Angelo Natale

Last updated

Angelo Natale is a former trade union leader and candidate for political office in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. He served as leader of the Ontario Haulers' Association in the 1970s and 1980s, and campaigned in several municipal elections.

Contents

Early career

Natale was leader of the Ontario Haulers' Association during the 1970s and 1980s. He led an independent truckers' protest at Queen's Park in 1973, demanding better wages, [1] and led an attempted boycott of Metro Toronto's snow clearing services in January 1974. [2] In later years, the Haulers' Association would block off access to Queen's Park several times to protest against Ontario's trucking laws.

Natale campaigned for a seat on the North York City Council in the 1974 municipal election. In the 1976 campaign, he sought election to the North York Board of Control. He lost both times.

Trials

In 1978, Natale and three others were arrested on charges of conspiracy to commit extortion. [3] The following year, he was found guilty of extorting $12,700 from Nicola Torres, the president of Torres Transport Ltd. of Mississauga, by threatening work stoppages. [4] Notwithstanding his ruling, the presiding judge also found that allegations of "Jimmy Hoffa-like" tactics against Natale were not supported by evidence. Natale was sentenced to a 90-day prison term. [5] He successfully appealed the sentence, and a new trial was ordered in 1981. [6] After several delays, Natale and his associates were found not guilty of all charges in May 1983. After the verdict, Natale told reporters that suggestions of mafia links had been hurtful to himself and his family. [7]

Later career

Natale returned to political life in the 1985 municipal campaign, unsuccessfully seeking election to the North York Board of Control. He campaigned for a seat on the Metro Toronto council in the 1988 and 1991 elections, losing to Mario Gentile the first time, and to Maria Augimeri the second time.

He was fifty-four years old at the time of the 1988 election, and worked as a mortgage consultant. He described 75% of welfare recipients as "parasites", and indicated that they should be forced to work if they were able. He also supported day care programs to help mothers leave the welcome system, and called for a crackdown on crime. [8]

During this campaign, Natale filed an injunction to prevent Mario Gentile from using the word "re-elect" on his signs. Gentile had previously served on Metro Toronto Council for nine years, but had not technically been elected to the position as North York did not introduce direct elections for Metro councillors until 1988 (he had been elected as a North York councillor, and was chosen by council as a Metro representative). The judge dismissed the accusation as one of semantics. [9]

In 1991, Natale called for a stronger police presence and more job opportunities for the unemployed. [10]

Natale led another protest at Queen's Park in 1992, this time as president of the Ontario Aggregate Haulers Benevolent Association. He opposed provincial legislation passed in late 1991 that established loan brokers for the trucking industry, arguing that truckers were at risk of being exploited. [11] Transport Minister Gilles Pouliot argued that the change was needed to bring order to the brokers' industry, and noted that brokers were required to post bonds under the new law as a standard of reliability. [12] The protest ended after a few days.

Natale was banned from campaigning in the 1994 municipal election, after failing to file reports from his 1991 campaign. [13]

Footnotes

  1. ↑ "Independent truckers demonstrate for more pay", Toronto Star, 19 November 1973, C2.
  2. ↑ "Streets cleared despite boycott", Toronto Star, 11 January 1974, A5.
  3. ↑ "4 arrested after probe of trucking", Globe and Mail, 7 September 1988, P8.
  4. ↑ "Leader of truckers guilty of extortion", Globe and Mail, 19 May 1979, P13.
  5. ↑ "90-day weekend sentence given to trucker president for extortion", Globe and Mail, 22 June 1979, P9.
  6. ↑ "Proceedings at Osgoode Hall", Globe and Mail, 5 June 1981, P13.
  7. ↑ Kevin Marron, "Two cleared of extortion in Hamilton", Globe and Mail, 21 May 1983, P2.
  8. ↑ Gail Swainson, "Voters anxious to preserve their neighborhoods", Toronto Star, 30 October 1988, A7; "The candidates", Toronto Star, 10 November 1988, A14.
  9. ↑ Royson James, "Uphill battle for incumbents", Toronto Star, 8 November 1988, N3; "Court refuses to restrict use of 're-elect' on signs", Globe and Mail, 11 November 1988, A20.
  10. ↑ "Metropolitan Toronto councillors", Toronto Star, 7 November 1991, G2.
  11. ↑ Stuart Laidlaw, "Truckers protest broker system at Queen's Park", Kitchener-Waterloo Record, 9 March 1992, A3.
  12. ↑ John Deverell, "Angry truckers besiege Queen's Park", Toronto Star, 10 March 1992, A1; Peter Edwards, "Truckers stage noisy protest at Legislature", Toronto Star, 10 March 1992, A10.
  13. ↑ "Candidates banned from '94 vote", Globe and Mail, 16 October 1992, A11.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">June Rowlands</span> Canadian politician (1924–2017)

June Rowlands was a Canadian politician who was the 60th mayor of Toronto from 1991 to 1994. She was the first woman to serve as Toronto's mayor. Rowlands also served as a city councillor and was chair of the Metropolitan Toronto Police Commission.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">North York</span> District of Toronto, Ontario, Canada

North York is a former township and city and is now one of the six administrative districts of Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is located in the northern area of Toronto, centred around Yonge Street, north of Ontario Highway 401. It is bounded by York Region to the north at Steeles Avenue, on the west by the Humber River, on the east by Victoria Park Avenue. Its southern boundary corresponds to the northern boundaries of the former municipalities of Toronto: York, Old Toronto and East York. As of the 2016 Census, the district has a population of 644,685.

Dennis Roy Timbrell is a politician in Ontario, Canada. He was a member of Provincial Parliament (MPP) from 1971 to 1987, and was a Cabinet minister in the Progressive Conservative governments of Bill Davis and Frank Miller.

James J. Bradley is a politician in Ontario, Canada. He was a long-serving Liberal member of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario, sitting as an MPP from 1977 until 2018. He represented the riding of St. Catharines and served in the provincial cabinets of David Peterson, Dalton McGuinty and Kathleen Wynne. He was elected as a regional councillor in the St. Catharines municipal election of 2018. He is currently the Chair of the Regional Municipality of Niagara.

Alan Tonks is a former Canadian politician. He was the Liberal MP for the federal riding of York South—Weston in Toronto from 2000 to 2011, and was the final Metro Toronto Chairman before the amalgamation of Metro Toronto into the new City of Toronto.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2003 Toronto municipal election</span>

The 2003 Toronto municipal election was held on 10 November 2003, in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, to elect the Mayor of Toronto, 44 city councillors, and school board trustees.

Howard Moscoe is a former city councillor in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, representing Ward 15 in the western part of Eglinton-Lawrence. Among the most prominent and longest-serving councillors in the city, he is also known for an outspokenness which caused controversy at times. Moscoe is a member of the New Democratic Party. On August 31, 2010, after 31 years as an elected municipal politician, Moscoe announced his retirement from city council.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Anthony Perruzza</span> Canadian politician

Anthony Perruzza is a Canadian politician who has served on Toronto City Council since 2006. He currently represents Ward 7 Humber River—Black Creek. Perruzza was a North York councillor from 1988 to 1990, and served in the Legislative Assembly of Ontario from 1990 to 1995 as a member of the New Democratic Party (NDP). Perruzza was a candidate for mayor of Toronto in the 2023 by-election, placing tenth.

Christopher Dennis Flynn O.Ont, was Chairman of Metropolitan Toronto from 1984 to 1988. Flynn rarely used his first name and was commonly known as Dennis Flynn.

Allan Pilkey is a former politician in Ontario, Canada. He served as alderman and mayor of Oshawa, and was a New Democratic Party member of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario from 1990 to 1995.

The 1985 Toronto municipal election was held to elect members of municipal councils, school boards, and hydro commissions in the six municipalities that made up Metropolitan Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The election was held on November 12, 1985.

The 1988 Toronto municipal election was held to elect members of municipal councils, school boards, and hydro commissions in the six municipalities that made up Metropolitan Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The election was held November 14, 1988. This election also marked the abolition of Boards of Control in North York, Etobicoke, Scarborough, and York. The Toronto Board of Control had been abolished in 1969.

§

Barbara Greene is a former Canadian politician. She served in the House of Commons of Canada from 1988 to 1993 as a member of the Progressive Conservative Party. She was previously a municipal politician in North York, and campaigned for mayor of the city in 1985. She is a Red Tory, and holds progressive views on most social issues.

Mario Gentile is a former municipal politician in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. He served as a councillor and city controller in North York, and was also a member of the Metropolitan Toronto council. His political career ended with a criminal conviction in 1994.

James Fergus Brown was a politician in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. He served as Mayor of York from 1988 to 1994.

Ying L.K. Hope P. Eng. was a Chinese Canadian politician, Toronto Public School Board trustee and Metro Toronto Councillor and Toronto Alderman.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mario Ferri</span> Italian-Canadian community organizer, politician and activist

Mario Felice Ferri is an Italian-Canadian community organizer, activist, municipal and regional councilor of Vaughan, Ontario. He also co-founded an organization credited with helping to force the closure of Canada's largest municipal waste facility, the Keele Valley Landfill.

Dan Leckie was a Canadian politician, who served on Toronto City Council from 1994 to 1997.

Dale Martin is a former Canadian politician, who served on Toronto City Council from 1984 to 1988 and Metro Toronto Council from 1988 to 1991.

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.