Vincenzo Arciresi

Vincenzo (Vincent) Arciresi is a politician and administrator in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. He chaired the Commission scolaire Jérôme-Le Royer from 1990 until its dissolution in 1998 and has chaired the successor Commission scolaire de la Pointe-de-l'Île since its creation. He has also sought election to the Canadian House of Commons.

Early life and career

Arciresi was born in Italy and moved to Canada in 1966. Before entering public life, he owned a construction company and was founding president of the Federation of Sicilian Associations in Canada.^[4]

Federal politics

Arciresi won the Liberal Party of Canada nomination for Anjou—Rivière-des-Prairies in the buildup to the 1988 Canadian federal election, defeating Michael Stante; there were two other candidates, both of whom withdrew prior to the vote. The nomination contest attracted national attention after several thousand people joined the Liberals to participate in the vote, though in the event only 1,500 party members actually turned up.^[5] In his acceptance speech, Arciresi highlighted his support for social security, aid to seniors, and multiculturalism, while opposing a proposed free trade agreement with the United States of America.^[6] He was not a prominent public figure before winning the nomination, and critics believed his lack of fluency in either French or English would hurt his candidacy.^[7]

Political experts originally considered Arciresi to be the frontrunner for the general election, but he ultimately fell behind Progressive Conservative star candidate Jean Corbeil.^[8] On election day, Corbeil was elected by a margin of almost 20 per cent.

Arciresi later became a prominent local supporter of Alfonso Gagliano, who served as the Liberal Member of Parliament (MP) for a neighbouring riding from 1984 to 2002.^[9]

School commissioner

Arciresi was first elected to the Commission scolaire Jérôme-Le Royer in 1987 and was re-elected in 1990 and 1994.^[10] He was chosen as chair of the commission in December 1990 and held the position until Jérôme-Le Royer's dissolution in 1998.^[11]

The Jérôme-Le Royer board was divided by factionalism in the early 1990s. Some francophone parents and commissioners complained that the board was dominated by an Italian-Canadian voting bloc that discriminated against francophone students. Arciresi responded that the accusation was false, and added, "It's been impossible to govern the commission with all the racists we have there." He welcomed a June 1991 decision by provincial education minister Michel Pagé to investigate charges of institutional bias and favouritism.^[12] The subsequent investigation found no evidence supporting the charges, though it recommended that commissioners be prohibited from serving concurrently as city councillors to prevent the potential for a conflict-of-interest.

In 1993, new education minister Lucienne Robillard accepted the report of an eleven-month investigation into problems at Jérôme-Le Royer and asked the provincial justice department to investigate allegations of mismanagement. She said that the investigation had focused on three key issues: oversight of education regulations, procedures for board member expenses, and suggestions that Arciresi was in a conflict-of-interest for serving on the executive of a construction firm that had initiated a lawsuit against the commission. Robillard also wrote Arciresi a letter requiring him "to review immediately the administrative procedures, to institute more rigorous handling of public funds, in regards to commissioners' expenses."^[13] Arciresi responded that he was the victim of a racist smear campaign initiated by some parents and commissioners, charging that some commissioners did not want to see an allophone serving as chair. He added that the board had already made the improvements required by Robillard, requested that she make her report public, and said that he was not in a conflict-of-interest.^[14]

Jérôme-Le Royer was restructured as the Commission scolaire de la Pointe-de-l'Île in 1998. Arciresi was elected to the new board in the 1998 election and was re-elected in 2003 and 2007. He has served as chair of the board since its formation.

City councillor

Arciresi was elected to the Saint-Leonard city council in 1990 as a member of Frank Zampino's Parti municipal. He was re-elected without opposition in 1994 and 1998.^[15]

Saint-Leonard was amalgamated into the City of Montreal in 2001. Arciresi ran for a seat on the Montreal city council in that year's municipal election as a Vision Montreal candidate and was defeated, finishing fourth in a three-member ward.

Electoral record

Federal and municipal elections

School commission elections

External links

• Vincent Arciresi: Président du Conseil, Commission scolaire de la Pointe-de-l'Île.

References

1. ↑ Pierre Rouillard represented the commission's eighth ward from 1990 to 1994.
2. ↑ Domenico Moschella represented the commission's eleventh ward from 1987 to 1990.
3. ↑ Dominic Perri represesented the commission's eleventh ward after 1994.
4. ↑ "Italians fire up interest in new riding," Montreal Gazette, 20 August 1988, p. 6; Patricia Poirier, "Montreal riding fails to pull Liberal crowd," Globe and Mail, 22 August 1998, p. 4.
5. ↑ "Where democracy trips up; Most popular candidate doesn't always survive parties' nomination process," Montreal Gazette, 17 September 1988, p. 6. The two candidates who resigned were Normand Biron and Alfredo Falco. Biron, a francophone Quebecer, charged that the nomination process was biased against non-Italians; other party members rejected this accusation. Falco resigned after charging that the party had allowed too many Liberals from other ridings to join the association. See "Italian bloc shows clout as Liberal nominated", Montreal Gazette, 22 August 1988, p. 1. Stante was a thirty-two-year-old financial analyst who later became a prominent figure with the Canadian-Italian Business and Professional Association and the National Congress of Italian Canadians. See "Grit nomination fails to meet expectations", Ottawa Citizen, 22 August 1998, p. 5; Agata De Santis, "Business group offers job network to youths," Montreal Gazette, 24 December 1996, p. 4; "The National Congress of Italian Canadians Responds to Minister Kenney's Announcement Regarding the Community Historical Recognition Program: A Shameful Attempt to Divide and Conquer" [press release], Canada NewsWire, 23 March 2009. Falco had previously called for Liberal leader John Turner's resignation. The Anjou—Rivière-des-Prairies Liberal association had endorsed Falco prior to his resignation; this decision was criticized by the party leadership, which said that associations were expected to remain neutral. Falco later served as president of the National Council of Italian Canadians. See "Divisions widen in Quebec wing over Turner," Montreal Gazette, 4 May 1988, p. 1; "Grit nomination fails to meet expectations," Ottawa Citizen, 22 August 1988, p. 5; Alexander Norris, "Federalism isn't defeated, ethnic leaders argue; Cultural communities," Montreal Gazette, 27 October 1992, p. 4.
6. ↑ Patricia Poirier, "Montreal riding fails to pull Liberal crowd," Globe and Mail, 22 August 1988, p. 4.
7. ↑ "It's up to the voters" [editorial], Montreal Gazette, 23 August 1988, p. 2; Patricia Poirier, "Ethics, integrity to be campaign theme Montreal Liberals seek comeback," Globe and Mail, 7 September 1988, p. 3; "Mount Royal Conservatives nominate computer salesman," Montreal Gazette, 16 September 1988, p. 3.
8. ↑ "Liberal Leader John Turner opened a two-day...," Postmedia News, 15 September 1988, p. 1; Patricia Poirer, "Montreal Tories forced to talk free trade," Montreal Gazette, 14 November 1988, p. 11.
9. ↑ Alexander Norris, "Gagliano justifiably confident: Liberal minister and chief organizer faces little opposition in one of the country's most Italian ridings," Montreal Gazette, 12 May 1997, p. 14; Allison Lampert, "'Flagrant lack of vegetables' denied in firm Morselli founded," Montreal Gazette, 27 May 2005, p. 4.
10. ↑ "More school board vote results," Montreal Gazette, 21 November 1990, p. 3; "A school board primer; Board by board details," Montreal Gazette, 12 November 1994, p. 2; "Results: Commission Scolaire de la Pointe-de-l'Ile," Montreal Gazette, 15 June 1998, p. 4.
11. ↑ "Brosseau elected as Catholic board head," Montreal Gazette, 4 December 1990, p. 3.
12. ↑ Andy Riga, "Probe ordered into claims board favors anglo pupils," Montreal Gazette, 15 June 1991, p. 5.
13. ↑ "Probe sought of mismanagement at Jerome Le Royer school board," Montreal Gazette, 30 April 1993, p. 3.
14. ↑ Aaron Derfel, "I'm a victim of smears, school board chairman says," Montreal Gazette, 1 May 1993, p. 5.
15. ↑ Mike King, "Zampino, 8 councillors acclaimed in St. Leonard," Montreal Gazette, 18 October 1994, p. 6; Irwin Block, "Second acclamation in a row for Zampino," Montreal Gazette, 15 October 1998, p. 6.