Joseph J. Piccininni (born ''Guiseppe Piccininni'', January 15, 1922 – September 16, 1995) was a long-serving city councillor in

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, Canada. He represented the Corso Italia area on city council for 25 years.

Background

Born in Toronto, Piccininni was educated at De La Salle College and then joined his family's produce business and opened a restaurant named Piccininni's. He was very involved in soccer in the city and in southern Ontario and Quebec. He was president of the

National Soccer League The National Soccer League (NSL) was the top-level soccer league in Australia, run by Soccer Australia and later the Australian Soccer Association. The NSL, the A-League's predecessor, spanned 28 seasons from its inception in 1977 until its d ...

, with teams in Toronto, Hamilton, Kitchener, Ottawa, Sudbury, London, St. Catharines, Windsor and Montreal, from 1965 to 1977 a span of 12 years. He was elected vice-president of the

Canadian Soccer Association The Canadian Soccer Association (Canada Soccer) is the governing body of soccer in Canada. It is a national organization that oversees the Canadian men's and women's national teams for international play, as well as the respective junior sides ( ...

at the 1973 AGM of the national governing body, and held this position until the 1979 AGM.

Politics

He was elected to city council in 1960 for a ward covering a working class area of west Toronto with a large Italian-Canadian population. He was the first representative ever elected to city council from Toronto's large Italian community. He played an instrumental role in the construction of

Lamport Stadium Allan A. Lamport Stadium is a multi-purpose stadium on King Street West in the Liberty Village neighbourhood of Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is the practice facility for the Toronto Argonauts of the Canadian Football League. It is also partial ...

, which served as a home venue for many National Soccer League teams. On council he was a strong supporter of the right wing, generally taking conservative and pro-development stances. In 1982, he raised an unsuccessful motion to have the

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magazine ''

The Body Politic ''The Body Politic'' was a Canadian monthly magazine, which was published from 1971 to 1987.

'' banned from city council's press gallery after the magazine ran a cover story on the

Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence The Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence (SPI), also called Order of Perpetual Indulgence (OPI) is a charity, protest, and street performance organization that uses drag and religious imagery to call attention to sexual intolerance and satirizes issue ...

, which Piccininni took as an affront to his

Roman Catholic Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lette ...

faith."Historicist: I Sing The Body Politic"
''

Torontoist ''Daily Hive'', formerly known as ''Vancity Buzz'', is a Canadian online newspaper based in Vancouver, British Columbia. It began digital publishing in 2008 and became Western Canada's largest online-only publication by 2016. In September 2022 ...

'', February 14, 2015. In the 1985 municipal election he was ousted in a surprise upset by 28-year-old school board trustee

Betty Disero Betty Disero is a Canadians, Canadian politician, the Lord Mayor of Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ontario. She is a former city councillor in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. She was elected to the Toronto City Council in 1985, and served until her resignation in ...

.Derek Ferguson, "School trustee topples Piccininni after 25 years." ''

Toronto Star The ''Toronto Star'' is a Canadian English-language broadsheet daily newspaper. The newspaper is the country's largest daily newspaper by circulation. It is owned by Toronto Star Newspapers Limited, a subsidiary of Torstar Corporation and part ...

'', November 13, 1985. pg. B7

Later life

After the defeat former mayor, and then cabinet minister,

David Crombie David Edward Crombie (born April 24, 1936) is a Canadian former academic and politician who served as the 56th mayor of Toronto from 1972 to 1978. Crombie was elected to Parliament following his tenure as mayor. A member of the Progressive Conse ...

had Piccininni appointed as a federal citizenship judge. His colleagues on city council also voted to name the Joseph J. Piccininni Recreation Centre in his honour.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Piccininni, Joe Toronto city councillors 1995 deaths 1922 births Canadian people of Italian descent Canadian citizenship judges