From Salsomaggiore to Westmount Following World War II, like hundreds of thousands of Italians, Adriano Bussandri of Salsomaggiore left his homeland with his wife and two-year-old son, Claudio, to seek a better life in Canada. They arrived in Montreal, 1949, where Adriano got a job with a textile company and his wife Emma became a seamstress. Claudio, whose father died when he was 14, placed second in the province in his high school graduating year, receiving a scholarship to McGill University, where he obtained an Hons. B. Eng., 1969. He worked for Gillette of Canada, then Nabisco Brands Ltd., where he rose to be a Vice-President, 1976, the same year he earned an M.B.A. through evening studies at McGill. In 1980, he was named President and General Manager, Nabisco’s Club Coffee companies, Vice-President and General Manager, Food Service Division, 1984, and President and CEO of Lantic Sugar, 1987-95, at which time he was recruited to become President and CEO of Medis Health & Pharmaceutical Services, Inc., with annual sales in excess of $3.5 billion. A member of the Business Council on National Issues, Mr. Bussandri is also Chairman of the Board of the Canadian Wholesale Drug Association, Vice Chairman of the Board, Montreal Children’s Hospital Foundation, and on the Board of Governors, Conseil du Patronat du Québec. A brother, Canadian-born Fulvio, is President of Microcell Solutions, a subsidiary of Teleglobe Canada. [Photo, courtesy Adriano Bussandri]

 

Serving and Protecting Canada’s Largest Municipality Police Chief of Toronto, Julian Fantino, was born, 1942, in Vendoglio, a village in northern Italy. He came to Canada, 1953, the year after his father had preceded other family members to work as a labourer. His first home was one shared with another family, and one of his first jobs was as a security officer for a department store chain before joining the Metropolitan Toronto Police Force as a Constable, 1969. Over the next 23 years, he served in Uniform Patrol, Undercover Drug Enforcement, Detective Branch, Criminal Intelligence, Homicide, and was a Division Commander when he moved to London, Ontario, as Chief in 1991. In 1998, he returned to the Toronto area as Chief, York Regional Police, in the suburban area north of the City of Toronto with a population of 665,000. His appointment as Chief of Toronto Police Service was confirmed, December 1999. In his 31-year career, Chief Fantino has lectured and written extensively on police-related matters and has served as President, Ontario Association of Chiefs of Police, 1998. Past Chair, Criminal Intelligence Services of Ontario, Chief Fantino is an active member, International Association of Chiefs of Police, the Canadian Association of Chiefs of Police Law Amendments Committee and Crime Prevention/Community Policing Committee. He has also attended meetings of the Interpol Standing Working Party on Offenses Against Minors. As well as being named Volunteer of the Year, 1993, London Urban Alliance on Race Relations, he is the recipient of several awards of recognition from a variety of community groups including the Order of Merit, 1994, National Congress of Italian Canadians, and the Award of Excellence, 1997, Criminal Intelligence Service Canada. Interviewed by The Toronto Star, at the time of his appointment to York Region, Chief Fantino observed, “I think the thing that drives me is not the fame or the position. What drives me is living up to the good fortune that I have been able to attain.” [Photo, courtesy York Region Police]