February 18, 2007
Presenting: Another Neighbourhood Walk and
Talk Along Queen Street with Maria Minna
Maria and I really hit it off so
we planned to get together for another “neighbourhood walk
and talk” to be able to check out a few more of the merchants
along Queen Street East. We met again at the Honey Bee Restaurant
where Maria had just been having lunch with her husband Robert who
excused himself shortly after as he had to leave. Maria and I picked
up where we had left off last week.
In my interviews I always try to get to know the real person, stripping
away official titles and pre-conceived notions. Somehow Maria and
I started talking about family issues again. I asked Maria whether
she and her husband shared the same last name, and Maria explained
that her husband’s last name is MacBain, and that he is originally
from Inverness, Scotland, and that he is a retired media and communications
consultant. Maria added that when they got married in 1982 she retained
her own last name, a common tradition in Italy. Maria noticed my
surprise and explained that women generally keep their last names
in Italy, despite the common impression that Italy is perceived
as a rather traditional country characterized by a certain Latin
machismo.
Maria’s mother’s name was Pierina Ligori, but when they
arrived in Canada the Canadian authorities single-handedly renamed
her mother and gave her her husband’s last name “Minna”.
She added that by that time her mother was 47 years old and had
lived her entire adult life with the last name “Ligori”.
Not surprisingly Pierina always resented this imposed loss of identity.
Maria also told me that her grandfather in Italy brought in tutors
to teach his son (Maria’s uncle) while Maria’s mother
was not allowed to attend school or be part of the private tutoring
sessions that her brother enjoyed. For a woman born in 1910, this
was all part of the belief system that women did not need education,
that they were simply going to stay home and have children. Maria’s
mother often expressed anger at her own father for having denied
her these essential educational opportunities, and not only did
Pierina have trouble learning English later on in life, she had
never learned how to read or write. I concluded that many of these
experiences made Maria a strong advocate of education and women’s
rights early on.
Maria with Nedra Doornekamp and Monica Bettson at the Nutty Chocolatier
We revisited Maria’s childhood which was strongly shaped
by the family’s arrival in Canada in 1957. As the middle child
with two younger sisters and an older sister and older brother,
Maria’s parents had chosen to entrust her with the family’s
administrative issues ever since she was very young. Maria had to
look after important family affairs, handle the family’s documents
and had a significant role in assisting the family financially.
At age 24 she finally began to look after herself when she enrolled
in a degree program in sociology.
As her parents aged, care-giving became a major issue. Maria had
always been the main administrator in the household, and caring
for her increasingly frail and elderly parents became another one
of her responsibilities. When Maria was first elected to Parliament
in 1993 her mother and father were healthy, but just a few years
later in 1999, the year when Maria
became a federal Minister, Maria’s mom was diagnosed with
Alzheimers. Maria seriously considered not accepting the position,
but one of her younger sisters convinced her to pursue the once-in-a-life-time
opportunity of becoming a minister in the Canadian federal government.
Maria would spend time with her mother on weekends when she was
in town and arranged for 24-hour on-site care to look after her
mother’s health and safety. Pierina’ s short-term memory
was destroyed by Alzheimers, while her long-term memory and rational
thinking remained intact until her death in 2001. Often during severe
episodes of Alzheimers, Pierina would get very agitated, and when
her caregiver phoned Maria in Ottawa and let mother and daughter
talk, Pierina would calm right down again.
In later years, Pierina often demanded to “go home”,
and her caregiver would reply “But Pierina, you are home”.
Often the caregiver would take Pierina on a tour of the house and
explain that this was indeed her house, that she had just recently
completed certain renovations, in the hope that Pierina would recognize
her own home. Sometimes none of these strategies worked, and Pierina
would keep on insisting on going home. As a creative solution, the
caregiver would call a taxi, take Pierina out for a coffee, and
take a cab back home. Because of Pierina’s short-term memory
lapses, the caregiver would sometimes have to take her out three
times, because upon her return Pierina forgot again that she was
in her own home. But Pierina’s long-term memory was intact
until the end: the day before her death, Pierina and Maria were
singing old Italian folk songs, and Pierina remembered every detail
of the lyrics.
Maria with Kelly Hutchman at The Gingerbread House
Family has been an important aspect of Maria Minna’s life.
She is very close to her three sisters and her brother who continues
to live in her parent’s original home in the Bloor –
Ossington area. The entire extended family with all the nieces,
nephews and their children gets together on holidays such as Easter,
Thanksgiving and Christmas. Maria, who has two step-children with
her husband Robert, is also very close to her nieces. She explained
that her older sister’s first child was was born when Maria
was 10 years old, and as a result of this small age difference her
older niece simply calls her “Maria”. There is a much
greater age difference with her younger sisters’ daughters;
they respectfully refer to Maria as “Zia Maria” (Aunt
Maria) or simply “Zia”.
Just recently Maria connected with some of her nieces who suggested
that they get together and make some home-made pasta just the way
nonna (“grandma” - Maria’s mother) used
to make it. So the women got together and visited Matilda, a good
friend of the family in whose house the family had stayed when they
first arrived in Canada. Matilda taught them how to make pasta dough,
and the ladies made pasta fina from scratch and even cut
the pasta dough by hand. They served the pasta on two long wooden
platters that are made of tree trunks from Maria’s home town
in Italy. The consensus was to do this again soon and make this
a regular bonding ritual among the female members of the family.
Maria explained that her family gives her nourishment and acts an
important anchor for her. She is also very grateful for her husband's
support of her political career which has been a critical element
in her success.
I also asked Maria about what it was like to be one of the first
female political trailblazers in Canada. Maria responded that she
was the first Italian-Canadian woman minister in Canada, and added
that many Italian-Canadians were very proud of her. She even received
a medal from an Italian organization that was honouring prominent
Italian exiles all over the world for their achievements. Another
recipient of this medal was Mario Cuomo, the former governor of
New York State. Maria explained that Jean Chretien wanted a minister
of Italian heritage as well as a woman for this position, and with
Maria’s appointment he was able to kill two birds with one
stone.
In 1999 Maria was
selected for the International Co-operation portfolio because of
her social justice background. This happened despite the fact that
she had been very aggressive in the past in fighting for social
causes, sometimes criticizing her own party for not being progressive
enough. In Maria’s words she definitely was not a “wallflower”,
and she added that former Prime Minister Chretien actually liked
people who spoke their mind and did not back down. Maria had no
problem being pushy and advocating for child care, immigrant or
women’s rights, the homeless or pension reform. In fact, when
Jean Chretien met Maria’s mother in his office, he told her,”
Maria is always giving me hell.”
Kelly Cole, Maria Minna and Lori Campbell from Bark and Fitz
Another fond memory for Maria was her trip back to her home town
of Pofi in 1995. After a few days in her birth town she was planning
to leave for a round-trip of Italy to visit Rome, Florence, Venice,
Naples and Sicily. But her cousin said “You can’t leave”,
and was hesitant to give her an explanation why. Finally Maria was
able to prod the secret out of her relative: the entire town had
planned to honour Maria in a big celebration that would involve
the whole village. On the day of the festivities, senior police
officers escorted her to the Piazza, located on a hill
in her beautiful home town which dates back to about 1000 AD. The
whole town was assembled, and the mayor gave a speech to honour
Maria and her achievements. Maria was showered with gifts and speeches,
and was invited to speak to the townspeople during a special outdoor
mass, an enormous honour. Maria was astounded at the pride that
people felt for her in her home country although she had left Italy
at nine years of age.
The immigrant experience has definitely shaped Maria Minna, making
her keenly aware of social justice issues. She has dedicated an
entire lifetime to fight for immigrant rights, women’s issues
and environmental causes. She is passionate about Canada and wants
to change this nation into the country that it can be: an economically
successful nation where nobody is left behind.
Current political developments have devastated Maria.
The Conservative government has dismantled the National Childcare
Program, something that Maria personally fought very hard for over
many years. Women’s rights have been attacked by the removal
of the mandate of the Status of Women’s office. Charter challenges
have been eliminated, and Maria feels the current government has
little respect for Parliament and tries to get everything done through
executive powers. Despite all her past trials and tribulations,
Maria admitted that the past year has been the most difficult year
of her life.
At the same time she feels that the average Canadian citizen is
still very progressive, a positive thinker who believes in sharing
the wealth. She feels that currently there is a misfit between the
average citizen and the government in power, and is committed to
changing the current government.
Maria had shared some very personal experiences with me, and we
had just about an hour to do another neighbourhood stroll to drop
in on some of the stores. We left to check out some of the cool
merchandise on offer along Queen Street, one of the most eclectic
shopping neighbourhoods in Toronto, featuring a broad variety of
fashion retailers, gift stores and specialty shops.
Maria with Marianna Ramacciotti and Norton Abramson at Living Lighting
in the Beach
The first store we dropped in on was the “Nutty
Chocolatier” , an “olde fashioned candy & ice
cream store”. Brenda Brooks, the manager, was not in, but
her colleagues Needra Doornekamp and Monica Bettson welcomed us.
The Nutty Chocolatier currently has nine stores across Ontario and
offers hand crafted chocolates, sugar free chocolates, novelties,
candy, fudge, imported and domestic candy, antique replica tins,
gift baskets, corporate gift items, and much more. There was still
a selection of Valentine’s chocolates available, and Maria
was also interested in the sugar-free chocolates which would make
a fabulous gift for anyone with diabetes. Maria picked up a sweet
little something for her husband, and off we were to our next store.
All the interesting displays at The Gingerbread House,
a few steps east from the Nutty Chocolatier, caught our interest.
This store sells unique presents and jewellery, and Kelly Hutchman,
the owner, invited us in. I was particularly enchanted by the displays
of beautiful handcrafted fashion jewellery in the most brilliant
colours, including turquoise, amber and salmon coloured pieces.
Kelly mentioned that the jewellery is made from Swarovsky crystal.
The Beach is one of Toronto’s most dog-friendly neighbourhoods,
and as Maria and I were strolling along the south side of Queen
Street all of a sudden I saw a sign on the other side: “Bark
& Fitz – For You And Your Dog”. I pulled Maria
over and suggested that we go visit this place. We walked into a
really hip boutique that has everything a dog owner could ever want:
from shampoos and conditioners to grooming tools to freshly baked
treats and toys and even practical items such as beds, bowls and
blankets - Bark and Fitz has it all, and owner Kelly Cole showed
us around. Kelly is a Beacher who is very proud of her connection
with this neighbourhood, and was very curious about the Beach Photo
Exhibition and promised her support for this event.
We also headed into Living
Lighting in the Beach, a place where Maria had bought some Murano
glass lamps recently. Living Lighting features a wide range of interior
and exterior lighting, ceiling fans, track and recessed lighting
as well as electric fireplaces. The store is packed full of unique
lighting options, and I saw various types of lamp designs that I
had never seen anywhere else. In addition to the contemporary designs
we also had a look at the Tiffany lamp display at the front of the
store. Maria had a chance to catch up with the owner Norton Abramson
again, who had assisted her on her recent purchase.
Maria with Wes Cooper (2nd row), Sean Stante and Leah Hashimoto
from Overkill
Last but not least we decided to pay a visit to Overkill,
a popular beach volleyball retailer. Toronto is Canada’s beach
volleyball mecca, and Woodbine Beach is the location of hundreds
of beach volleyball nets that are busy with enthusiastic athletes
from early spring until late fall. As a volleyball player myself
I figured I’d like to pop in and say hello to the crew at
Overkill, one of Canada’s most well-known volleyball outfitters.
Maria and I entered the store and three enthusiastic young staff
members welcomed us. Overkill carries everything for the serious
beach volleyball athlete, from t-shirts to sweatshirts, hoodys,
sweat pants and yoga pants to visors, hats and cool beach flip flops.
Maria and I were quite enchanted by the ergonomically designed beach
sandals; they looked amazingly comfortable yet sturdy. The crew
at Overkill was very excited about the Beach event and said they
would help spread the word about the Photo exhibition. Maria recognized
the last name of one of the employees and started chatting with
the young man. Apparently his grandmother hails from the same town
as Maria and the two ladies actually know each other quite well.
After our outings, both Maria and I realized what a small world
this is, even in a big city like Toronto. Now I understand why one
of Maria’s favourite pastimes is to go shopping along Queen
Street. The variety of merchandise, the friendly merchants and the
personal connections make this a truly special shopping experience.
It was great to have a chance to meet Maria Minna. All too often,
we feel that our local politicians are not approachable or do not
share the same interests as we do. After talking to Maria, it is
evident that she listens to the concerns of people and is always
ready to help.
Maria is an active advocate for social
justice. In Ottawa, her work with women’s rights, minority
rights, environmental issues, and homelessness is commended by colleagues
of all political stripes. She lobbied hard for the Child Tax Credit,
and continues to fight for a National Childcare Program, a National
Poverty Strategy, improves health care, pay equity and EI reform
to better suit Canadian families.
Although Maria has ruffled a few feathers in Ottawa, she certainly
vows that she will continue to fight to protect the rights of others
and the betterment of Canada.
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