Laura Albanese

Infobox_Politician
name = Laura Albanese
small

caption =
birth_date = 1957
birth_place = Taranto, Italy
residence = Toronto, Ontario
office = MPP for York South—Weston
term_start = October 30, 2007
term_end =
predecessor = Paul Ferreira
successor =
party = Liberal
religion =
occupation = Politician

Laura Albanese is a Canadian politician, formerly a news anchor for Italian language news programming on Omni Television. She is currently the Member of Provincial Parliament in the Ontario Legislative Assembly for the riding of York South—Weston which is situated in the northwest part of Toronto. Albanese was elected as a Liberal in the Ontario general election of October 10, 2007.

She was the Ontario Liberal Party candidate running in the February 8, 2007 by-election for the Ontario Legislative Assembly in the York South—Weston. She narrowly lost to Paul Ferreira of the New Democratic Party. However, in the 2007 general election on October 10, she defeated Ferreira and returned York South-Weston to its Liberal roots. Before Ferreira's very narrow win in the February 2007 by-election, the area had not seen a non-Liberal victory in decades.

Prior to her election as a Member of Provincial Parliament, Albanese enjoyed a career spanning over two decades in broadcast journalism. Throughout this time, Albanese played a central role in Italian language programming, holding key responsibilities with Omni News in a number of capacities including anchoring, hosting, reporting and producing.

In 2006, Albanese was named one of 32 Inspiring Canadian Women of Italian Origin by the Italian Chamber of Commerce of Toronto.

Early life

Albanese was born in Taranto, Italy, in 1957 and after moving back and forth between Canada and Italy (and being influenced by both cultures), decided in 1981 to take up permanent residence in Toronto, Canada, with her husband, artist Germinio Pio Politi, her two adult children and her mother.

Jouralism career

Throughout her career as a broadcast journalist, Albanese was best known for co-anchoring "Omni News: Italian Edition", a one hour daily Italian language newscast, for over a decade. She was also Associate Producer of Italian News and Public Affairs Programming.

Albanese appeared on many CFMT programs during the 1980s and 1990's including:

Italianissimo - An afternoon Italian magazine TV show, co-hosted with Carlo Lanzi.

Telecorriere News - An Italian evening news program, where she began her job as co-anchor.

Girotondo - A children's show.

Incontri - An evening Italian magazine TV show which she co-hosted with Vincenzo Somma. Incontri would go on to be one of the most popular CFMT program of its time, staying on the air for 10 years. The show was awarded "Most Innovative Programme" in 1988 by the Canadian Ethnic Journalist’s Association.

Her appearance on so many Italian based programs made her very popular among the Italian-Canadian community of the Greater Toronto Area.

Political life

Ontario provincial by-election, 2007

York-South Weston riding map from [http://www.electionsontario.on.ca/en/york_south-weston_en.shtml Elections Ontario] .

The provincial riding of York South—Weston, which corresponds closely to the boundaries of the federal riding, [cite web
last =
first =
authorlink =
coauthors =
title = New electoral boundaries
work =
publisher = Elections Ontario, Government of Ontario
date = DECEMBER 2005
url = http://www.electionsontario.on.ca/en/new_electoral_boundaries_en.shtml
format = HTML
doi =
accessdate = 2007-01-19 ] at the time of the by-election was considered a Liberal stronghold.

The February 2007 by-election was necessitated by the resignation of former Liberal Member of Provincial Parliament Joe Cordiano, who resigned his seat in the Legislative Assembly of Ontario in the fall of 2006 to spend more time with his family. cite news
last = Campbell
first = Murray
coauthors = KAREN HOWLETT
title = NDP grabs Liberal seat in Ontario by-elections
work =
pages = 1
language = English
publisher = The Globe and Mail
date = 2007-02-09
url= http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/LAC.20070209.ONTBYELEXN09E/TPStory/TPNational/?page=rss&id=..ONTBYELEXN09E
accessdate = 2007-02-11 ]

February 8, 2007 was a very cold day, and that may have been a contributing factor in the low voter turnout. When the polling stations closed at 8:00 p.m., it took two hours to count the ballots and declare Paul Ferreira the winner.

Ontario provincial politics

Albanese was appointed Parliamentary Assistant to the Minister of Culture, Aileen Carroll. Albanese is a member of the Cabinet Committee on Emergency Management and also sits as a member of the Standing Committees on Public Accounts and the Committee on the Legislative Assembly.

As Parliamentary Assistant to the Minister of Culture, Albanese announced the launch of the LuminaTO festival of Toronto 2008.

References

References

* [http://www.cnw.ca/fr/releases/archive/December2006/24/c2288.html News Release: OMNI TV anchor Laura Albanese to run as provincial Liberal in York South-Weston]
*Michelle Collins, [http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/LAC.20061226.LIBERAL26/TPStory/TPNational/Ontario/ "News anchor seeking Liberal nomination in High Park,"] "Globe and Mail", December 25, 2006.
*Clark Kim, [http://www.insidetoronto.ca/to/york/story/3831602p-4433268c.html?loc=york "Three parties wait for byelection to be called in York South-Weston,"] "The Guardian (York)", January 4, 2007.
* [http://votealbanese.ca Laura Albanese Campaign Web site]