Italian-Canadian politician and educator
Larry Di Ianni (born Renzo Pasquale Di Ianni, 1948)[1] is an Italian-Canadian politician and educator who served as the 54th mayor of Hamilton from 2003 to 2006. Prior to his tenure as mayor, he served as a town councillor in Stoney Creek and a city councillor in the amalgamated City of Hamilton.
Early life
Di Ianni immigrated to Canada from Abruzzo, Italy in 1956 as a boy.[2] Following his father, who had immigrated years before the family and found work at Stelco, Di Ianni and his family settled in an apartment on Cannon Street. Pressured by his mother, an assembly-line worker in a shoe factory, to receive a university education, Di Ianni graduated from McMaster University with a Bachelor's degree in English and went on to receive his Master's Degree in Education from the University of Toronto soon after.[3][4]
After graduating, Di Ianni moved with his wife Janet (Ginetta) and three children, Robert, Paul and Stephanie, to Stoney Creek. There, Di Ianni was hired by the Hamilton-Wentworth Catholic District School Board as a high school teacher and eventually became principal of several high schools.[3][4]
Political history
Di Ianni was first elected to Stoney Creek council in 1982, where he served for six terms until the amalgamation of the town into Hamilton. Following amalgamation, Di Ianni was elected to Hamilton City Council as councillor for Ward Ten, defeating former Stoney Creek deputy mayor Albert Marrone and town councillor Maria Pearson in a hotly contested race.[5] Di Ianni served one term as a Hamilton councillor until November 2003.
In early March 2003, Di Ianni was approached by members of the Ontario Liberals, including then-Premier Dalton McGuinty, in an effort to convince him to run provincially against Labour Minister Brad Clark. Di Ianni ultimately declined the offer, noting that he wished to focus on municipal issues.[6]
In the same month, sitting Hamilton mayor Bob Wade announced he would not seek re-election in the 2003 municipal election. On April 28, 2003, Di Ianni announced he would seek the office of mayor indicating that he believed Hamilton to be at a crossroads with regard to development.[2] Di Ianni's main opponent in the race was former provincial NDP cabinet minister David Christopherson and the race focused considerably on the construction of the Red Hill Expressway, of which Di Ianni was in favour and Christopherson was opposed.[7] The candidates sparred frequently on the campaign trail, with Di Ianni promoting his municipal experience and support from the business community while Christopherson highlighted his time in cabinet and support from organized labour and progressive political organizations.[8] On election night, Di Ianni defeated Christopherson by a margin of 52% to 39%.[9] Speaking to reporters, Di Ianni noted he was immensely happy that the voters of Hamilton elected their first Italian-Canadian mayor by such a large margin.[10]
Di Ianni's term as mayor saw him attempt to enact his mayoral platform by addressing such issues as the completion of the Red Hill Expressway, business tax reduction, airport development, improving relations among the amalgamated municipalities, and obtaining additional social service funding from the more senior levels of government.[11]
In the 2008 federal election, Di Ianni was the Liberal candidate in the federal riding of Hamilton East—Stoney Creek, losing the race to incumbent MP Wayne Marston of the NDP by a margin of 6,464 votes.
Di Ianni ran unsuccessfully for mayor of Hamilton in October 2010.[12]
