Published: 6685 Alma St., Montreal
Italian Canadian antifascism in Montreal was inherently weak and marginal compared with its fascist counterpart and never succeeded in constituting a real alternative to the bombastic propaganda machine created by the regime through the efforts of the Italian consulate general.
Antifascism in Montreal did not manage to obtain broad support among Italian Canadians and its voice occasionally emerged in a few periodicals published now and then in the second half of the Thirties. The mimeographed leaflet La Riscossa was essentially a clandestine publication while a slim 4-page newspaper, L’Italo-Canadese was published as the bulletin of the Ordine Italo-Canadese (Italian Canadian Order).
The association was born out of a schism within the Order of Sons of Italy and the subsequent departure of a good number of its members who refused to abide by fascist interferences in the governance of the central committee and peripheral lodges.
L’Italo-Canadese offered useful information to its members, including the preparation for and outcomes of elections, organization of meetings and updates on the association’s financial situation. However, it also displayed a vitriolic satirical drive against fascism and its vapid propaganda, especially regarding autarchy and the poverty that Mussolini’s economic measures brought to Italy in the 1930s. The Concordat and its political effects were also heavily criticized by the contributors who remained anonymous.
Finally, while vouching for the necessity for Italian Canadians to fight for Canada during the difficult war years, the periodical also encouraged ethnic assimilation maintaining that wherever the Italian communities refused to adopt local customs and habits, they showed worrying signs of cultural and social backwardness.
Bibliography
Bortolotti, Anselmo. 1964. Storia dell’Ordine Italo-Canadese, unpublished manuscript, Ottawa.
Principe, Angelo. 1989. ‘The Difficult Years of the Order of the Sons of Italy (1920-1926),’ Italian Canadiana, 5, pp. 104-116.
Salvatore, Filippo. 1996. ‘Il fascismo e gli italiani in Canada,’ Storia Contemporanea, 27, 5, pp. 833-862.
