Mario Felice Ferri (; born January 6, 1948) is an
Italian-Canadian
Italian Canadians ( it, italo-canadesi, french: italo-canadiens) comprise Canadians who have full or partial Italian heritage and Italians who migrated from Italy or reside in Canada. According to the 2021 Census of Canada, 1,546,390 Canadians ...
community organizer
Community organizing is a process where people who live in proximity to each other or share some common problem come together into an organization that acts in their shared self-interest.
Unlike those who promote more-consensual community bui ...
,
activist
Activism (or Advocacy) consists of efforts to promote, impede, direct or intervene in social, political, economic or environmental reform with the desire to make changes in society toward a perceived greater good. Forms of activism range fro ...
, municipal and regional councilor of
Vaughan
Vaughan () (2021 population 323,103) is a city in Ontario, Canada. It is located in the Regional Municipality of York, just north of Toronto. Vaughan was the fastest-growing municipality in Canada between 1996 and 2006 with its population increas ...
,
Ontario
Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central Ca ...
. He also co-founded an organization credited with helping to force the closure of Canada's largest municipal
waste facility, the
Keele Valley Landfill.
At the time of its closure, the waste facility was the third-largest in North America near the heart of Vaughan, the fifth-largest city in the
Greater Toronto Area
The Greater Toronto Area, commonly referred to as the GTA, includes the City of Toronto and the regional municipalities of Durham, Halton, Peel, and York. In total, the region contains 25 urban, suburban, and rural municipalities. The Greater T ...
. The waste
landfill
A landfill site, also known as a tip, dump, rubbish dump, garbage dump, or dumping ground, is a site for the disposal of waste materials. Landfill is the oldest and most common form of waste disposal, although the systematic burial of the waste ...
site became the centre of a 14-year battle between the citizens of Vaughan and both the
Government of Ontario
The government of Ontario (french: Gouvernement de l'Ontario) is the body responsible for the administration of the Canadian province of Ontario. A constitutional monarchy, the Crown—represented in the province by the lieutenant governor†...
and the
City of Toronto government
The municipal government of Toronto ( incorporated as the City of Toronto) is the local government responsible for administering the city of Toronto
Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a rec ...
, which owned and operated the site. Mr. Ferri co-founded ''Vaughan CARES'', an activist group that became prominent in the fight to close the waste facility.
As a community organizer Ferri also contributed to numerous cultural organizations and helped organize large events, as well as administering community
recreational facilities in Toronto, Vaughan and other surrounding communities. In his roles as a
York Region Separate School Board trustee,
municipal and regional councillor and deputy mayor he undertook several community campaigns and frequently acted as a spokesperson for the school board, the City of Vaughan and for
York Region
The Regional Municipality of York, also called York Region, is a regional municipality in Southern Ontario, Canada, between Lake Simcoe and Toronto. The region was established after the passing of then Bill 102, An Act to Establish The Regional M ...
. In October 2014, Ferri was elected to his fifth term as a councillor for the City of Vaughan and his third term as a
councillor for the Region of York, Ontario.
Biography
Ferri was born in
Pescosolido
Pescosolido (; locally ''Pesc'tësòllërë'') is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Frosinone in the Italy, Italian region Lazio, located about east of Rome and about northeast of Frosinone.
Pescosolido borders the following munici ...
,
Frosinone
Frosinone (, local dialect: ) is a town and ''comune'' in Lazio, central Italy, the administrative seat of the province of Frosinone. It is located about south-east of Rome close to the Rome-Naples A1 Motorway. The city is the main city of the Va ...
,
Italy
Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...
on January 6, 1948 to Fillipo and Maria Ferri, immigrating to Canada by ship docking at the
Pier 21
Pier 21 was an ocean liner terminal and immigration shed from 1928 to 1971 in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada. Nearly one million immigrants came to Canada through Pier 21, and it is the last surviving seaport immigration facility in Canada. The fa ...
in
Halifax, Nova Scotia
Halifax is the capital and largest municipality of the Canadian province of Nova Scotia, and the largest municipality in Atlantic Canada. As of the 2021 Census, the municipal population was 439,819, with 348,634 people in its urban area. The ...
in 1959, soon after settling in
Toronto
Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the ancho ...
. Ferri attended
Neil McNeil High School
Neil McNeil Catholic High School is an all-boys Roman Catholic secondary school in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is named after Neil McNeil, the Roman Catholic Archbishop of Vancouver from 1910 to 1912 and Roman Catholic Archbishop of Toronto from ...
and then entered
Centennial College, graduating with a diploma in Recreation Leadership in 1970. He then attended and graduated from
York University
York University (french: Université York), also known as YorkU or simply YU, is a public university, public research university in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is Canada's fourth-largest university, and it has approximately 55,700 students, 7,0 ...
with a Bachelor of Arts Degree in psychology and sociology in 1978, and a Masters of Environmental Studies mastering in Human Service Management from the same university in 1983.
Ferri married Vickie Lamanna in 1972 and moved to Vaughan in 1984 where he continues to live, and where he and his wife raised a family of three children.
Early career
Ferri became the leader of the human services management advisory committee for both
Centennial College and
George Brown College
George Brown College is a public, fully accredited college of applied arts and technology with three campuses in downtown Toronto (Ontario, Canada). Like many other colleges in Ontario, GBC was chartered in 1966 by the government of Ontario and ...
in Toronto. He has also served as a consultant to numerous recreation facilities spanning at least 17 years. He worked as a director of the East Scarborough
Boys & Girls Club in
Scarborough Scarborough or Scarboro may refer to:
People
* Scarborough (surname)
* Earl of Scarbrough
Places Australia
* Scarborough, Western Australia, suburb of Perth
* Scarborough, New South Wales, suburb of Wollongong
* Scarborough, Queensland, su ...
,
Ontario
Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central Ca ...
from 1973 until 1977, then becoming the executive director of the West Scarborough Boys & Girls Club the same year.
In the early 1980s Ferri helped transform the youth centre into a community centre to provide additional services for seniors.
Keele Valley Landfill activism
Ferri's was a co-founder and a leader of the
activist community organization Vaughan Committee of Associations to Restore Environmental Safety (''Vaughan CARES'').
''CARES'' successfully challenged the
Government of Ontario
The government of Ontario (french: Gouvernement de l'Ontario) is the body responsible for the administration of the Canadian province of Ontario. A constitutional monarchy, the Crown—represented in the province by the lieutenant governor†...
’s intention to extend the life of the
Keele Valley Landfill in the centre of Vaughan, and Ferri helping accomplish the shutdown.
The group he co-founded in 1988,
had approximately 300 members at the time of its incorporation in 1989,
and 15 directors in 1990, stating it represented all the city's
ratepayers' associations that covered Vaughan's 100,000 residents.
By 1995 its membership had risen to at least 3,000 and had already spent an estimated CAN$600,000, a cost figure that was to mushroom.
The anti-dump lobby group helped close the landfill by rallying the city’s citizens over a 14-year period.
Ferri served in various capacities as its vice-president,
president,
and in its chairmanship.
Keele Valley, at the time the third largest waste landfill in North America, was originally set to close in January 1989, a date that was extended at least four times by the provincial government without an
environmental impact assessment
Environmental Impact assessment (EIA) is the assessment of the environmental consequences of a plan, policy, program, or actual projects prior to the decision to move forward with the proposed action. In this context, the term "environmental imp ...
,
generating considerable anger among Vaughan's citizens,
as they had endured years of ill effects.
Ferri proposed, first as a community lobbyist in 1988, that the landfill’s life should not be extended beyond its planned closure in 1993,
and responded unambiguously when the province later proposed a lengthy extension well into the 21st century.
During his work with ''CARES'' he led numerous demonstrations and confronted both civic and provincial officials who sought to expand and continue the dump's operating life past its scheduled closure.
Continuous pressure by ''CARES'' and the City of Vaughan,
including court challenges,
threats of civil disobedience,
and large protests,
finally swayed the provincial government away from a further extension of Keele Valley’s operating permit,
and the site was closed on the very last day of 2002.
Community and public service
Ferri helped obtain financing for and founded a number of recreational facilities for tennis and
bocce
(, or , ), sometimes anglicized as bocce ball, bocci or boccie, is a ball sport belonging to the boules family. Developed into its present form in Italy, it is closely related to British bowls and French , with a common ancestry from ancien ...
, plus youth and senior’s clubs across southern Ontario.
He assisted in organizing community forums, surveys and public festivals.
Ferri ran for and won a seat as trustee on the York Region Separate School Board in 1990, running against a slate of 30 candidates in the Board’s Area 1 district.
He again ran for the trustee’s seat in 1991,
and also lobbied against the diversion of school construction funding to other municipalities.
First elected to Vaughan City council as Ward 1 Councillor in the 1997 municipal election, Ferri secured 87% of the popular vote,
and was re-elected in 2000 with 90% of the votes.
He was then elected to York Regional Council in 2003, receiving the most votes among all regional councillors, thereby becoming
Deputy Mayor
The deputy mayor (also known as vice mayor, assistant mayor, or mayor ''pro tem'') is an elective or appointive office of the second-ranking official that is present in many, but not all, local governments.
Duties and functions
Many elected dep ...
(earlier called Acting Mayor) of Vaughan.
He was reelected to his regional council seat in 2006,
but was unsuccessful in his bid for reelection in the 2010 municipal election.
Ferri dealt with a wide variety of issues while on council,
and as deputy major (2003–2006),
often being quoted in local media,
as well as on Toronto-based national news outlets.
He was noticed in 1999 for being one of two councillors to opt out of retroactive salary increases that council had implemented.
He's also drawn criticisms, such as for a perceived conflict of interest related to the use of a community centre building where he met with constituents to consult on community issues and his nomination to regional council,
as well as his participation in a Santafest parade float on the eve of an election.
Ferri stood for, but was unsuccessful in his bid to become the
Member of Parliament
A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members of ...
in support of the
Liberal Party
The Liberal Party is any of many political parties around the world. The meaning of ''liberal'' varies around the world, ranging from liberal conservatism on the right to social liberalism on the left.
__TOC__ Active liberal parties
This is a li ...
representing Vaughan Riding in
Canada’s 2011 federal election. He ran against the
Conservative
Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization i ...
incumbent and future cabinet minister
Julian Fantino
Julian Fantino, , ( it, Giuliano Fantino; born August 13, 1942) is a Canadian retired police official and former politician. He was the Conservative Party of Canada Member of the Parliament of Canada for the riding of Vaughan following a Nov ...
. Despite having entered the federal election campaign late Ferri scored a second place result with over 20,000 votes, garnering 30% of the riding's popular vote among several candidates.
In 2014 Ferri announced his candidacy to return to his former position as a
local and regional councillor in York and Vaughan's October 2014 municipal election.
He succeeded and was elected, earning 27,647 votes and placing second among the three openings, but fell approximately 1,650 votes shy of also returning to his former position as deputy mayor.
Recognition and awards
Ferri has been recognized for founding sports facilities plus youth and seniors clubs,
for which he received a Silver Keystone,
Queen Elizabeth II Golden Jubilee, and
125th Anniversary of the Confederation of Canada awards. In 1989 he was presented with a Government of Ontario’s ''Corps d’Elite Award'', one of five given that year, for outstanding contributions to recreation throughout Southern Ontario.
The ''Corps d’Elite'' was presented to him by
Ontario M.P.P. Greg Sorbara
Gregory Samuel Sorbara (born September 4, 1946) is a former politician in Ontario, Canada. He was a Liberal member of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario from 1985 to 1995, and again from 2001 to 2012 who represented ridings north of Toronto in ...
, who spoke of Ferri’s work being instrumental in the development of recreation programs and facilities in both
Maple, Ontario
Maple is a neighbourhood in Vaughan, York Region, Ontario, Canada. It is located northwest of Toronto. Maple was founded as the village of Maple, located at the intersection of Major Mackenzie Drive and Keele Street.
Geography
Maple is located ...
and across
Southern Ontario
Southern Ontario is a primary region of the province of Ontario, Canada, the other primary region being Northern Ontario. It is the most densely populated and southernmost region in Canada. The exact northern boundary of Southern Ontario is disp ...
.
See also
*
Vaughan City Council
Vaughan City Council is the lower-tier municipal governing body for the city of Vaughan, Ontario. It is a part of the upper-tier Regional Municipality of York. Members of the council are elected in three categories: wards councillors, citywi ...
*
York Regional Council
York Regional Council is the political body for the Regional Municipality of York in Ontario, Canada. Created in 1970, it consists of 20 elected representatives plus the Regional Chair. The elected members are the mayors of each of its nine munici ...
References
External links
*
Toronto's Old Dump In Maple Slated For Parkland video report on the ''
Toronto Sun
The ''Toronto Sun'' is an English-language tabloid format, tabloid newspaper published daily in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The newspaper is one of several ''Sun'' tabloids published by Postmedia Network. The newspaper's offices is located at Pos ...
'' website, January 23, 2011, including interview segments with Mario Ferri
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ferri, Mario
1948 births
Centennial College alumni
Ferri, Mario
Ontario school board trustees
Ferri, Mario
Ferri, Mario
Ferri, Mario
People from the Province of Frosinone
Living people
York University alumni