From Sojourners to Citizens: Alberta's Italian History brings to life
the untold story of Italian immigrants in Alberta from the 1880s to the
present. It places them in the narrative of province building from work
on railways, mines and other industries to breaking the land for
agriculture. Oral history excerpts allow the men, women and children to
speak for themselves. What emerges is an unquenchable desire to make
good, and overcome intolerable working conditions and discrimination,
which culminated with enemy alien designation and internment during the
Second World War. The book also provides an exploration of the impact of
Government of Canada's multicultural policy on the process of
assimilation for the post-war influx of immigrants. It offers a
prototype of an immigrant community's movement from marginalization to
the mainstream.