Winter in Montreal and Fabrizio's Passion: Two Book Reviews

After the Second World War and up until 1972, only British immigrants surpassed the number of Italians who immigrated to Canada.

Although many of these Italian immigrants were unskilled or semi-skilled, their contribution to Canada's immense expansion during this era is immeasurable.

One of the key ingredients to the Italian immigration was Canada's revised policy of permitting people to immigrate to Canada as long as a residing relative agreed to act as a sponsor and assume the financial responsibility of the immigrant.

It is estimated that more than ninety percent of the Italian immigrants to Canada during the period between 1946 and 1967 were sponsored.

No doubt this also meant that many of the immigrants emigrated from the same villages or towns such as from the upper regions of Molise and Campania whose many inhabitants settled in Montréal.

Unfortunately some of these immigrants fell prey to unscrupulous sponsors and life in Canada did not prove to be the golden land as promised.

The following two books are excellent portrayals of the trials and tribulations of Italian immigrants who settled in Montréal after the Second World War.

WINTER IN MONTREAL authored by Pietro Corsi and published by Guernica Editions was originally written in Italian and was titled La Giobba. Antonio D'Alfonso subsequently translated it into English.

The first part of Winter in Montreal depicts the story of "a poor soul" who migrated to Montréal from Casacalenda, a small town in the Molise region of Southern Italy.

Onofrio Annibalini, the principal character, is tired of "scratching this earth only for a piece of bread and taxes" as he muses, and he will go work in America. After all America is a blessed land where it is easy to find work and live the good life.

However, Onofrio is in for a big shock when he is informed by his compare and sponsor, a man by the name of Petrilli, that there is no work for him in Canada. The work contract that was promised to him was granted only to allow him to come to Canada. In fact there was no employment waiting for Onofrio. He was on his own once he arrived in Montréal.

What is very disturbing is that this poor Italian peasant paid five hundred dollars to Petrilli for this work contract.

The ruse continues when Onofrio manages to land a menial job. However, once again he falls prey to a land speculation racket when he is informed that in order for him to have the construction job he will be required to purchase a piece of land for eight hundred dollars.

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