Michelangelo Spensieri
{{short description|Canadian politician}}
{{Use Canadian English|date=January 2023}}
{{Infobox officeholder
| name = Michael Spensieri
| image =
| imagesize =
| caption =
| office = Ontario MPP
| term_start = 1981
| term_end = 1985
| predecessor = Fred Young
| successor = Claudio Polsinelli
| constituency = Yorkview
| party = Ontario Liberal Party
| birth_date = {{birth date|1949|1|2}}
| death_date = {{death date and age|2013|5|6|1949|1|2}}
| residence = Toronto
| occupation = Lawyer
}}
Michelangelo 'Michael' Spensieri (January 2, 1949 – May 6, 2013) was an Italian-Canadian politician and lawyer in Ontario. He served in the Legislative Assembly of Ontario from 1981 to 1985, as a member of the Ontario Liberal Party.
Background
Spensieri moved to Canada at the age of 13 from the town of Vinchiaturo near Campobasso in the Italian region of Molise. He was educated at the University of Toronto, receiving a Juris Doctor J.D. degree in 1972, and Osgoode Hall Law School, York University, where he was awarded the Master of Laws degree in 1992 specializing in International Business, Trade & Tax Laws. He practiced law in Toronto until October 26, 1989.
Politics
Spensieri ran for the Ontario legislature in the 1975 provincial election but lost to New Democratic Party candidate Odoardo Di Santo in Downsview by sixty-eight votes. He was elected in the 1981 election, defeating NDP candidate Mike Morrone by 1,187 votes in Yorkview.
Spensieri supported David Peterson for the Liberal Party leadership in 1982. In late 1984, he was forced to issue an apology after sending out a newsletter which portrayed the New Democratic Party as "a group of socialists committed to the destruction of the separate school system and the murder of unborn children".Robert Stephens, "MPP Spensieri offers apology for newsletter", The Globe and Mail, 12 October 1984. He served one term in the legislature, and was not a candidate for re-election in 1985. He sought the Liberal nomination in Downsview for the 1987 election, but lost to Laureano Leone.Sterling Taylor, "2,000 Downsview Liberals pick candidate", Toronto Star, 8 June 1987.
After politics
Spensieri returned to his law practice after leaving the legislature but sought permission to resign from the Law Society of Upper Canada in 1989, after losing count of two million dollars' worth of unclaimed moneys. Spensieri cited a manic-depressive bipolar illness as his defense before convocation, and was granted leave to resign for his own well-being.Rick Haliechuk, "Lawyer can resign from bar in mishandling of $2 million", Toronto Star, 27 October 1989. After this, he wrote a number of letters to Toronto newspapers describing prominent Italian-Canadian figures in the Liberal Party as cultural misfits. In 1998, he wrote that "voters of Italian heritage ... have erred too often and too long by electing mostly Liberals".Michael Spensieri, "Cultural Misfits", The Globe and Mail, 11 May 1998.
In 1999, the socially conservative Family Coalition Party announced that Spensieri would be its candidate in York Centre for the 1999 provincial election.{{cite web |title=FCP: The only real pro-life option |url=http://www.theinterim.com/1999/may/5fcp.html |author=Fr. Alphonse de Valk |publisher=The Interim |date=May 1999 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20051109142552/http://www.theinterim.com/1999/may/5fcp.html |archivedate=2005-11-09 }} Due to persistent cardiovascular health concerns, however, he was unable to participate.{{cite web |title=Ontario FCP meets to chart new course |url=http://www.theinterim.com/2000/may/13ontariofcp.html |author=Tony Gosgnach |publisher=The Interim |date=May 2000 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20051109205610/http://www.theinterim.com/2000/may/13ontariofcp.html |archivedate=2005-11-09 }}
Spensieri retired from public life and promoted activities and fundraising in the areas of mental health and bipolar disorders.
References
{{Reflist}}
External links
- {{Ontario MPP biography|id=michael-a-spensieri}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Spensieri, Michelangelo}}
Category:Ontario Liberal Party MPPs
Category:People with bipolar disorder
Category:Italian emigrants to Canada
Category:20th-century members of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario