News Release — Minister Kenney announces Citizenship Judge appointment

Ottawa, March 8, 2013 — Citizenship, Immigration and Multiculturalism Minister Jason Kenney announced today that former Toronto Star columnist and Corriere Canadese editor Angelo Persichilli has been appointed citizenship judge for the Greater Toronto Area.

Prior to his appointment, Mr. Persichilli, who was born in Campobasso, Italy, was a journalist in both ethnic and mainstream media. He began as a freelancer with Il Tempo in Rome in 1968. Since arriving in Canada in 1975, Mr. Persichilli has reported for Corriere Canadese, CFMT television, which became OMNI, and RAI-TV, the Italian state broadcaster. He has been an executive at CFMT/OMNI, and a columnist for The Hill Times and the Toronto Sun as well as the Toronto Star. 

He was Director of Communications to the Prime Minister from September 2011 to April 2012.

Citizenship judges are responsible for making decisions on citizenship applications, presiding over citizenship ceremonies and administering the oath of citizenship to new citizens.

Citizenship judges are appointed by the Governor in Council on the recommendation of the Minister of CIC. New appointees are chosen from a list of qualified candidates who have gone through rigorous screening, including a written exam, reference check and oral interview. Candidates for citizenship judge appointments are evaluated against the skills required by the position: information-seeking, judgment/analytical thinking, decision-making, effective communication, cross-cultural sensitivity, leadership, self-confidence, self-control and writing ability.

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For further information (media only), please contact:

Alexis Pavlich
Minister’s Office
Citizenship and Immigration Canada
613-954-1064

Media Relations
Communications Branch
Citizenship and Immigration Canada
613-952-1650
CIC-Media-Relations@cic.gc.ca

Building a stronger Canada: Citizenship and Immigration Canada (CIC) strengthens Canada’s economic, social and cultural prosperity, helping ensure Canadian safety and security while managing one of the largest and most generous immigration programs in the world.