There are many MPs who have called it quits in the last few months. But the resignation of one, in particular, can rightly be defined as the end of an era on Parliament Hill: the resignation of veteran Liberal Albina Guarnieri, the representative from Mississauga East since 1988. During her career, Guarnieri has been involved in many initiatives in several areas. Now she is the longest serving woman in the history of the House of Commons.
Her kind and gentle manner in dealing with people hid a strong determination in fighting for what she believed in. She never stopped defending her principles. Former Liberal MP Dennis Mills told The Hill Times that "Albina is one of the most caring, hardest-working Parliamentarians that I ever had the privilege to work with during my 16 years in the House of Commons."
On March 15, hundreds of people gathered at a Mississauga banquet hall to say thank you to Guarnieri for all the things that she has done for them and to celebrate all they had accomplished together. Describing the crowd present at the gathering is difficult because it's hard to make a distinction between supporters, friends and family members. Someone reminded me that in the 2005-2006 election campaign, Guarnieri dropped all her activities on election day to deliver the eulogy for a friend-supporter who died a few days earlier.
One of the people to show up at the event last Tuesday was former prime minister Paul Martin. Guarnieri worked very closely with him for years. "She has never backed down from a fight. She has never let a friend down. She has been a rock for so many of us. And when she believes in something, she believes in something," Martin told the crowd.
Guarnieri was first elected as the Member of Parliament for Mississauga East in 1988. She has been re-elected six times, achieving more than 50 per cent of the vote on each occasion. She has accomplished many things but, unlike some of her colleagues who constantly crave the spotlight, Guarnieri has mostly preferred to work quietly, almost shying away from publicity at times.
It was not always easy for Guarnieri, especially in the beginning. In fact, her 1988 victory was challenged by her own party; most of those in attendance last Tuesday were veterans of Guarnieri's epic nomination battle in 1988.
She won a hotly-contested nomination only to have the party executive overrule its own arbitration panel and order a new meeting to be held weeks after the general election had been called. In response, her supporters staged protest rallies against what they saw as an affront to democracy. Guarnieri won the rematch in a landslide.
In the following election, Guarnieri was the only female Liberal to win a riding in the Greater Toronto Area and also the only Liberal in the Peel region to win.
In an interview, Guarnieri lamented that her struggle had not yielded a more democratic nomination process: "One of my regrets is that we have totally lost the struggle for more democracy and have sadly come to accept less and less."
Guarnieri has advocated democratic reforms to the nomination process as early as the Lortie Commission from 1989 to 1992.
During her federal political career, she has been involved in many activities. She served as the Veteran Affairs minister and associate minister of national defence and was also minister of state for civil preparedness, Parliamentary secretary to the minister of Canadian Heritage and she chaired many House and legislative committees.
Last Tuesday night, a video Guarnieri's journey from her rustic birthplace of Faeto, in the hills of southern Italy , all the way to being the first Italian Canadian woman elected to the House of Commons. During her speech Guarnieri said she has "always felt propelled" by the support and friendship of hundreds of friends who had stood beside her for decades and who became her extended family members. To raucous laughter, she announced to her supporters that she would now be available to help make tomato sauce and wine in their garages.
