Speech from the Throne

Honourable senators, this item stands adjourned in the name of the Honourable Senator Plett, and I ask for leave of the Senate that, following my intervention, the balance of his time to speak to this item be reserved.

I rise today to respond to the Speech from the Throne. In the spirit of the long-held tradition of this inaugural speech, I will speak about the valour and bravery of our Canadian soldiers and my parents’ path to immigration to Canada.

I am humbled to acknowledge that I am standing upon the unceded lands of the Algonquin Anishinaabeg peoples.

I stand before you in this esteemed chamber and address you for the very first time.

Please allow me to begin by stating my gratefulness to all of the Senate management teams for their assistance in my initial months as a new senator.

I want to extend my heartfelt thanks to Your Honour and to the Leader of the Government in the Senate, my Senate sponsor, all facilitators, their teams and all of you, esteemed senators, for your warm welcome and wise counsel.

Special appreciation goes to the Clerk of the Senate, the Usher of the Black Rod and their teams for their invaluable support as I settled into my new role.

I also wish to thank the security guards for their kindness and making me feel like a senator from the moment I first arrived, unannounced, in the Senate in early January.

Today I rise to commemorate the eightieth anniversary of the Allied forces’ liberation of the town of Cassino, 90 kilometres south of Rome.

May 18, 1944, marked this historic day that ended tyranny and restored liberty and freedom to this war-torn part of Italy. For you to truly understand me, I must share a brief history of my family.

My parents emigrated to Canada in the mid-1950s, from the town of Cassino, Italy, home to the Benedictine Monastery of Montecassino. Founded in 529 A.D. by St. Benedict of Norcia, the Abbey of Montecassino was the birthplace of monasticism and remained instrumental in saving the Roman Catholic religion during the Dark Ages.

As described by Peter Caddick-Adams in his novel Monte Cassino: Ten Armies in Hell, the town of Cassino in 1944 had the dubious distinction of being the most bombed place on earth.

My father, Carlo, who was 13 years old at the time, experienced these wartime hardships firsthand, seeking food amidst the bombings and finding solace with Canadian soldiers occupying the trenches along the mountainside.

Among the Canadian units that participated in the Cassino offensive were the 1st Canadian Armoured Tank Brigade; the 5th Canadian Armoured Brigade; the Three Rivers Regiment; the 1st Canadian Corps; and the First Special Service Forces, dubbed “The Red Devils,” all of whom supported the Allied forces in crossing the Liri River and the Gari River and penetrating the strongly held German Gustav Line.

Perched and entrenched on the mountainside of Montecassino, the German soldiers had held the Allied forces at bay for months while inflicting heavy casualties.

On a tragic day in February 1944, the Monastery of Montecassino became the victim of misinformation and, despite the advice of the field command, the British High Command ordered the United States Air Force to destroy the monastery. The German soldiers had left days before, and the only remaining occupants at the time of the bombing were the townspeople taking refuge.

The destruction of the monastery inflicted a heavy toll on my father’s family. My father lost 56 aunts, uncles and cousins and his grandparents in that single wave of bombing, illustrating the senseless brutality of war. It was the Canadian Forces that aided the victims with medicine, food and clothing. The destruction of Cassino and the Abbey of Montecassino was total and complete. The Battle of Montecassino was the bloodiest battle of the Italian campaign.

After the misguided destruction of Montecassino, the Germans still held the line of defence north of Ortona and continued to hold the mighty bastion of Montecassino, which blocked the Liri corridor to Rome. Determined to maintain their hold on Rome, the Germans constructed two formidable lines of fortifications: The Gustav Line and, 14.5 kilometres behind it, the Hitler Line. During April and May of 1944, the 1st Canadian Corps was secretly moved across Italy to join in the struggle for Rome.

Here, under the dominating peaks of Montecassino, the Canadian armies hurled themselves against the enemy position. The tanks of the 1st Canadian Armoured Brigade supported the Allied attack. After four days of hard fighting, the German defences were broken from Cassino to the Tyrrhenian Sea and the Germans moved back to their second line of defence. On May 16, the 1st Canadian Corps received orders to advance on the Hitler Line, 10 kilometres further up the valley. Early on May 23, the attack on the Hitler Line went in. Under heavy enemy mortar and machine-gun fire, the Canadians breached the defences and the tanks of the 5th Canadian Armoured Division poured through toward the next obstacle, the Melfa River. Desperate fighting took place in the forming of a bridgehead across the Melfa, but once the Canadians were over the river the major fighting for the Liri Valley was over. The operation developed into a pursuit as the Germans moved back quickly to avoid being trapped in the valley. The 5th Armoured Division carried the Canadian pursuit to Ceprano, where the 1st Canadian Infantry Division took over the task. On May 31, the Canadians occupied Frosinone and their campaign in this area came to an end.

Rome fell on June 4. Less than 48 hours later, the long-awaited D-Day invasion of northwest Europe began on the Normandy beaches. It remained essential, therefore, for the Canadian forces in Italy to continue to pin down the German troops.

The rebuilding of my parents’ lives post-war was difficult, yet it was shaped by the memory of Canadian soldiers’ courage and generosity, instilling in them the belief that no obstacle was insurmountable. The Abbey of Montecassino was rebuilt and consecrated by Pope Paul VI in 1964, and the town of Cassino was slowly rebuilding.

Nonetheless, both my father, Carlo, and my mother, Antonietta, dreamed of a better life than what was available to them in their war-ravaged town. America was the land of opportunity, but it was Canada and the memories of the brave Canadian soldiers in the trenches, complete with their humility and kindness, that left their indelible mark on my parents.

Immigrant life was filled with adversity, but for my parents, whose reference point was World War II, no adversity was too harsh. My father always referenced the bravery of the Canadian soldiers, and he would often tell me that if those Canadian soldiers could carry tanks on their backs across frozen rivers and up mountains, then we could accomplish anything we set our minds to.

I know today that I am a proud Canadian of Italian heritage because of my parents’ beliefs in those brave Canadian men who served Canada so well. America may have been the land of opportunity, but it was the Canadian soldiers who stole my father’s heart.

My parents’ admiration for Canadian soldiers influenced my upbringing and years later led me to collaborate with former Senator Consiglio Di Nino on the Peace Through Valour project, honouring the Canadian soldiers who fought for Italy’s liberation.

In 2016, the Peace Through Valour project installed a monument at Nathan Phillips Square in Toronto commemorating those brave Canadian soldiers who fought so hard to liberate Italy from the clutches of tyranny.

I have made available for each senator a commemorative book that pays homage to these courageous soldiers who embodied the spirit of Canada. They are available for you in the senators’ lounge.

On this eightieth anniversary of the liberation of Montecassino, I stand before you knowing full well why I am Canadian. I am proud of my Italian heritage, but as a Canadian I am proud to be carrying forward the legacy of resilience and honour instilled by the Canadian soldiers who fought for freedom and justice.

Thank you, honourable senators, for allowing me to share with you this personal story.

Grazie. Meegwetch.