Order of Italo Canadians 75th Anniversary
A brief history of our glorious past.
 In the autumn of 1926 in the city of Montreal the Order of the Sons of Italy of America held their annual Convention to discuss the business of the association. It was during this Convention that for political reasons, the Canadian arm of the Sons of Italy decided to splinter from the American body and form the Independent Order of the Sons of Italy.
In 1927 this new arm of the Sons of Italy began their operations with their 12 Lodges. It was a time were WWI had come to a close and the world was beginning to see the rise of Fascism in Europe. It was during these difficult political times that the Order declared itself neutral to the political happenings in Europe.
During the time period of 1929 to 1934 the Independent Order of the Sons of Italy continued its operation as an Italian association and continued to declare itself neutral to the international political crisis which was quickly erupting in Italy.
It was decided in 1934 at the National Convention in Montreal, that a request should be presented to the government of Canada proposing the national incorporation of the Order. The proposal was affirmed by the membership and a formal request for incorporation on behalf of the Italians in Canada was presented to the Canadian government.
After two long years of debates which took place between the Senate and the House of Commons, the Order was granted its national "Charter". This Charter duly recognized the rights and aspirations of an Italian fraternal association.
In 1938 Mr. A. Spada on behalf of the Order's delegation signed the Act of Incorporation and the Order of Italo Canadians was finally born.
The Charter fell under the Insurance Act and as a result the Order was created as a non profit fraternal insurance society. The delegates had to sign a guarantee stipulating that they would cover the face value of the certificates of the members which had been issued by the Order at that time.
This guarantee required the Order to seek a bank loan and the members of the Order were asked to contribute $4.00 to the repayment of this initial loan. After the financial obligations had been met, the National Executive nominated a committee to organize and expand the Order nationally.
Mr. Carlo Peressi organized Northern Ontario and was able to reach as far west as the city of Vancouver. Mr. A Spada and Mr. A. Bortolotti organized Southern Ontario and the province of Quebec. This national growth was not solely confined to the insurance as aspect of the Order but rather it also included the social, cultural and sports activities which reflected the Italian immigrants interest at that time.
The Order was well on its way in realizing its dream of uniting all Italians across Canada under the banner of the Order of Italo Canadians and its valuable federal Charter. It was the beginning of WWII and the Order had spread across the country and had over 3,200 members nation wide.
International crisis with the outbreak of WWII and the political climate in Italy caused a splinter in Canada among the Italian groups. There arose two groups: The Fascists and the Non Fascists. It was during this bleak time that many Italians were interned into concentration camps across Canada.
The negative climate took its toll on the Order, members and certain lodges began to falsely accuse the Order in contributing to the imprisonment of Italians. These unfounded accusations lead to a loss of membership and many lodges splintered away from the National body. The fear and paranoia which existed was such that many Italians quickly secluded themselves within their local communities with no desire for a national voice or national recognition.
The Order faced its accusers and declared their loyalty to Canada and to the Italian Canadians. It began to raise funds for the Canadian Red Cross and by getting thousands of signatures on a petition formally committing their loyalty to Canada.
The fundraising drive was so successful that the Order was able to donate two fully equipped ambulances to the Canadian Red Cross. The success of their petition was presented to the Canadian government. It was concrete evidence that the Order was neutral to the political climate in Italy and a proud and loyal Italo Canadian association.
1945 marked the end of WWII and the Order was once again busy raising funds for charity and representing the concerns of the Italo Canadian members. It was decided to create a fundraising event to raise money to buy medicine for their Italian compatriots back home. The Canadian Red Cross would be given the money and they would purchase the medicine on behalf of the Order and present it to the Italian Red Cross.
The first drive yielded about $6,000 a small amount when one considers the expectations of the Order's members at that time. The money was given to the Canadian Red Cross and the Order went back to the drawing board sure that they could do better. In the period between 1946 to 1947 the Order appealed to all the Italian associations across Canada and it had the honour of presenting a cheque in the amount of $105,000 to the Canadian Red Cross.
The CRC proceeded to purchase $105,000 worth of medicine and transferred this much needed medical donation to the Italian Red Cross on behalf of the Order and the Italo Canadian citizens of Canada.
1950 to 1965 bore witness to the second major wave of Italian immigration to Canada and with this wave lay the optimism that the Order could be rebuilt and once again achieve its national dream.
In Ottawa Anselmo Bortolotti and Anello Castrucci began the process of rebuilding and the period of 1960 to 1976 saw the membership grow to over 400 members. In Montreal, Mr. A. Spada, Mr. Vittorio Siino and Mr. Nick Ciammara also reorganized and they were able to rebuild their membership to over 150 members.
As the Order celebrated its 50th Anniversary in 1977, it saw its membership slowly coming back to life and renewed interest by many Italo Canadians in their culture and the need to maintain those things which make us all unique within the multicultural fabric of our Canadian society.
Financially the Order was sound with over $400,000 in assets and a growing membership base. It had expanded its insurance policy selection from two to seven, providing the new member with a number of different options to choose from. The Order still provided the social and cultural activities which were so important at that time.
In 1979 Nello Bortolotti was elected as the National President and along with his Supreme Council, a strategy of conservative fiscal investing and the need to, provide the best return on the member's policy was instituted. Mr. Ferney, the Order's actuary began to work closely with Nello Bortolotti, Vittorio Siino and the Supreme Council as they mapped out how the financial dealings of the Order could best serve its members.
The social activities were not ignored, Anello Castrucci and Steve Tissot developed the Order of Italo Canadian Youth Group in Ottawa. Within two years the youth group had grown to over 100 young adults and the future of the Ottawa lodges looked secure.
The charity spirit of the Order was also very active between the years of 1976 to present day. The Order continues to give its time and money to the Cancer Society, Kidney Foundation, Heart & Stroke Foundation, CHEO Hospital and the local Food Banks.
The Order had the opportunity to present to Canada, 30 original paintings by Marco Campini: The Collection was entitled "We came to build". This gift was presented to then Prime Minister Trudeau and over 200 members of Parliament were on hand to accept this gift on behalf of the people of Canada. It gave everyone an opportunity to reflect back on the contributions made by the Italian immigrant and the Order of Italo Canadians to our Country.
Education has always been an important issue for the Order and it carried through on its commitment to scholastic excellence by providing bursaries for students who are studing the Italian language at Carleton University. Giuseppe R. Castrucci and Mariano Ranallo, two of the Order's members, provided the ground work to establish and create the Order of Italo Canadian Scholarship Fund at the University of Ottawa. The scholarship was to promote the study of Italian at our national capital university. A donation of $10,000 was presented to U of O and the scholarships continue to be presented to this day.
The community of Ottawa then embarked on a project to build a long term health care facility for Italians and Villa Marconi was born. Once again the Order was there, the members served on the Board of Directors as well as contributing monetary funds for the building of facility. Villa Marconi remains a very important charity to which the Order and its members support on an annual basis.
At this time in our history the Order has reached a financial strength that sees our association with $1.4 million dollars in assets. When one thinks of the loans which were taken over 75 years ago and the struggles and efforts of our founding members we can begin to truly appreciate how far we have come and how far we still must travel.
The Order has and always will be a fraternal society with the best interest of its members at heart. We have struggled through many dark times in our history and have come out stronger in our resolve to help Italo Canadians maintain their culture in the Canadian society of the twenty first century.
Our second and third generation members have begun to help shape the future of the Order. We launch this website in the hopes that we can reconnect with our friends across Canada. We are striving to inform all Italo Canadians of the amazing potential which exists with the federal Charter.
The goal of the Order remains to extend our reach across Canada and once again be a national voice for Italo Canadians. The Lodges in Ottawa and Montreal continue to this day and await the day that other cities join them in rebuilding the Order back to a national association.
Although we are the smallest fraternity in Canada, our Charter, handed down from Parliament to the original Italian immigrants binds us together under the Order's banner. The Charter has been quietly awaiting the next generation to discover what lies within and how we can once again build the Order into a national fraternity representing all Italo Canadians.
The Order invites all its members to look around themselves, explore the possibility of recruiting new members. If we have family and friends who reside across Canada why not tell them about the Order and encourage them to establish a local lodge.
The Order and its Charter allows each of us of Italian decent to be fiercely Canadian and still maintain and be proud of our Italian heritage.
Writer
Giuseppe R. Castrucci
President
Lodges Venezia & Colombo
District of Ottawa.
2003 in occasion of the Order's 75th Anniversary.
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