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Photos: Vaughan Mayor Maurizio Bevilacqua presents an award to the Community & Home Assitance to Seniors charity; Mayor Bevilacqua, Iolanda Masci, the Hon. Julian Fantino and Nadio Ferrari stand proud.

Top left – Giving Thanks Gala honourary co-chair Julian Fantino. Top right – Board member and special events coordinator Alessandra Piccolo with Maurizio Bevilacqua, mayor-elect. Above – TOP ROW: Hospice Vaughan’s Angela Macri, Francis Caldarola, Robert Caldarola, Paul Di Iulio, Dr. Anthony Testa FRONT ROW: Lucia Lisozzi, Carmela Sisto, Eliana Di Biase, Rev. Claudio Moser and Alessandra Piccolo.

ABOVE LEFT: VIP guests on a tour in the newly renovated Emergency Department at The Hospital for
Sick Children; VIPs included OPP Commissioner Julian Fantino and Consul General of the Philippines, Minerva Jean A. Falcon ABOVE RIGHT: FROM LEFT: Ron Lezon, Marita Simbul-Lezon, and Ted Garrard, president and CEO of SickKids Foundation.

Every time I’m asked where I’m from I hesitate. I pause because I want to avoid the know-it-all smirk. I equivocate because I don’t want to hear the toxic and discriminative comments that fall from ignorant lips. That’s not fair to me or any other resident of Vaughan who lives life according to the law.

I’m not naive, but Vaughan is primarily a city full of heart, ­not villains. So why do cantankerous mediums continue to pollute our clean air with what appears to be anti-Italianism and acrimonious sound bites?

What alarms me the most is that Italians continue to be easy targets because they prefer not to speak out on issues that concern them. And many people take advantage of that.

Yellow journalism was at its best with a recent feature on Vaughan entitled “The Land of the Rich and Infamous,” written by Chris Nuttall-Smith, former food editor and current freelancer for Toronto Life. Residents of Vaughan found this story – which lambastes 905 developers, Mayor Linda Jackson, Vaughan council and the Italian community – plainly distasteful.

I asked Ontario Provincial Police Commissioner Julian Fantino how he feels when his culture or the community he lives in is criticized in the media.

Julian Fantino, Ontario Provincial Police Commissioner

“Most of the critics have an agenda of their own, and very often there are issues that are not properly portrayed or reported,” responds Commissioner Fantino. I think it’s disconcerting … very often the facts are not really known. A lot of it is just sensationalism. The screaming headlines … all of that I think is intended to tear down and disenfranchise not only the community, but the people, unfairly. There’s far too much of that I think, going on in Vaughan,” adds Fantino, who has lived in this community since 1981.

With Vaughan’s 2010 municipal election approaching, the Toronto Life feature raked Mayor Linda Jackson and Vaughan council over the coals. Any charges against Mayor Jackson have not yet been proven in a court of law.

Apart from portraying council members as the “enemies” of the mayor, Nuttall-Smith colours his introduction with a harsh physical description. “She’s 50 years old, with dyed blondish hair and skin that’s often the colour of inexpensive bronzer … It’s fair to say that she carries around a few extra pounds.” This passage raises the question as to whether or not a person’s appearance affects his or her ability to govern a city.

In 2000, years before Toronto Mayor David Miller began an exercise regime to shed his extra weight, he was lauded with an A+ and named best councillor by Toronto Life magazine. For Mayor Jackson, presenting her best appearance comes second to executing her duties as mayor, as she displayed during the endless hours she spent helping citizens in the aftermath of the Vaughan tornado. Mayor Jackson recalls: “The skies opened up, and I said, ‘Don’t give me an umbrella! These people’s homes are destroyed, and all I would be worried about would be an umbrella?”

I have resided in this city for a little more than 20 years, during which time my experiences with some of the
non-Vaughan populace have left me speechless. The media have taken every opportunity to splash its headlines about Vaughan with blood. As a result, the excellence of our city has been spoiled by unhealthy, unbalanced reporting, bordering an obsession with politics, lifestyle and Italian developers. Nuttall-Smith’s story begins with: “Everything about Vaughan – its executive estates, its hectares of malls, its politicians’ aspirations – is big and brash … Its expansion has been orchestrated by politically connected developers who know what they want.”

Toronto Life is published by St. Joseph Communications, which was founded in 1956 by Gaetano Gagliano, who is Italian. As Canada’s largest privately owned communications company, St. Joseph’s corporate communications office is located in the core of the Canadian marketplace – Vaughan.

I wanted to ask St. Joseph’s CEO Tony Gagliano how he felt about the way his heritage and the community he works in were criticized by the very brand he runs. After I made several attempts to arrange an interview with him, his executive assistant sent me this message in an e-mail: “As previously mentioned, I am unable to schedule any time for a call due to Tony’s [Gagliano] schedule for the next few weeks. There is no one else that I can recommend to speak on his behalf. We thank you again for this opportunity. Warm regards, Rose Giorgio.”

I tried to reach the five building magnates described in the Toronto Life story under the subheading, “Developer Kings: The builders of Vaughan’s suburbs are also some of the city’s richest residents.” But John DeGasperis (TACC Construction), Vic De Zen (Royal Group Technologies), Carlo Baldassarra (Greenpark Homes) and Rudy Bratty (Remington Group) opted not to comment. Would anyone who was criticized constantly be comfortable speaking to the media?

The only developer who offered his thoughts was Alfredo (Fred) DeGasperis, founder of the nation’s largest construction company, ConDrain.

While I don’t want to discredit the hard work that Nuttall-Smith did on his feature, he said DeGasperis was a resident of Vaughan, but he is not; rather, he lives in the city of Toronto. “I was upset when I heard about [the story]. We’re very proud of what we’ve done for many, many years. We still keep doing it. We build buildings. I know they [the media] make the problem bigger. They always try to throw dirt on a project,” says DeGapseris. He won a lawsuit against The Globe and Mail in 2000, for which the Ontario Court of Appeal ordered the newspaper and a journalist to pay him $780,000, which he then donated to charity.

Under the headshots of most of the developers, their estimated worth is listed. If money talks, why not explain where some of the cash goes? Every year, all these men, including Fred DeGasperis (“worth $1.4 billion”), donate millions to charities and hospitals.

In just one example, Fred DeGasperis and family donated a staggering $7 million to Toronto General Hospital in 2004 to enhance patient care at the Peter Munk Cardiac Centre.

“We believe we should take care of the sick people. We believe that when you work so hard and you make decent money you should give back to charity. We’re very proud of what we’ve done for hospitals,” says DeGasperis, who, like the other developers, has extended his generosity to Toronto institutions like the Hospital for Sick Children, Mount Sinai, Sunnybrook and Princess Margaret hospitals.

“Our very generous donor community, which includes wonderful supporters from the city of Vaughan, allows us to raise funds to deliver breakthrough research, exemplary teaching and compassionate care at Princess Margaret Hospital, one of the top five cancer research centres in the world,” says Paul Alofs, president and CEO of The Princess Margaret Hospital Foundation.

Matthew Teitelbaum

TACC Construction recently helped fund the Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) services at the Markham Stoufville Hospital with a $1 million gift.

Many Italian developers have also supported the Art Gallery of Ontario (AGO) with $500,000 contributions towards the Galleria Italia, a sculptural promenade across the front of the AGO. “I’m thrilled because I’ve never been with a group of donors who seemed more excited and pleased with the association and with their ability to make a difference,” says Matthew Teitelbaum, the AGO’s Michael and Sonja Koerner director and CEO.

Cities in Canada and across the world are troubled by scandals, and whether it’s true or not, a dose of equilibrium and a dash of class go a long way in fair reportage.

“We don’t need any more bad publicity about Vaughan,” says Remo Ferri. “I think there’s a great community up here. It’s a great place, and some of us have worked very hard to build what we have. We’re not crooks,” adds the founder of The Remo Ferri Group of Automobiles. Earlier this year, Ferri, who supports a number of charities, opened North America’s largest Ferrari Maserati dealership in Vaughan.

The city of Vaughan is home to multiple ethnicities, living and learning together in one of Canada’s fastest-growing cities.

The issue of Italian culture begins when Nuttall-Smith writes, “The city has more than 250,000 residents today, and the largest concentration of Italian immigrants in Canada. More than 40 per cent of the population claims Italian heritage. Six out of eight of the city’s councillors are Italian; they often campaign in Italian and bow to local Italian-language media.”

Sandra Yeung Racco, Vaughan Councillor.

In instances like this, I’m jaded from having to explain, very slowly, that no, not every Vaughan resident is Italian. “We have a very multicultural and diverse group of residents and businesses,” says Vaughan Councillor Sandra Yeung Racco. I think that makes us very rare. We have a good balance of multiple cultures within our community.”

A surprise to most, the city of Vaughan is just 38 per cent Italian. The rest of the community includes Jewish, Indian, Russian, Vietnamese, French and Romanian cultures, among others. “It is a very interesting and special experience for emigrants that first come to live in Vaughan and are new to the country. For me, Vaughan has everything you need,” says Mimoza Gila, an Albanian who lives in Woodbridge.

I must dispel yet another illusion: that of the housing climate of Vaughan. Guess what! We don’t all live like starlets in Hollywood-style “executive estates” with Roman pillars and multiple garages. “A number of condominium apartments and multiple row houses have been built [in Vaughan] over the past few years,” states the city of Vaughan’s website.

Just take a drive through Vaughan’s major communities – Concord, Kleinburg, Maple, Thornhill, Woodbridge – and you will find families living under the roof of a condominium, duplex or ­– gasp! – renting. Also, Vaughan is not “paved over,” with more than 1,000 hectares of vacant land.

For those who do enjoy the niceties of an upscale life, it all wasn’t handed down to them on a silver platter.

Vaughan isn’t where ”old money” lives and breathes. That kind of currency dwells in Toronto’s lavish Rosedale neighbourhood, where our nation’s wealthiest hold tea parties and clink their crystal in a lifestyle set in the most posh and expensive neighbourhood in Canada.

Maurizio Bevilacqua

Vaughan is a city where immigrants settled many years ago, and instead of being stagnant, grew and expanded. Adding 10,000 new residents each year, Vaughan continues to be one of Canada’s fastest-growing cities. By 2031, it is expected to be home to 420,000 people. How could a city described as a “political mess” with “politically connected developers” continue to attract new residents?

“Vaughan is a city that can in fact become world-class,” explains Maurizio Bevilacqua, a member of Parliament who represents Vaughan. “People [in Vaughan] are entrepreneurial and enlightened in the sense that while they excel at creating economic growth, they also understand their social responsibility. We are willing to share with one another … our focus is to improve the quality of life and standard of living for all Vaughan residents.”

The people of Vaughan were not spoon-fed a great life. They have felt the effects of segregation, communism, fascism and Nazism; they have endured poverty and oppression. But they rose out of hardship and misery; they struggled and sweated and strained to get to where they are today so their children could enjoy a lifestyle they didn’t have. “A lot of people came to this country in the ’40s and ’50s with only the shirt on their back, wanting to make a better life for themselves,” says Mayor Jackson. “They sacrificed … leaving wives and children in other countries to come to this country to make a better life, and they worked non-stop.”

As the innocent and hardworking residents of Vaughan continue to face an unfair reputation, the city’s accomplishments have taken a back seat. “The perception being created is an unfortunate one, but it is one that certainly can be improved by presenting the true nature of Vaughan and the community – its reality, not its mythology,” says MP Bevilacqua.

It’s time to take a stand, so that the next time you venture out of Vaughan, you won’t feel ashamed to say where you came from.

Left: Mackie Harley Davidson, a presenting sponsor. Right: Joseph Manzoli (SickKids Leader), Brian Dunphy (SickKids Foundation), Nella Figliano, Mark McConkey, Darren Ricketts.

A career in policing is anything but easy, especially when you’re in charge of the entire force. This special series examines the men responsible for overseeing provincial and municipal police services, with an exclusive look into their off-duty personas.

HALTON REGION

Loving a Good Day’s Work: Greg Crowell

Chief Greg Crowell

Finding happiness in life can sometimes mean doing what you love best. Whatever that is, it should make you want to spring out of bed every morning, and look forward to a good day’s work. Of course, it isn’t easy to make sure one of Canada’s safest regions stays crime-free – a job that belongs to Chief Greg Crowell of the Halton Regional Police Service. Leading his organization is no small task, especially in a community that’s also recognized as one of the fastest growing in the country.

Starting out as an RCMP officer in Nova Scotia, Crowell hasn’t looked back since his first day on the job. “I can probably count, only on one hand, the days I haven’t enjoyed going into work,” he reveals. Coming to a crossroads in college, Crowell decided to become a police officer after a recruiting poster caught his eye. Right from the start, it was something he revered. “I really love the profession. Police officers are truly my heroes,” he says openly.

His enthusiasm speaks louder than words, as his career boasts a series of accomplishments. The introduction of his organization’s Enhanced Language Instruction program allows immigrants with law enforcement backgrounds to enhance their skills, opening the door to a job in Canadian policing. Crowell’s support for female officers is another notable endeavour, making him the first recipient of the Ontario Women in Law Enforcement President’s Award. “Not only can women do the job just as well, but sometimes even better,” he admits. “I came to respect their role after I saw how hard it was for women to progress through the ranks.” It’s one of many lessons Crowell has learned, admiring the motto of former Peel Police Chief Bill Teggart, who once told him to, “be a student of your profession.”

True to his word, Crowell admits to learning from fellow officers. His admiration for Dr. Stephen Lewis, a fervent philanthropist, developed after discovering the humanitarian’s work through a family member. “I actually had my eyes opened by my own son, who’s a police officer in Waterloo. He and his wife travelled to Africa and worked at an orphanage on their vacation.”  The trip had a heavy impact on Crowell’s understanding of the atrocities taking place in Third World countries.

Evolving into his current position through a strong work ethic and memorable experiences, Crowell admits that he was no stranger to first-day jitters when he first donned his uniform. While on his way to Halifax, Crowell noticed pedestrians waving friendly hellos as his cruiser drove by. “Then I realized they weren’t really waving at me,” he says laughing. “They were trying to tell me I was going the wrong direction down a one-way street. It was a real ego deflator.” Smiling about the comical ordeal, Crowell comes across as deeply satisfied with his service in law enforcement, admitting to being “a happy chief.” www.hrps.on.ca

PEEL REGION

Driving Crime Away: Mike Metcalf

It’s a cool, crisp summer morning. The sun penetrates the trees as it illuminates the dew on short blades of grass. Three men walk onto the green at the Trafalgar Golf & Country Club in Milton, taking advantage of some much-needed recreational downtime. The threesome consists of two chiefs from the local fire and police departments and a third, younger man. The 20-year-old talks about a possible career in professional golf to his friends. That was almost 40 years ago and today, things look a lot different for Peel Regional Police Chief Mike Metcalf.

“I played a lot of junior golf but I really couldn’t putt all that well,” he says with a laugh. Metcalf’s voice radiates authority, accompanied by a jovial sense of humour. It didn’t take long before Metcalf’s two golf buddies offered him jobs with the city’s emergency services. Thinking it through, he decided to join what was then called the Mississauga Township Police Department. “I can’t really explain it. I think it had a lot to do with my dad being a lawyer,” he recalls. Metcalf remembers being intrigued by police officers visiting his father’s home, often seeking advice from the crown attorney.

Looking back on a long and successful career, Metcalf tells me about some of his most enjoyable moments and crowning achievements. Working as a detective during the Mississauga train derailment of 1979, he quickly ascended the ranks after receiving the Medal of Bravery. “We went up in a chopper, approached the wreck, and tried to see how we were going to proceed with the evacuation.” Since then, Metcalf has revamped Peel Regional Police from the inside out, introducing the Automated Mug Shot Retrieval System in the early ‘90s.

After being promoted to detective sergeant, inspector, and superintendent, Metcalf never imagined being chief. “When I first started in the Criminal Investigation Branch, I honestly thought that would be the best – but it got better,” he admits. Taking the organization’s top job, Metcalf made further changes during his term. He created three deputy chief positions to tackle operational issues and brought in a special support program for front line officers. “I always wanted to create a bureau for organizational wellness. There’s a lot of stress in policing and it’s important to have peer help and members’ assistance.”

Metcalf’s compassion further reveals itself as he tells me about his favourite actor, James Earl Jones. “I’ll always remember him in Field of Dreams. His character was so rude in the beginning, but as you get below the crust, you find a good man.” Hoping people remember him for treating everyone with dignity, Metcalf points out that being chief isn’t his greatest achievement. Next to his career, the chief’s two daughters and wife, Barb, make him what he calls, “successful, grateful, and deeply satisfied,” – something I noticed right away. Instantly captivating with a witty and sharp persona, Metcalf is a man of profound character. www.peelpolice.on.ca

YORK REGION

Serving Proudly: Armand La Barge

For Armand La Barge, being a fiercely proud Canadian goes hand-in-hand with making a difference in the world. Descending from a lineage of military service and law enforcement, the Chief of York Regional Police is no stranger to one of Canada’s most safe and diverse communities. With a wife, cousin, and two brothers in policing, he’s carrying on a tradition that shows just how loudly deeds speak.

Originally passionate about the Canadian Armed Forces, La Barge first considered a career in the military. That changed when an OPP officer told a young La Barge about a new police force in Newmarket. While he never joined the Armed Forces, La Barge always admired Canadian soldiers from day one. “My two cousins were killed in the Second World War. I didn’t get a chance to meet them, but I’ve carried their photographs in my hat since I began policing,” he reveals.

Talking to La Barge about his organization, I get the impression of a very scholarly man. Holding a masters degree in Canadian and native studies, he’s also earned recognitions from Schulich School of Business and FBI National Academy. A proud leader, La Barge tells me about how he introduced the service to strategies that combat youth violence, which gained worldwide recognition after winning the Webber Seavey Award.

Getting to know him a little more, I notice his enthusiasm when talking about diversity. “I think the biggest significant change I’ve made is breaking down barriers in our immigrant communities,” he admits. The chief attributes his inspiration to the late Kamil Sadiq, a neighborhood leader dedicated to bringing religious, racial and social groups together.

During his six-year term, La Barge acknowledges increased esteem for his street officers. “I can tell you that any chief, myself included, would admit that if we were put back into the frontlines, we would struggle to do the challenging calls our officers do today.” La Barge’s remark comes at the end of a difficult year for the York Regional Police, which lost officers Davis Ahlowalia and Robert Plunkett and civilian member Deb Young. “I look at their pictures everyday and it reminds me that you don’t have to be a certain age, a chief of police or the president of a company to make a difference.”

When La Barge finally breaks away from work, his ideal vacation is at home. “I’ll watch movies with my wife and I shamefully admit they’re generally chick flicks,” he chuckles. As my conversation with him draws to a close, he adds with ardent conviction: “I think kids should remember respect for themselves and others. The more you respect yourself, the less you’ll run into trouble with the law.” www.police.york.on.ca

ONTARIO

With Great Responsibility Comes Great Sacrifice: Julian Fantino

It’s a tough job, and somebody’s doing it. That’s the phrase that comes to mind when I think of Julian Fantino, the province’s top cop. Serving as commissioner for the Ontario Provincial Police (OPP), a jurisdiction with over 300 municipalities can’t be easy – especially when you’re often criticized. And yet amidst being so busy with his organization’s centenary events, Fantino agrees to a one-on-one exclusive interview, revealing a less-familiar side of the media-disparaged man.

After dusting off his blue and gold peaked cap, Fantino greets me with a smile, reminiscent of an explorer with a thousand stories to tell. Sitting down in a secured, brightly lit room, with a private aid just outside the door, I ask Fantino about his younger years. “Coming to Canada at age 10 was a big challenge with a tremendous amount of difficulty,” he says, explaining that non-English-speaking kids were picked on. “Some people have accused me of being a racist, but they don’t know what I experienced – a lot of racism and a lot of discrimination.”

New challenges weren’t enough to discourage the young Fantino, who started working as a Toronto taxi driver and security officer at Yorkdale Mall. “I was always involved in investigations with local police officers, so I got talked into joining the Auxiliary,” he says of the city’s volunteer police force. “After five years, I became more interested, and I decided going full-time would be a good move.” Since then, Fantino’s law enforcement career brought him to work as Chief of the London Police Service, York Regional Police and the Toronto Police Service.

Serving later as commissioner of emergency management and commissioner of the OPP, Fantino is anything but complacent. Pedestrians and motorists throughout Ontario often see him out in the cold with frontline officers, helping with RIDE spot checks. On the administrative side of things, he’s helped put a new face on the OPP, re-adopting its former black and white scout cars and traditional blue caps. When I ask what legacy he hopes to leave, Fantino answers, “I tried to make a difference for the better, and the report-card can be left to someone else.” A man of great principle, he tells me that, “Being a police officer is very often referred to as a vocation. There’s a lot of sacrifice.”

Of course, when Fantino isn’t busy serving and protecting, he enjoys mealtimes with his wife, children and grandchildren. “All I do is the barbecue. And that’s it,” he admits with a laugh. It’s a lighter side of the man behind the uniform, who sometimes wears a chef hat and apron at children’s charity fundraisers – a pastime Fantino will maintain after retirement. As for now, he celebrates 2009’s 100th anniversary of the OPP, with a number of events taking place around the province throughout the year. The commissioner’s excitement in celebrating with the community is obvious. “The overwhelming majority of law-abiding, decent citizens, understand and appreciate what we do.” www.opp.ca, www.opp100.ca

TORONTO

Keeping the City Safe: Bill Blair

The bigger a city is, the tougher the challenges. In a massive metropolis such as Toronto, there’s nothing more demanding than being a police officer. Enforcing the law for over two million citizens that speak more than 140 languages and dialects takes commitment and dedication. And behind the frontline officers of the Toronto Police Service is a man who fills big shoes – officially, and literally. As I walk down a hallway toward a private office at the Toronto police headquarters, I see a man in an armchair next to a coffee table, adjusting his reading glasses. He stands to greet me, and I realize how tall Chief Bill Blair really is, forcing me to link his height with the importance of his position.

Surrounded by a top-floor window view of the city’s skyscrapers, Blair tells me about some key initiatives. “The secret to keeping the city safe is to have open communication and trusting relationships with its citizens,” he says. Building on that foundation, the chief established the Targeted Anti-Violence Intervention Strategy, also known as TAVIS, to reduce violence and fear on the streets. “The city of Toronto is the city of neighbourhoods,” he explains, with a clear message for people using guns illegally. “We will pursue you relentlessly. And if you take up that gun, you put yourself at tremendous risk of being shot.” The chief’s program brings an increased number of officers into neighbourhoods, with a focus on community mobilization.

As a grandfather clock chimes in the background, I ask what Blair would change about the city during his time. Perhaps thinking about negative media attention, he tells me, “There’s a tendency for some people to misjudge Toronto. I’d want to invite those people to come live here for a bit, to see how friendly and open people are.” With a convinced expression on his face, the chief talks about countless citizens he admires. Each unique story paints a portrait of good people trying to make a difference. “Another person is Rick Gosling, who runs The Children’s Breakfast Club. He’s never the guy standing up front, but always the guy helping and giving a pat on the back.”

Yet for all the city’s living angels, the police profession comes with risks. Blair tells me how he walked the beat all over Toronto, moving onto undercover work and administration. His intriguing career led me to ask about any fears he’s developed. “You know I don’t talk about it much,” he admits. “My people go out and deal with dangerous situations sometimes, and they tremendously, courageously put themselves at risk. My fear is for them.” His feelings emit an unspoken reverence for Toronto’s heroes in blue. They are the sign of a man dedicated to keeping his community a safe place to be. www.torontopolice.on.ca

Photos: An enchanting banquet room awaits guests for a star-studded garden gala; FROM TOP LEFT: Frank Ferragine, Minister of Energy & Infrastructure George Smitherman, Vaughan MP Maurizio Bevilacqua and Pierre Cyr Seated, from left to right: Grace DeGasperis, VHCF Chair Michael DeGasperis and Jennifer Valentyne; Sam Ciccolini and OPP Commissioner Julian Fantino; A spoiling array of delectable cheeses and fruits at the Enchanted Garden Gala