Canada - Stories, Visions, and Challenges of a Laboratory of the Future

Join Villa Charities and CIBPA Toronto along with Italian author Paolo Quattrocchi for this special book launch and presentation.

Incorporating historical, geopolitical, literary, social and cultural elements with an autobiographical approach, “Canada - Stories, Visions and Challenges of a Laboratory of the Future” passionately relates the history, politics, and notable and ordinary people of a nation whose citizens "in just 150 years (...) have created a society based on trust and mutual respect for all. They have served as a model for many European countries and a source of hope for the world.” Particular attention is also given to the ties between Canada and Italy.

Participants will be given the opportunity to purchase a copy of the book followed by a Q & A.

Presentor Bio:

Paolo Quattrocchi

Born in Rome, Paolo grew up and matured in 1970’s Italy. From a young age, he was drawn to North American culture, history, and society, and as soon as he finished his university education, he made his first trip to Canada and was immediately captivated by its understated and calming charm. Now, a lawyer at the ADVANT Nctm law firm, Paolo is also the Director of the "Italy-Canada Study Center", where important contributions from international scholars on the social, cultural, political, and economic relations between the two countries converge. An expert in international business, he has been conducting research and in-depth studies on the Canadian phenomenon and its unique features for about twenty years.

“From the strange combination of seriousness and lightness, the opportunity arose to describe Canada from two different points of view: the subjective one, made up of lived impressions and circumstances, and the ideological one, which prompted me to outline Canada as a plausible social laboratory for the old continent and, in particular, for Italy.” Thus, in the annotation of his book Roman born in 1957, Roman, lawyer in an international organization and director of Centro Studi Italia – Canada, explains the reasons that led him to write a book dedicated to the land of maple leaves.

Starting from a biographical note, the book enthusiastically tells the history, politics and characters big and small of a country whose citizens “in one hundred and fifty years (…) managed to create living conditions for all, based on mutual trust and respect. They set an example for many European countries and the world. They have been full and confident.

From his first trip to Canada, which marks the author’s “second birthday”, to long stays from friendships to important meetings, all these lead to him choosing this country as his second home.

The book, in addition to personal stories and events, is developed on various levels: historical, geopolitical, literary, social and cultural.

In detailed and documented discussions, it dates back to the origins of Canada, from Giovanni Capoto’s first landing at Cabo Bonavista in 1497, to Jacques Cartier, appointed by Francis I in 1534 to explore new lands, to Samuel de Champlain. , first an adventurer and then the founder of Quebec.

This is followed by an in-depth examination of central issues related to bilingualism, First Nations, Quebec development and identity, multiculturalism and more.

Particular attention is paid to the relationship between Canada and Italy, the closeness and differences between Canadians and Americans, and key historical events such as the Battle of Ortona in 1943, a massacre that saw the death of thousands of Canadian soldiers in the effort to liberate the city from the positioning of Nazi troops, and the great Italian emigration that would find one of its favorite destinations in Canada.

An entire chapter is dedicated to the figure of Pierre Elliott Trudeau, the leader of the country for almost fifteen years, who created a free, advanced nation in the early 70s and, as the newspapers wrote about his death, ” touched the dreams of a whole generation of Canadians.

To complete the book, there are also many portraits of more or less well-known people who contributed to the nation’s history: from Gilles Villeneuve and his tragic death to Neil Young and his music, activists and environmentalists David Suzuki and Severn Cullis Suzuki, cosmetics tycoon Elizabeth Arden, and her empire in the cosmetics world, actor Donald Sutherland and astrophysicist Hubert Reeves, and scholar and communications expert Marshall McLuhan.