1. Giuseppe "Joe" Volpe was born on September 21,1947 and is a Canadian politician.
88 Facts About Joe Volpe
1. 2.
Joe Volpe represented the Ontario riding of Eglinton-Lawrence as a member of the Liberal Party in the House of Commons of Canada from 1988 until 2011, when he lost his seat to Conservative candidate Joe Oliver.
3.
Joe Volpe was born in Monteleone di Puglia, in southern Italy, and migrated to Canada with his family in 1955.
4.
Joe Volpe is married to Mirella and they have four children.
5.
Joe Volpe first became involved with the Liberal Party in the 1968 federal election, when he worked on Charles Caccia's campaign in Davenport.
6.
Joe Volpe ran for the North York Board of Education in the 1974 municipal election as a separate school representative, but was defeated.
7.
Joe Volpe later ran for the Ontario legislature in the 1981 provincial election and narrowly lost to New Democratic Party incumbent Odoardo Di Santo in Downsview.
8.
Joe Volpe subsequently chaired the sponsoring group of an immigrant counseling agency called Alliance Community Services, which received a controversial $500,000 grant from the federal government in January 1984.
9.
Joe Volpe increased his profile in the mid-1980s by recruiting many new Liberal Party members from Toronto's Italian community.
10.
Joe Volpe endorsed John Roberts in the 1984 federal Liberal leadership convention, and threw his support to Jean Chretien on the second ballot after Roberts withdrew from the contest.
11.
Joe Volpe unsuccessfully campaigned for the presidency of the Ontario Liberal Party in 1985 and 1986, against media speculation that leading figures in the party opposed his candidacy.
12.
Joe Volpe spoke out against the Meech Lake Accord the following year, while most of the Liberal leadership supported it.
13.
The contest was extremely divisive, with de Corneille alleging that Joe Volpe was "trying to organize a group for his personal advantage" in recruiting new members from the riding's Italian community.
14.
Joe Volpe defended his right to seek the nomination, arguing that Toronto's Italian residents were seeking to play a more active role in government.
15.
Joe Volpe sought a reconciliation with de Corneille's supporters, many of whom were from the riding's Jewish community.
16.
The Progressive Conservatives were re-elected with a majority government in the 1988 election and Joe Volpe sat as a member of the official opposition for the next five years, serving as his party's revenue critic for part of this time.
17.
Joe Volpe argued that parliament represented a strong cross-section of Canada's population, saying that parliamentary initiative on constitutional reform could save millions of dollars on "needless commissions".
18.
Joe Volpe supported Paul Martin in the 1990 federal Liberal leadership convention, which was won by Jean Chretien.
19.
Joe Volpe subsequently opposed some of Chretien's reforms to the Liberal Party constitution, including a change that allowed the leader to appoint candidates in selected ridings.
20.
Joe Volpe remained one of Martin's most prominent Toronto-area supporters after 1990.
21.
The Liberals won a majority government in the 1993 election, and Joe Volpe sat as a government backbencher in the parliament that followed.
22.
Joe Volpe was elected chair of the Ontario Liberal caucus following the election, but unexpectedly lost the position to a challenge from Sue Barnes in 1995.
23.
The ministry was renamed on 12 July 1996, and Joe Volpe's position was restyled as parliamentary secretary to the Minister of Health, a position he held until 15 July 1998.
24.
Joe Volpe was easily re-elected to parliament in the 1997 election.
25.
Joe Volpe later endorsed Mel Lastman's bid to become Mayor of Toronto in 1997 municipal election.
26.
Joe Volpe served as chair of the all-party Commons Health Committee after the 1997 election.
27.
Joe Volpe brought forward a report in late 1998 encouraging the sale of herbal medicines in Canada, and advocating their regulation in a category separate from foods and drugs.
28.
Joe Volpe was given responsibility for overseeing Canada's investigation of a controversial vitamin-hormone cancer treatment run by Luigi di Bella in Italy.
29.
Joe Volpe led a delegation of Canadian doctors to Italy, arguing that they would either expose Di Bella as a fraud or establish the terms for assistance: they concluded there was no evidence to support the validity of his work.
30.
Joe Volpe initially recommended that further research be conducted, arguing the doctor's treatment could lead to an improved quality of life for cancer patients even if it did not actually cure the disease.
31.
In 1999, Joe Volpe argued that the government's proposed Citizenship Act was too restrictive and arbitrary, saying that it could result in reduced immigration to Canada.
32.
Joe Volpe voted against the bill on its final reading in May 2000.
33.
Joe Volpe was not promoted to cabinet in the August 1999 cabinet shuffle.
34.
Joe Volpe served as chair of the Commons Standing Committee on Natural Resources in 2000, and developed a report for improving Canada's national highway system.
35.
Joe Volpe collaborated with Toronto-area MPs Derek Lee and John McKay to create a job placement and training program for at-risk youth in Toronto, called Workplace Connections.
36.
Joe Volpe described as "unfortunate" Canada's decision to support a United Nations resolution critical of Israel in October 2000, and later argued that Canada should have abstained.
37.
Joe Volpe sought re-appointment as chair of the Natural Resources committee in 2001, but did not receive the position.
38.
Joe Volpe became increasingly critical of the Chretien government during the next two years, and made no secret of his support for Paul Martin to replace Chretien as party leader.
39.
Joe Volpe criticized the Chretien government for moving too slowly to replace Canada's aging Sea King helicopters, and encouraged the government to purchase the EH-101 Cormorant helicopters recommended by the previous Progressive Conservative government of Brian Mulroney.
40.
Joe Volpe worked openly for Paul Martin's bid to replace Chretien as Liberal Party leader after June 2002, when Martin left Chretien's cabinet under disputed circumstances.
41.
In June 2002, Joe Volpe became one of the first sixteen Liberal MPs to publicly call for Chretien to resign as prime minister.
42.
Joe Volpe appointed Volpe to cabinet as Minister of Human Resources and Skills Development, with responsibility for labour, homelessness, training, community economic development and federal student loans.
43.
Joe Volpe was named as political minister for Ontario and the Greater Toronto Area, and was appointed to Martin's priorities and planning committee, known as the inner cabinet.
44.
Joe Volpe argued that Canada needed significant skill upgrading reforms in order to retain its long-term employment prospects.
45.
Joe Volpe announced a new "Compassionate Care" benefit in January 2004, providing paid leave for Canadians who were forced to leave work to care for seriously ill family members.
46.
Joe Volpe promised a number of spending initiatives during the 2004 federal election, including $1 billion over five years for research, development and innovation in the automotive industry.
47.
Joe Volpe was retained as Human Resources and Skills Development minister after the election.
48.
Joe Volpe acknowledged there were problems with the EI system, but noted that rates were falling and would likely continue to fall in the future.
49.
Joe Volpe was given credit for this decision and was quoted as saying, "I didn't feel in the slightest bit comfortable with the program and I didn't think there was any justification for it".
50.
The Globe and Mail newspaper subsequently published an article which indicated that Sgro believed Joe Volpe wanted her cabinet position, and further asserted that the two were rivals within the party.
51.
Joe Volpe denied that he had anything to do with Sgro's resignation and cast doubt on the veracity of the report, saying that Sgro had told him directly that she did not make the statement attributed to her.
52.
Two days after his appointment, Joe Volpe pledged to tighten Canada's refugee system and to accelerate the processing time for individual claimants.
53.
Joe Volpe promised to give illegal immigrant workers the means and opportunity to attain legal status in Canada, although rejecting the option of a blanket amnesty, and pledged to promote regional immigration outside of Canada's major cities.
54.
Joe Volpe announced that Canada would try to cut the waiting time for citizenship applications from 18 to 12 months, and that the Martin government would triple the number of parents and grandparents eligible to enter Canada.
55.
Joe Volpe noted that there was a pressing need for more skilled immigrants throughout all parts of the country, and suggested that trade skills be emphasized over university education in determining the success of individual applications.
56.
Joe Volpe proposed legislation to make foreign-born adopted children automatic citizens of Canada.
57.
In November 2005, Joe Volpe released a strategic plan for a national immigration policy following consultation with provincial and territorial leaders.
58.
Joe Volpe criticized the opposition committee members for voting down the funding, arguing that their decision would jeopardize several previously announced reforms.
59.
Some opposition members argued that Joe Volpe had not adequately justified his department's spending.
60.
Joe Volpe's department argued that the change would match immigrants with skill shortages, which addressing backlogs in the immigration system.
61.
In March 2004, Joe Volpe announced the addition of nearly $8 million for existing crime prevention programs in Ontario.
62.
Also in May 2004, Joe Volpe wrote an official letter to Toronto Mayor David Miller, promising that the federal government would not order the construction of a bridge to the Toronto City Centre Airport against the wishes of Toronto City Council.
63.
Joe Volpe later expressed concerns about the continued viability of the Toronto Waterfront Revitalization Corp.
64.
In May 2005, Joe Volpe announced that the federal government would pay $35 million to the Toronto Port Authority to in compensation for the cancellation of the Toronto Island Airport Bridge.
65.
Joe Volpe remained active with issues of interest to the Italian community in Toronto, and was a prominent supporter of RAI International's bid to receive a television licence in Canada.
66.
Joe Volpe reconsidered his position on same-sex marriage in 2004, and voted with the rest of cabinet to grant legal status to same-sex marriages in 2005.
67.
Joe Volpe responded by arguing that he had played a contributory role in creating balanced legislation that protects the rights of both minority groups and religious institutions.
68.
In September 2005, it was reported that Joe Volpe had claimed $10,891.15 in meal and transportation expenses over an eleven-month period.
69.
Joe Volpe argued that his schedule was extremely busy, and that he had to meet with "many stakeholders" in the course of his ministerial duties.
70.
Joe Volpe's staff argued that he had made arrangements to meet with two groups of people on the same night, and could not cancel either meeting.
71.
Joe Volpe was again re-elected without difficulty in his own riding.
72.
In early September 2006, Joe Volpe announced that he would break with his party's official position and support a softwood lumber deal negotiated by the Conservative government with the United States of America.
73.
Joe Volpe argued that Canada should return to a peacekeeping ethos in foreign affairs, rather than primarily engaging in combat missions.
74.
Joe Volpe responded by promising to return any donations that contravened the letter or spirit of the law.
75.
Joe Volpe returned the five cheques from minors after extensive media criticism, and denied that any laws had been broken.
76.
In July 2006, Joe Volpe argued that the Federal Accountability Act should be amended to prevent persons under eighteen from contributing to political campaigns.
77.
On December 5,2006, Elections Canada stated that Joe Volpe had not violated election financing law in accepting the contributions.
78.
Joe Volpe had signed up 4,000 new members in the province, more than any other candidate.
79.
Some of Joe Volpe's supporters suggested that Michael Ignatieff's team was running a smear campaign against him.
80.
Joe Volpe was found guilty of a minor breach of the leadership candidates' code of conduct, and given a nominal fine of $1,000.
81.
Joe Volpe accepted the ruling as vindication, and repeated his charge that the previous ruling had a prejudicial effect on delegate selection.
82.
Joe Volpe told reporters, "I can't say I'm ecstatic because the damage has already been done".
83.
Joe Volpe fared poorly in the delegate selection meetings, and knew going into the convention that he could not win the leadership.
84.
Joe Volpe threw his support behind former Ontario Premier Bob Rae during the convention's "speech night", only moments after the final speech from Michael Ignatieff.
85.
Joe Volpe received 156 votes from the convention delegates, finishing in seventh place.
86.
Joe Volpe moved to the camp of Stephane Dion, who defeated Michael Ignatieff on the fourth ballot to win the party leadership.
87.
Joe Volpe published an article in Corriere Canadese on January 8,2021 questioning the decision of the Toronto Catholic District School Board to list YouthLine, an LGBTQ mental health resource, on its website, but YouthLine called his comments "homophobic, transphobic and anti-LGBTQ".
88.
In May 2022, Joe Volpe's lawsuit was dismissed in the Ontario Superior Court of Justice after the defendants requested dismissal under the anti-SLAPP provisions of Ontario's Courts of Justice Act.