Joe Volpe
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The Honourable Giuseppe (Joseph) Volpe (September 21, 1947) is a Canadian politician and the current Minister of Citizenship and Immigration.
Born in Monteleone, Puglia, Italy, he graduated from the University of Toronto with a B.A. (1970), a B.Ed. (1971) and a M.Ed. (1980). From 1971 to 1974, he was a teacher in Stoney Creek. From 1974 to 1979 he was head of history at a secondary school in Etobicoke. From 1979 to 1982 he was head of multicultural studies in a college in Weston, Ontario. He then became a mortgage development officer from 1982 until 1983, until becoming Vice-principal and co-founder of the J.M.McGuigan Secondary School. A position he held until 1988.
In 1981 he ran for a seat in the provincial riding of Downsview but lost. He also ran for the presidency of Ontario Liberal Party in 1985 but was defeated.
He was first elected in 1988 in the Toronto riding of Eglinton--Lawrence. He was re-elected in 1993, 1997, 2000, and 2004.
Recently, Volpe came under criticism for remarks he made comparing the Conservative party to the Ku Klux Klan. He made the remarks after seeing two Conservative MP's posing with a poster from the Western Standard magazine comparing Liberals to the family from the mafia TV show The Sopranos, with the title "The Liberano$". Volpe considered this a slur against Italian canadians such as himself, despite the fact that the two key figures in the poster, Prime Minister Paul Martin and former Prime Minister Jean Chrétien are not Italian. He subsequently apologized.
He is married to Mirella and they have four children: Luciano, Flavio, Letizia and Massimo.
Related Link:
External link
- Official site (http://www.joevolpe.com/)
| 27th Ministry - Government of Paul Martin | ||
| Cabinet Posts (2) | ||
| Preceded by: Judy Sgro | Minister of Citizenship and Immigration (2005-) | Succeeded by: incumbent |
| Preceded by: Position created | Minister of Human Resources and Skills Development (2003-2005) | Succeeded by: Lucienne Robillard |
| Preceded by: Roland De Corneille, Liberal |
Member of Parliament from Eglinton--Lawrence (1988-) |
Succeeded by: Incumbent |