will miss him as friend and as a truly
gifted leader in our community.
JOHN TORY
Ontario
Progressive Conservative Leader
Dan Iannuzzi
was one of a kind. He was larger than life and so were his ideas.
But he didn't just dream, he made his ideas come true. This
newspaper is evidence of that as is OMNI television which he founded
as CFMT. Both were a recognition by him of the growing diversity of
our population and the need to ensure that everyone had their own
way of keeping in touch - with the news, with their own traditions
and with each other. This made him one of the most significant
innovators when it came to building bridges between newer Canadians
and those who had been here for generations.
I actually knew Dan
first through politics. It was there that you saw his most important
quality: his caring for people. It was with him always, as a
businessman, as a community activist, in his family. That is why he
leaves so many friends, myself among them.
Dan Iannuzzi
was a great man and a great Canadian. We will miss him. I extend my
sincere sympathy to his family and to his employees.
Howard Hampton
Leader Ontario NDP
Rosario Marchese
MPPTrinity Spadina
On behalf of the Ontario NDP, we wish to extend our sincere
condolences on the death of Daniel Andrea Iannuzzi. Mr. Iannuzzi was
a man ahead of his time. With the establishment of Corriere Canadese
in 1954 and CFMT in 1979, Mr. Iannuzzi encouraged culture and
diversity years before "multiculturalism" became a national motto.
His vision, leadership and enthusiasm for Toronto and Canada will
truly be missed.
MARCO COLOMBO
Italian
Ambassador to Canada
I am deeply
saddened by the passing of Dan Iannuzzi, a great protagonist of the
Italian-Canadian community who was an example for everybody. With
his 50-year successful work in the media industry, he served the
needs of the numerous Italians and Canadians of Italian origin,
enabling them - particularly through Corriere Canadese, a newspaper
that I read every day and that maintains a flow of quality
information on Italian, Canadian and international events - to keep
alive their strong links with the language and culture of their
country of origin even from Canada.
I wish to underscore how, with him, we've lost a person of great
human qualities. I was lucky to make his acquaintance and meet him
several times, and he fully deserved the great admiration and deep
respect that he enjoyed throughout Canada.
In this day of sorrow, I wish to extend to his family - and to
Corriere Canadese, which Dan Iannuzzi considered like a second, big
family - my personal condolences as well as those of the whole
Italian Embassy.
TED ROGERS
President and
CEO of Rogers Group
Dan Iannuzzi was a
builder, a pioneer and a great leader. He was deeply committed both
to his own Italian roots and to Canada and he used his many talents
to ensure others could stay in touch with their roots and establish
a deep bond with Canada.
The founding of
CFMT (now OMNI Television) will always be one of the great
innovations in Canadian broadcasting history. We were privileged to
be his partner in that enterprise and to learn so much from him
about the magnificent diversity of our community and our country.
On behalf of my wife Loretta and the Rogers family, as well as the
extended Rogers Communications family, I extend my sincere sympathy
to the Iannuzzi family and to Dan's colleagues. I salute him for his
vision, his determination, his many accomplishments and his
humanity.
JULIAN FANTINO
Chief of the
Toronto Police Service
First of all, Dan
was a friend of mine, a friend who made people more comfortable with
his vision of the diversity of our country. Personally and
professionally he played a very important role in helping me and the
Police build better relations with the media.
His death came as a shock, and he will be sorely missed. In a sunny
November day, receiving such news leaves us upset and saddened.
My heartfelt condolences to his family: our thoughts and prayers go
to them in such a difficult moment.
JOE VOLPE
Federal Minister
of Human Resources and Skills Development
It pains me a
lot. Not only because we've lost a pillar of the Italian community,
one who understood how to promote the interests of people who are
called to integrate in a constantly evolving society. It pains me
because we've lost a friend of ours. I use these words because Dan
Iannuzzi belonged to our community. His work, his genius, his vision
are a part of our identity. He fed, nurtured and maximized this
identity, also thanks to his collaborators. The work done by what we
might call the "Iannuzzi team" gave personality and prestige to the
Italian-Canadian community, not just in Toronto but across the whole
country.
We had known each other for the past 22 years. During this long
time, he always treated me with respect and friendship, on the
personal as well as professional level.
My relationship with Dan was not limited to a political relationship
between two people from the same riding. He gave me my first
opportunities to express myself on the pages of Corriere Canadese,
discussing my beliefs and debating my assumptions. He was also an
able political strategist. I owe him much, also for giving me an
opportunity to make my positions known through CFMT, and to learn,
tackle and solve problems of my voters making use of Italian and
English.
On a more personal level, I remember with fondness his sincere
concern when a family member of mine fell ill. He was a source of
relief and hope at a difficult time. Now we've lost him, and I can't
say how sorry I am.
On behalf of my wife Mirella and my whole family, I offer the
deepest condolences to the Iannuzzi family.
KEN DRYDEN
Ontario Minister of Social Development
È con
grande tristezza che ho appreso della scomparsa di Dan Iannuzzi.
Desidero porgere le mie più sentite condoglianze alla signora Elena
Caprile e alla famiglia in questo difficile momento. Dan Iannuzzi è
stato un pioniere e un visionario e attraverso i suoi mezzi di
informazione multiculturali ha dato un contributo importante non
solo agli immigrati in Canada, ma a tutti i canadesi.
La
mia famiglia si unisce alle tantissime famiglie di tutte le comunità
della nostra società nell'esprimere le più sincere condoglianze alla
sua famiglia.
In
questo momento le mie preghiere sono dirette a lei e alla sua
famiglia.
JUDY
SGRO
Minister of Citizenship and Immigration Canada
As Minister of Citizenship and Immigration Canada, I extend my
heartfelt condolences to you and your staff, and the Iannuzzi family
during this time of grief.
Dan was an
outstanding citizen. A strong believer in multiculturalism, his
conviction, energy and commitment played a significant part in
shaping the multicultural society we live in today. Through his
media outlets, immigrants from all over the world were given equal
respect and dignity, provided a venue for connecting to life in
Canada and contributing to shape this country. Despite his passing,
his legacy will live on and continue. He will be missed by many.
BEV ODA
Official
Opposition Heritage Critic (Statement
in House of Commons)
Mr. Speaker, today I
would like to pay tribute to Dan Iannuzzi, who passed away in Rome
over the weekend.
Dan Iannuzzi, a third
generation Italian Canadian, dedicated his entire life to
international and multicultural media. He founded Corriere Canadese
and the Ethnic Press Association of Ontario.
I have known Dan for
over 28 years, an inspiration to many over the years and a friend of
my family. He was a man with deep passion and a vision for Canada. I
worked with him when he fought for and launched CFMT-TV, the first
multilingual television service in the world.
Dan Iannuzzi was
fiercely Canadian and proudly Italian, the masthead on his
newspaper. The country has lost a champion and community leader with
the passing of Daniel Andrew Iannuzzi.
Ubaldo AND Julius Larobina
Italian Media Corporation
We just learned of Dan's death. The news saddened us profoundly.
What can we say?
From faraway Australia, we feel close to you in this sorrowful
circumstance, and we wish to send our heartfelt condolences to the
Iannuzzi family and the staff of Corriere Canadese. Our
colleagues of Il Globo, La Fiamma, and Rete Italia join us in
mourning.
Hon.
Jerahmiel S. Grafstein
(Senate
Chamber)
Honourable
senators, this week we learned that Mr. Trudeau is climbing up the
charts to become Canada's Greatest Canadian. Why? For the simple
idea of Canada as a distinct society: a bilingual and multicultural
society. This week, we learned as well of the sudden passing of
Daniel Iannuzzi, the visionary dreamer and co-founder of Canada's,
and the world's, first multilingual television station in Toronto,
who tried to breathe life into Mr. Trudeau's idea.
Dan was also a
founder of the Canadian Italian daily, Corriere Canadese, which he
started in 1954 at the tender age of 20. Over the years he acquired
and published a number of other third language newspapers.
Dan shared the
intellectual direction of his enterprises with his wife, Elena
Caprile, and the business direction with his long-time partner and
brother, Paul.
Dan, a
Montreal-born Canadian of Italian descent, dedicated his life and
work to eradicating systemic discrimination in our society against
third languages and third language groups, especially those of
Italian descent. If Dan had problems, it should be said that
his heart was larger than his body. He could not bring himself to
say no to a writer, producer or artist with a problem and, in his
business dealings, he was the eternal optimist. He was probably too
optimistic.
For years he fought
for a national multilingual, multicultural television service across
Canada. He could not persuade the regulators to make it a part of
the basic service. As I said, Dan wanted to breathe life into the
idea of a bilingual, multicultural Canada.
I first met Dan over 30 years ago. I was a co-founder of CityTV that
changed television to reflect the face and voices of the streets of
Toronto. We enlisted Dan as the producer of our weekend segment on
multilingual programming.
This segment
quickly outgrew its allocated weekend time slot, so Dan and I set
off to co-found the first full-fledged multilingual television
service, the first fully independent multilingual television service
broadcast in over 20 languages weekly in Toronto, the very first of
its kind in the world.
Beneath the radar of these new programming services were fierce
battles with regulators, media buyers, advertisers and competitive
broadcasters who first opposed, then sought to augment, these
services by carrying their own third language service.
Dan has suddenly
left us. Who will take up the leadership to fight for the equality
of multiculturalism and third language treatment on the public
airwaves? Our deep condolences to his wife Elena, his family
and brother Paul, who stood and fought these battles beside him with
grace and ferocity.
Dan was a pioneer. Perhaps he dreamed too greatly, but those dreams
came to be shared by millions of Canadians from coast to coast to
coast.
Hon. Consiglio Di
Nino
(Senate chamber)
Honourable
senators, I too would like to add a few words in paying homage to my
friend, Dan Iannuzzi. This past weekend, Canada lost a great
son. Dan Iannuzzi, a highly respected broadcaster, publisher, and
community activist passed away while on a visit to Italy.
Dan, a third generation Canadian of Italian background, was a friend
of mine for more than 40 years. He was a visionary and he was a
trail blazer. He was a man who became the standard to copy in third
language media, and many did. He led the way for fair and equal
treatment of new Canadians. While he was proud of his ancestry, he
was one of the fiercest and most passionate Canadians I have ever
met.
Dan was a
determined man who would not easily be derailed in his quest for
justice and equality. Those who stood in his way eventually came to
admire and support him. Among the many awards and recognitions
bestowed upon him, he was a recipient of the Order of Canada, whose
insignia he always wore with great pride.
Honourable
senators, please join with me in expressing to Elena and Paul and
the rest of his family our sympathy and condolences and to you, Dan,
grazie, thank you for all you did for Canadians.
Franco Gaspari
COMITES di Toronto
On behalf of the Comites of Toronto and myself, I wish to express
our deepest condolences for the passing of Dan Iannuzzi, a former
member of this Comites, media pioneer, prominent personality and
constant reference for our community. His contribution to the
development of the Italian community in our adoptive country is in
front of everybody's eyes. His vision in founding the first
multicultural TV station and his constant commitment to bringing a
little Italy into our homes every day consign him to legend.
Our loss is great, but he leaves behind his accomplishments, a
legacy we can rightly be grateful for and proud of.
FILEF
Canada
Mrs. Caprile: profoundly touched by the loss that struck you
personally, the newspaper you manage and your staff, the members of
FILEF - Federazione Italiana Lavoratori Emigrati e Famiglie - of
Canada wish to express their most sincere sorrow.
For decades we looked at Dan Iannuzzi with respect and admiration
for his achievements, way before the times. When here, in Canada, we
risked losing any contact with our land of origin for lack of means,
the thread did not break thanks to men like Dan. For this, in
particular, our families and we are grateful to him. Thanks,
Dan!
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